Fundación Alberto Baillères

The Alberto Baillères Foundation, in partnership with UNESCO, presents the Social Model, a proposal for strengthening education communities

The purpose of the Social Model is to accompany education communities in the collaborative creation of educational habitats.

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UNESCO, Mexico City – The Alberto Baillères Foundation, in partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), presented its Social Model, a proposal for strengthening education communities.

The Objective of the Social Model is to accompany education communities in the collaborative creation of educational habitats, conceived as sustainable spaces of well-being and human development for all community members. In this way, the Model seeks to contribute to achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 4 and SDG 17, related to goals regarding education and the creation of social partnerships to work toward the Global Goals, respectively.

Since 2009, the Alberto Baillères Foundation has promoted education initiatives that address the pedagogical needs of Mexican children and young people. In the context of the earthquakes of September 2017 and in response to damage suffered by school infrastructure, the Foundation allocated resources for rebuilding damaged public schools, developing new school infrastructure, and, above all, working in a participatory and collaborative manner with different actors within education communities: students, educators, authorities, and families as agents of change. An example of this is the Foundation’s collaboration with UNESCO Mexico, an organization which since 2020 has carried out close accompaniment to strengthen the Social Model and record relevant practices and lessons for this and other initiatives promoted from within civil society in favor of education.

On the basis of this experience, the Alberto Baillères Foundation designed its Social Model to serve education communities in contexts of vulnerability. The Social Model comprises, on one hand, a social component that accompanies education communities and fosters organization and participation, and, on the other, an infrastructure component that promotes improvements in school spaces that make them sustainable, safe, dignified, and inclusive.

The presentation event for the Social Model was attended by senior executives from the Alberto Baillères Foundation, UNESCO, and Grupo Bal, as well as Dr. Luis Humberto Fernández, head of the Mexico City Federal Education Authority (AEFCM), and other education authorities and members of education communities.

The event kicked off with a welcome message from Grupo Bal and Alberto Baillères Foundation President Mr. Alejandro Baillères, who stated that “Our wish —my wish— is that the presentation of this Social Model will be not a port of arrival but a point of departure for new projects in new environments, always in favor of quality education for the children and young people of Mexico and on behalf of education communities, in the broadest sense of the term. […] We hope —I hope— that this Social Model will promote the flourishing of the legacy of Mr. Alberto Baillères, whose generosity has been the guide, the beacon, that brings us together today.”

Next, speaking from the rostrum, Foundation board member Eduardo Silva explained that it is hoped that the Social Model “will translate into real, tangible, sustainable benefits for all members of the education community, not only in terms of the right to a quality education and access to safe, innovative spaces appropriate for learning, but also in terms of the strength of community bonds and the community’s capacity to transform toward behaviors, attitudes, and practices that always put the common good first.”

Frédéric Vacheron, UNESCO Representative in Mexico, mentioned that the Social Model presented at the event “responds to the need to create sustainable, peaceful, inclusive environments appropriate for learning, through a pedagogical and architectural contribution termed ‘the construction of educational habitats,’ a key concept for understanding what all schools in Mexico and around the world ought to be like today.”

Dr. Luis Humberto Fernández, head of the Mexico City Federal Education Authority, on the other hand, recognized Alejandro Baillères’ extraordinary effort in maintaining these projects, noting that “Mr. Baillères always saw in Mexico the solution to all problems. The fact that we are discussing this project (the Social Model) today is part of a legacy that will doubtlessly endure over time. A legacy that is undoubtedly linked to education. The pandemic gives us an intriguing reference. Which schools maintained the best performance during the pandemic? The schools with the most committed and involved communities. The foundation of the school is the community. When we build a school that is not accompanied by a social model, by a model of participation, a model of commitment, what we’re really building are hollow bricks. The great contribution of this model is that it has a solid academic foundation and experience in the streets, in Ecatepec, Yucatan, and Mexico City.”

Bringing the welcoming remarks to a close, Rosa Isela Gluyas, Director of the Alberto Baillères Foundation, stressed the importance of partnerships in achieving shared goals and contributing to the full exercise of the right to education in Mexico’s most vulnerable communities. “Taking up the motto of the Alberto Baillères Foundation, ‘Transforming as a community,’ our liaison work with education communities has allowed us to recognize our role as an agent that facilitates a process of dialogue and reflective action which in turn builds networks of collaboration to drive wills and establish agreements,” she stated. Likewise, Gluyas extended thanks to all the people and institutions who have worked with the Foundation.

With opening speeches concluded, the panel “Creating Partnerships in Favor of Education” was organized, with UNESCO and Secretariat of Public Education (SEP) representatives participating, as well as members of education communities.

During the closing ceremony, Eduardo Silva led a heartfelt tribute to Mr. Alberto Baillères, who passed away a few months ago, in February 2022. Attendees observed 30 seconds of silence, followed by 30 seconds of applause, in memory of the Foundation’s founder and benefactor.

Today, guided by its Social Model, the Alberto Baillères Foundation has celebrated the inauguration of the two first schools —Primaria Amado Nervo (Primary School) and Preparatoria Oficial 94 (Upper Secondary School)— as well as the comprehensive rehabilitation of the School Complex “La Presa” in the State of Mexico municipality of Ecatepec. Two new projects are also currently in progress: the construction of a school complex in the municipality of Kanasín, Yucatan, and another school complex in the borough of Iztapalapa, in Mexico City. These initiatives will be the springboard for new projects to be developed in other locations.

These results continue to build on what Mr. Alberto Baillères once emphatically affirmed: “Education is a powerful instrument that offers children and young people the possibility to increase their opportunities for subjective well-being and collective development. This can translate into greater prosperity and better conditions of equity and justice that help to strengthen the social fabric and reinforce ties of trust and a sense of community in learning environments.”