A UN film about Mexico City's floating gardens came home — and started a movement

UN University researchers turned a climate report into a documentary about the chinamperos, the farmers who have cultivated Mexico City's floating gardens for centuries. Mariana Páez, one of the young people featured, posted the film online — and it sparked a two-hour video call with old schoolmates that became the Permanent Seminar on Xochimilco Studies, a new local forum on the land's future. One farmer featured in the film died earlier this year; his family learned his UN interview was among the last things he shared. 'He felt heard,' Páez said.