On Desertification and Drought Day 2020, Ciencia Mágica received the UNCCD Land Heroes Award in recognition of the outstanding work to limit the footprint left on the land by human production and consumption. The winner was announced by TV host Olivia IH during the talkshow co-produced by UNCCD and Korea Forest Service, the host of the global observance event:

The project, created by two young women from Nuevo León, presents a Family Garden Kit to promote the growth of sustainable crops in cities and rural areas, in an effort to reconnect humans with nature.

Through their actions, Alondra Jazmín Fraustro Cardiel and Silvia Alejandra Lara Valdez contribute to food security, environmental protection and livelihood opportunities in Mexico. 

They have gratefully accepted the USD500 monetary prize hat will help to scale-up the initiative:

We wish to help with the installation of community gardens and carry out environmental education projects and workshops in more schools. We are also working on a publication “Caring for the planet as a family”, to generate environmental awareness in society.

Alondra Jazmín Fraustro Cardiel, UNCCD Land Hero

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A LITTLE HISTORY

Today, reducing the impact of climate change is a key element in sustainable development. According to the United Nations (UN) (2018), greenhouse gas emissions are at unprecedented levels. However, the leadership of women scientists is a driving way to provide innovative solutions to these problems, such is the case of
Alondra Jazmín Fraustro Cardiel (intern of the career of Chemist Bacteriologist Parasitologist) and Dr. María Porfiria Barrón González (Researcher at the Faculty of Biological Sciences of the UANL), who have adopted an important role through environmental entrepreneurship.

In 2018, they stood out for their participation in Expo-Ciencias Nuevo León organized by the Institute of Innovation and Technology Transfer (I2T2), obtaining a national accreditation, which allowed them to participate with their project “Kit for a family garden” as part of the delegates representing Nuevo León at Expociencias Nacional 2018 in Morelia, Michoacán, despite not being selected nationally, this was not a limitation, and at the beginning of the year Alondra Jazmín Fraustro Cardiel founded “Ciencia Mágica” , a project through which she has taught environmental and scientific courses, workshops and conferences, at different UANL institutions and public and private schools to date, standing out for her participation in events such as panels, conferences and contests on Climate Change and Sustainability, in February 2019, she was nominated for “Environmental Leader” in Nuevo León, for her great commitment to caring for the environment and the scientific field. This same year, together with Dra. María Porfiria Barrón González, they made the registration of their work “Caring for the planet as a family”, a book focused on Environmental Education and Science.

In addition, in this fight against the clock, this discipline has become one of the most important routes of struggle in recent times, the world of environmental and industrial biotechnology is within our reach, so showing society the existence of clean technologies, encompassing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a must.

In June 2019, the team organized the VI International Congress on Climate Change and Sustainable Development, at the Faculty of Biological Sciences, of the UANL, where Alondra Jazmín Fraustro Cardiel presented her scientific research “Use of organic banana waste (Musa paradisiaca)”, a project that is based on transforming garbage into a new material, demonstrating that it is possible to transform the shells of our favorite fruits, into a material that replaces plastic, with the development of an environmental biotechnology company “ECOBIORES” , proposing an innovative solution dedicated to the development of biomaterials from a circular economy system, using waste from the fruit industry as raw material, resulting in biomaterials free of carbon footprint throughout their life cycle and 100% degradable at the end of its useful life. This research was carried out during their stay in the Cell Biology Laboratory in the Department of Cell Biology and Genetics, of the Faculty of Biological Sciences, UANL, performing the Social Service June-December 2018, this research allowed them to obtain in May 2019 a Recognition to be highlighted during the Social Service, as well as participation in the Women in Science 2019 event.

In this year, she participated with her environmental enterprise “Ecobiores” in the Sustainable Innovation Award, carried out by Wal-Mart in Mexico City, being one of the 8 finalists with innovative ideas of high impact of the 180 ideas presented in Mexico.

Finally, during this contingency Alondra Fraustro decided to participate for the Land Heroes Challenge 2020 award, an event held in South Korea, being awarded by the United Nations Organization to combat Desertification and Drought (United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification) with its “Magic Science” project, where it promotes greater awareness and commitment to caring for the environment, as well as teamwork and family coexistence, to act locally and impact globally, promoting green and sustainable cities, through the installation of orchards, meeting the objectives of sustainable development of the 2030 Agenda: Climate Action (No. 13) and Quality Education (No. 4).