FEBRUARY 2021

Nuestra Selva, Nuestro Futuro:
A Case Study on Experiential Learningin Calakmul, Mexico

The Rainforest Alliance has been working since 2016 withyouth and community partners in Calakmul, Mexico to prepare young people for a meaningful and financially viable
future within their communities. The ability of youth to access employment and education in their communities is
crucial to combating out-migration and ensuring the continuation of sustainable farming and forestry.

or stand to inherit land have opportunities to make decisions
and work the land, making it difficult for the most vulnerable —youth, women and those without land rights — to participate
in local government and decision-making.
Youth in these communities also have limited options tostudy, pay for their education, and find meaningful employment. These challenges drive many young people in Calakmul to migrate in search of better education and employment opportunities. Such out-migration leaves communities
without the leadership, innovation, education, and ambitionof their best and brightest young residents. At the same time,
local forestry ejidos often hire technical experts and outsideconsultants to support their operations because of a lack ofspecialists within their community. Without engaging young
people, communities lack the next generation of technicalspecialists and forestry professionals to work the land andkeep the local economy running. .

Nestled within the Selva Maya on the Yucatán Peninsula of
Mexico lies the ancient Maya city of Calakmul, now a UNESCOWorld Heritage site. This richly biodiverse region is home tomore than 80% of the plant species in the Yucatán Peninsula,in addition to 350 species of birds and nearly 100 mammal
species. It also contains the most extensive tropical forest in
Mexico. Calakmul is situated in the state of Campeche andis principally composed of the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve
which, with 7,238 km2, is the largest protected tropical forest
area in Mexico.

Land Tenure and Community Structure: Ejidos

Around the buffer zone of the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve,communities grouped into 90 ejidos have been sustainably
managing the forest, harvesting timber and non-timber forest products for sale, and living off subsistence agriculture.
The communities engage in a range of activities and many
have opportunities to improve, innovate, and expand into
new markets. However, within the ejidos, only those who own

The ejido system is a form of land tenure in which land is cooperatively managed by a community, while individual families can hold and manage their own parcel within. Ejidos follow customary procedures that grant land and voting rights
within the community to the founding male heads of house1

holds. In some cases, if the father passes away, women or
children gain the right to take his seat on the leadership team.
In rare cases, the ejido has set aside lands for interested andmotivated youth. However, those whose families were nota founding member of the ejido are unable to have a voicein matters affecting the communal land; or have their own
parcel. With such a system in place, it is hard for youth andfemale residents to become active and informed communityparticipants.
As a result, communication gaps arise between younger andolder generations. There is a limited understanding of theejido’s workings among youth, as well as a perceived lack ofopportunity for youth. The Rainforest Alliance conducted abaseline assessment in three ejidos in Calakmul and foundthat adult leaders felt that there were abundant opportunities for youth involvement in local governance, but that youth
lacked interest and motivation to participate. Meanwhile,
youth expressed sincere interest, but perceived a lack of opportunities and support from elders. Through our work in Calakmul, we aim to open a dialogue between young and old inorder to bridge this gap and find ways for both populations tobring their distinct skills together to improve their community.

RAINFOREST ALLIANCE’S INTERVENTIONSIN CALAKMUL

Why focus on youth in forestry?
Young people are critical to the Rainforest Alliance’s mission.
Investing in the future of community forests means investingin the next generation of leaders, community members andtechnicians in sustainable farming and forest management.
Because of this, the Rainforest Alliance is working to increase
ecological knowledge and technical skills and motivate
young inhabitants to become active and interested participants in local life—both for their future and the future of theforest.

We began working with local young people, in partnershipwith the Centro de Bachillerato Tecnológico Forestal 07, atechnical forestry school in Zoh Laguna, Campeche, in early 2016. Over the past four years, we implemented capacity-building courses to build young people’s understandingsof the rich biodiverse place in which they live, introduce themto experts in the field, and help them explore their skills, interests, and potential. In addition, we co-designed experiential
learning activities with community leadership to allow youth
the opportunity to gain practical skills, while meeting existingneeds of their communities.
We provided over 250 hours of coursework to a cohort of 70
young people through our course, Nuestra Selva, Nuestro Futuro. Over the course of this work, we held 9 training sessions,that included three elements critical to our youth strategy:
deepening ecological knowledge and content, socioemotional learning and group development, and visits to the field
and meetings with experts. We also provided mentorship andindividualized support during the learning process.
Experiential Learning Opportunities
In addition to capacity-building courses, we worked withcommunity leadership to develop experiential learning opportunities for youth participants. We aimed to bridge existing
communication gaps and foster trust-based relationships
by creating opportunities and spaces for young people andcommunity members to interact.
Theoretical Framework:“Education is not the filling of a pail, it’s the lightingof a fire.” - Yeats

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Experiential learning is a widely used approach to teachingthat links the students’ education, work, and experience.1 It isa teaching philosophy in which educators engage with learners in direct experience and focused reflection in order to increase knowledge, develop skills, clarify values, and develop
people’s capacity to contribute to their communities.2 In thislearner-centered approach, students play an active role intheir learning, focusing on reflections and assessments of realexperiences, which sets it apart from a traditional education.

fice, creating maps, writing reports, and surveying community members on different topics. One group was interested
in collecting data for a population study of mahogany. The
students spent more than two months in the tropical forest
georeferencing and measuring and calculating the dimensions of the trees. The data collected was used to comply with
FSC audits and CITES requirements to allow commercial saleof the ejido’s mahogany on the international market. Initially,
there was a lack of trust from community leaders in the capacity of the students to carry out the tasks but as the students progressed in the activities, they gained the trust of thelandowners, who began to see them as technical specialists
in data collection.

A key principle of practice of experiential education is thatexperiences require the learner to take initiative, make decisions, and be accountable for results.3 Additionally, throughout the experiential learning process, the learner is activelyengaged in posing questions, investigating, experimenting,solving problems, assuming responsibility, being creative,and constructing meaning.4 Social and emotional skills arealso critical to experiential learning, as this learning role often requires skills in teamwork, collaboration and relationshipbuilding.5

These experiential learning opportunities are a win-win for
the ejidos and youth. They provide youth with the chance togain experience, a small stipend, and opportunities to interact with community members and leaders. At the same time,community members gain support on real needs. Overall,these activities fostered the chance to create a better sharedunderstanding of the youth’s skills and enthusiasm, furthering
their confidence and trust in each other.

The benefits of experiential education include preparation
for jobs, building skills in leadership, management and socialinteraction, facilitation of dialogue and critical thinking, andinsights for personal growth.6 Hands-on experiential learning
allows youth to practice their skills, while being exposed topotential employment opportunities, as well as communitymembers and leaders.

LESSONS LEARNEDThe most important lesson learned from the first two phasesof this project, which confirmed our previous knowledge, isthat if given the opportunity and support, youth will rise to
the occasion, work hard, and make change. This was mostevident in the experiential learning opportunities which
our youth participated in within nearby ejidos. With a basefoundation of knowledge and skills, youth were able to engage with community members, learn new technology andlead on various activities. Essential to this success were thecoaching and mentorship we provided along the way. This
activity helped youth participants learn, gain confidence inthemselves, their team, and from their community members.
An important part of this learning was being treated not as
students, but as professionals with job roles and responsibilities. Unlike the classroom, they had a different set of rules
and were held accountable for the jobs they completed or
failed to complete. They personally reported progress to theBuilding Skills and Shared Understanding
We provided experiential learning opportunities to 40 youngpeople; these included those identified as part of this projectin addition to some identified by the ejido leaders. In close
collaboration with local ejidos, we identified concrete needs
that could be resolved by our youth participants and would
help ejidos comply with government and certification standards or support community initiatives. We worked to place
young people in these positions, supported and mentored
them, and included an individual evaluation at the end.
Students were involved in several activities including taking real GPS data in the field, logging data points in the of-3Next Stepscommunity and were given an individual performance evaluation at the end of the process.

This project is now in its third phase of work, building on thesuccess of our previously funded projects with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. We are now working with two local education institutions - Centro de Bachillerato Tecnológico Forestal
07 (CBTF 07) and Universidad Tecnológica de Calakmul (UTC)to build the capacity of their own academic teams to multiply
the impacts of our efforts in the years to come.

We also learned that helping students understand and analyze the “why” is critical. Too often in traditional schooling,
students are taught concepts in isolation of their application.
We focused on this connection, believing that if young people understand the reason behind collecting certain data in
the field or why community structures are built a certain way,
they are more connected to the impact of that work and areable to think critically and resolve problems that arise.

We aim to institutionalize these activities so that both academic institutions continue to develop capable professionals,
leaders, and human beings in natural resource management.
Without question, this work will indirectly benefit and improve
the quality of life of the people who inhabit these territories.
We are supporting the development of two new educational
tracks focusing on tropical forestry and building community technicians at these institutions. To ensure the success ofthese new tracks, we will provide professional development
to their teachers, including learning in the field and access toour experts on staff. Additionally, we will facilitate learning experiences within the ejidos to continue to provide youth withon-the-job training and exposure to potential avenues of employment and opportunities within the community. Key to thefuture success of the efforts will be to also connect academic
staff to the ejidos. Over the next two years, we will continue
to work to build a bridge between the needs of the forestry
ejidos and the young people who will ensure the long-termsustainability of the forest.

Another key lesson from this project is that connecting
knowledge to employment is key. In rural communities likeCalakmul where employment opportunities for youth are limited, it is especially crucial that learning in school prepares
young people for the workforce. The connection of the content knowledge with real field experiences, in particular thosedeveloped and practiced during our experiential learning opportunities makes our program unique and prepares young
people to find more meaningful work in the future.
Similarly, we learned that developing socioemotional skills
also helps develop key skills that are necessary to makeyoung people employable, while also developing their wholeself. This has been a key element of our work, both within eachtraining session, as well as through individual support andmentorship provided to youth participants as they progress
through the program, develop and explore their interests andthink about their future educational and professional path.
Developing a safe space for personal growth takes intentionality and time dedicated to support youth participants.

1: https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/43766169.pdf
2: https://www.aee.org/what-is-

3: https://www.aee.org/what-is-ee

4: https://www.aee.org/what-is-ee

5: https://teachingcommons.unt.edu/teaching-essentials/engaged-learning/components-experiential-learning

6: https://www.ucop.edu/global-food-initiative/best-practices/experiential-learning/learning-from-the-ground-up.pdf

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The Rainforest Alliance is creating a more sustainable world
by using social and market forces to protect nature andimprove the lives of farmers and forest communities.
rainforest-alliance.org
email: info@ra.org