Knowledge flows in both directions in Tierrafest 2025

This is an authorized translation of a EOS article. This is an authorized Spanish crociption of one Artesstrane Delaware EOS.

After 5 years of organization TierraftAn annual event that celebrates Earth Sciences in Mexico, one of the things Raiza Pilatowsky Gruner He has learned that when it comes to communicating knowledge about our environment, “scientists are not people with the greatest authority. We all live on this planet.”

He explained this during the event conference of the event, where he also announced the theme of this year’s festival: “Together against the storm.” Tierraft organizers did not want to convey the idea that scientists are the only source of solutions to problems such as climate change, said Pilatowsky Gruner. That has been a value consisting of planning, the non -profit organization behind Tierrafest.

Although the scientific method is valid and important, “there are many other ways to generate knowledge, validate and live it,” added Pilatowsky Gruner. She believes that this philosophy has turned a safe place for diversity into an uncertain political landscape.

This week, Mexico City will organize a science fair, live performances and films for people of all ages to reflect on the relationship we all have with the planet.

Horizontal learning

An example of the diversity at this year’s festival is his opening event, said Carla Chávez, who began as a social service intern in Planning and is now a usual collaborator. On April 22 (Earth Day), Tierrafest begins with a walk in Dinamos National ParkA home in Río Magdalena, the last river that flows free in the Mexican capital.

ChávezBiologist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), explained that the planet and does not want to be intruders in The Atlithic MagdalenaA historical community where the walk will take place. “We believe in horizontal learning,” he said. “We learn from them and learn from us.”

During the walk, Marisol Tovar Valentínez and his team of communal monitors, members of the community that are offered as volunteers to take care of their forest, will guide the participants through their forest, united by organizers of Tierrafest and National Geographic Explorer Daniela Cafaggi.

As part of horizontal learning, communal monitors in training will join the walk to learn from the Tierraft team and practice their skills to guide groups. They will also share their knowledge of the forest with the attendees.

Unlike Pilatowsky Gruner, Tovar Valentínez said that he believes that scientists can, in fact, have an authorized voice about the knowledge of the planet. “But not about wisdom,” he said, describing wisdom as knowledge created and protected in communities such as his. Wisdom is a continuous and life process, he said, although he is in danger of getting lost as community elders die.

Tovar Valentínez said that he values ​​working with scientists, including Cafaggi, a Biologist from UNAM who worked with the Atlihtic community to study bats in his forest.

Uniting different perspectives

On April 24, Tierraft continues with annual beers to cool the planet’s event, during which scientists and activists share opinions and perspectives on drinks.

Pilatowsky Gruner explained at the press conference that the organizers want to use Tierrafest 2025 to highlight the importance of joining people of different origins, “together against the storm.” This unit can help people and communities face both climate change and global trends and extractivismBoth “storms” touch the entire world.

After the drinks, the celebration of various approaches to the challenges of the Earth continues. Chávez will crawl into Carmilla Desmodus skin, a drag queen inspired by the iconic lesbian vampire of the book Carmilla By Irish author Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu and DemodusThe genre of “vampire bats”.

“Drag for the Earth” emerged as an annual event in Tierraft 3 years ago, when Drag Queen BIA HOLLIS He was invited to act. Pedro Adad Tristán FloresThe UNAM biologist behind Bia Hollis, was also a social service intern with planning before becoming a usual collaborator. Since then, its Drag Queens group is inspired by the theme of Tierraft every year to design its wardrobe and makeup, which they explain during the show.

This year, LGBTQ+ activities will expand to include a reproduction performance of the Xuu Collectivein which the members of the audience will tell personal stories while the artists interpret them live. The organizers will cause stories about the intersection between scientific work and LGBTQ+identities.

Showing attendees the world

April 26, Tierraphilme It will present another edition of films on the planet Earth. For the first time, this event will take place in the Papalote Museum for ChildrenA space dedicated to scientific communication for children, and will begin with episodes of geographical national docuseries The life of a true mistake. Attendees will see short films from Mexico and throughout Latin America on issues such as waste effect, loss of indigenous languages ​​and urban expansion impacts.

The events in Tierraft will end on April 27, when El Rule Cultural CenterThe festival’s lifelong house, once again, will be the host of the Tierraft Sciences Fair. Activists and scientists will show their work for adults and children in more than 20 workshops on water, air, land and life. From life in the Paleozoic seas to contemporary issues such as the impacts that an underwater pipe could have on whales, these scientists of the earth focus on better understanding the planet and sharing that knowledge with everyone.

—Roberto González (@Ggonzalitos), Scientific writer

Citation: González, R. (2025), knowledge flows in both directions in Tierrafest 2025, EOS, 106, https://doi.org/10.1029/2025o250158. Posted on April 22, 2025.

Text © 2025. The authors. CC BY-NC -nd 3.0
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