On  August 29, Enseña por México hosted the Mexican Intergenerational Town Hall in Mexico City, an event designed by the United Nations Foundation and supported by the Unlock the Future Coalition where more than 150 participants (3-75 years old) collectively reimagined the future of the United Nations and global governance. Intergenerational Town Halls are dynamic platforms, happening around the world, bringing together leaders, experts, and policymakers from across generations. These forums are designed to cultivate broad-based support and generate actionable ideas that align the vision of global governance with the realities of a global community.

Each national town hall is uniquely designed to address the specific challenges and opportunities present in its host country, fostering local solutions that contribute to global sustainability and climate goals. By integrating intergenerational perspectives, these gatherings not only bridge the gap between current and future leaders, but also ensure that the solutions developed are robust, inclusive, and able to adapt to changing global and local contexts. The town halls are instrumental in shaping the 2100 Roadmap, which aims to identify and prioritize 'smart buys'—strategic SDG investments that yield substantial benefits for young people and future generations and prepare for the next succession agenda. These discussions are gathering critical insights and innovative ideas that will feed directly into the roadmap, ensuring that our strategies at the final SDG Summit in 2027 are informed by diverse, global perspectives and are grounded in intergenerational equity and solidarity. 

“Listening to leaders of all generations is essential,” shared Juan Manuel Gozalez, CEO of Enseña por México.“The UN and Enseña por México have always worked to include young people in the conversation. This is the only way to ensure that their voices and concerns are represented in international debates, which is essential to building a more equitable and sustainable future for all.”

The International Town Hall hosted by Enseña por México was designed to::

• Deepen National Leadership: Strengthen national and political leadership to reimagine the future of the United Nations, ensuring it reflects the specific needs and aspirations of local communities.
• Amplify Intergenerational Cooperation: Harness the power of collective insights to tackle current and future challenges.
• Foster a Legacy of Sustainability: Prioritize the wellbeing of our planet and future generations in every decision, shaping policies that are sustainable at their core.
• Empower Diverse Voices: Elevate leaders from all generations, particularly those from underrepresented communities, to ensure inclusive decision-making.
• Shape the Road to 2100: Develop actionable strategies to inform the 2100 Roadmap, guiding us towards intergenerational equity, sustainability, and inclusiveness.

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During the event in Mexico there was a robust program that sought to amplify diverse voices, including:

• An Intergenerational Justice Panel with the panelists Clemente Ávila, Senior Economist in Social Protection at the World Bank; Carolina Nieto, Director of Ashoka; and Sofía Castro, President of the Women in Movement Advisory Council of Movimiento Ciudadano.
• A Youth Activism Voices Panel featuring seven young activists who represented causes such as the inclusion of people with disabilities (Axel de la Cruz), care of water and the ecosystem (Ayalen Sámano), education (Iyari Balderas), indigenous youth (Carlos Madrigal), nuclear energy (Brian Galvez) and youth leadership (Santiago Cruz).
• Roundtable discussions led by Enseña por México alumni around topics of Climate Action, Global Governance, Sustainable Development, Education and Youth, Promotion of Peace and Security, and the Future of Cooperation and Technologies.
• An Early Childhood Assembly that focused on including the voices and aspirations of the youngest generation. 

Through panels, informal conversations, and roundtables we learned that to change the future, we have to act now. Our future must be re-envisioned as one that disrupts the crisis cycle and prioritizes quality of life, equity, and environmental protection.

We shared our concerns about water and natural resources running out due to excessive use by companies, the lack of resources allocated to early childhood, the lack of representation of historically marginalized and discriminated groups, violence, injustice, corruption, and impunity that limit opportunities and quality of life, adult-centrism in decision-making, and the lack of sufficient spaces for political dialogue with citizens and younger generations. As a collective, we hoped for braver and better support for younger and future generations, a sustainable future that is less anthropocentric, a decolonized, non-eurocentric, and non-predominantly white academia and research sector, and for the United Nations to serve as a true protector of peace and prosperity. We shared our commitments to be agents of change in our sectors, to breaking down individualistic structures and building local support networks, to breaking our limiting beliefs, embracing courage and avoiding pessimism, and to challenging patterns of systemic violence in our families and communities in order to ensure a safer and more peaceful Mexico, embracing radical responsibility under a criterion of possibility. 

Finally, we shared our dreams for the future, co-creating a collective vision:

Once upon a future, Mexican society will be fair, wealth will be distributed equitably, indigenous communities, people with disabilities, and groups affected by systemic discrimination will not be oppressed. All of us are safe; women, girls, and non-binary people aren't targeted or discriminated against for their gender, and people aren't disappearing every day; we live in a world where violence has been eradicated. There’s balance between innovation and nature; there’s inclusive digitalization, and town planning, public transport, and roads are designed for all; decision makers focus on today's and tomorrow's generations, there is financial, environmental, social, political, and labor stability, and diversity is celebrated. Once upon a future, Mexican youth and children achieve their full potential with nothing and no one standing in their way. 

Find out more about National Town Halls happening around the world.