The Role of Universities in International Cooperation: Improving Habitat in Vulnerable Communities Affected by Climate Change

This work examines the transformative potential of Service-Learning (SL) and participatory design in fostering urban resilience and environmental justice through the case of San Andrés Totoltepec, an Indigenous community in southern Mexico City. Facing rapid metropolitan expansion and environmental degradation, the collaboration between Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México demonstrates how academia and local actors can co-produce inclusive urban interventions. Through participatory mapping, collective diagnosis, and co-design workshops, students and residents identified eleven priority areas and generated nineteen proposals incorporating Nature-Based Solutions. Seven projects were validated by the community and connected to institutional mechanisms like Participatory Budgeting. The case reveals how service-learning strengthens social cohesion, empowers communities, and redefines urban pedagogy as a driver for sustainable territorial transformation.