Advancing United States Mexico Binational Sustainability Partnerships

The drylands region shared by the United States and Mexico currently faces multiple sustainability challenges at the intersection of the human and natural systems. Warming and drying conditions threaten surface water and groundwater availability, disrupt land- and marine-based livelihood systems, and challenge the sustainability of human settlements. These biophysical challenges are exacerbated by a highly mobile and dynamic population, volatile economic and policy conditions, increased exposure to extreme events, and urbanization on marginal, vulnerable lands. The U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine collaborated with the Mexican Academy of Sciences, Academy of Engineering, and the National Academy of Medicine to plan a 2-day binational workshop, Advancing Sustainability of U.S.-Mexico Transboundary Drylands. The workshop goals were to highlight the challenges facing the region, assess the scientific and technical capacity that each nation can bring to bear in addressing these challenges, and identify new opportunities for binational research collaboration and coordinated management approaches in the advancement of sustainability science and development. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

In light of the power strategies in play in the new geopolitics of economic and ecological globalization, there is need for critical analysis of how the agenda of sustainable development is being conceived, shaped, and implemented. This volume considers issues of equity and development in the US-Mexico border region?and highlights the fact that regions at the juncture of the industrial and developing worlds most clearly illustrate the problems inherent in current economic paradigms. Jane Clough-Riquelme is a regional planner with the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG). Her work focuses on borders planning, including tribal liaison and binational and interregional planning with neighboring jurisdictions. Nora L. Bringas Rabago is research professor in the Department of Urban and Environmental Studies, El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, in Tijuana.CONTENTS: Testing the Limits of Equity and Sustainable Development in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands?the Editors. The Johannesburg Summit: Implications for the Americas?E. Leff. Toward Sustainable Development in the U.S.-Mexico Border Region?J. Friedmann. Cross-Border Regionalism and Sustainability: Contributions of Critical Regional Ecology?K. Pezzoli. Rethinking Urban Ecologies: Cultural Barriers to Sustainable Development??L.A. Herzog. Urban Structure and Social Segregation in Tijuana?T. Alegria. Counting the Environment In: Considerations of the Risk of Hazardous Maquiladora Waste?K. Kopinak. Social Vulnerability and Disaster Risk in Tijuana: Preliminary Findings?N.L. Bringas R. and R.. Sanchez R.. Environment, Poverty, and Gender: Using and Managing Environmental Resources in a Tijuana Colonia?R. Gaxiola Aldama. Acquiring Knowledge and Improving Environmental Policy: A Binational Agenda for Civic Organizations?B. Verduzco Chavez. Environmental Justice and San Diego County Tribes?M.C. Miskwish. Youth and Educating for Sustainability on the Border: Imagining the Future Citizens of Baja California?A. Monsivais and L. Silvan. NGOs, Environment, and Gender in Tijuana?S. Lopez Estrada. Accessible Information Technology for Equitable Community Planning?A.H. Lam, L.M. Norman, and A.J. Donelson. Cross-Border Policy Collaboration in the San Diego?Tijuana Metropolitan Area: Where Do We Go from Here? ?J. Clough-Riquelme. Equity and Justice in Binational Environmental Policy?Stephen P. Mumme. Looking Ahead: Equity in the U.S.-Mexico Border?R.L. Bach.