During a cultural event on March 03, 2022, a team of researchers from the University of Glasgow (UK); the Ideas para la Paz Foundation (Colombia) and the Colegio de Sonora (Mexico) presented a report in the city of Acapulco, Mexico as one of the outcomes of the research project Educational Peacebuilding in Medellin and Acapulco: Understanding the role of education, culture and learning in responding to crises, funded by a grant from the British Academy.

"The Acapulco We Want" includes the voices of a range inhabitants of this notoriously violent city, collated from interviews that highlight the urgent need to implement strategies and policies to combat this violence.

The "Acapulco We Want" report in Spanish, featured and attached below, captures the views of a range of local organizations and stakeholders in Acapulco -including young people, marginalized groups, artists and business entrepreneurs-, on the role of non-formal education, lifelong learning and culture in building peace.  A series of workshops previous to the presentation captured stakeholders’ responses to the results and also allowed the opportunity to participate in virtual exchanges with similar groups in Medellin, to hear from them directly on how they had participated in the transformation of their city. In addition to the lessons collated from research in Medellin, the feedback and exchanges highlighted good practice and can also serve to create policies to help transform the city.

The cultural event began with Professor Evelyn Arizpe, CR&DALL core member and PI for the project, inviting the audience to celebrate successful local initiatives and build on them for the future. Mexican authorities, including representatives from the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Tourism and the Department of Security, as well as local organisations, small business entrepreneurs and other stakeholders, attended the evening event at the Botanic Garden of Acapulco and enjoyed both the presentation of results and the performances. Some of these performances had been especially created for the occasion, using dance, drama and music to powerfully convey the sense of violence that engulfs the city but also the potential of the arts and the diverse cultural groups, such as the Afro-Mexican and Indigenous communities, to engage young people in transforming it.  At the end of the event, the Mayoress of Acapulco, Abelina Lopez Rodriguez, took to the stage and emphasized that projects like this are of great importance for the city's future; she then committed to ‘take on the challenge’ of leading the transformation.

Download the "Acapulco We Want" report (in Spanish) below...

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