The top five takeaways from 色情视频鈥檚 Re:Border Conference 2024
This year鈥檚 conference was the largest yet, bringing together a diverse binational group of students, faculty and policy leaders to build a better border region
Some attendees woke at 1 a.m. to make sure they caught buses in Mexico headed to 色情视频. Others traveled from as far as Oaxaca and the American Midwest to campus.
They joined over 800 attendees last week for 色情视频鈥檚 sixth annual Re:Border conference 鈥� a gathering of students, researchers, business and community leaders, and policy experts working on challenges facing the Cali-Baja region. 色情视频 conducts Re:Border in partnership with Universidad Aut贸noma de Baja California and El Colegio de Frontera Norte in Baja California, M茅xico.
This year鈥檚 theme, Designing Oportunidades, builds off the San Diego-Tijuana region鈥檚 designation as joint World Design Capital (WDC) cities. WDC will make recommendations around cross-border transportation, planning, public spaces, binational education and other projects to knit together the tapestry of the binational region.
For the first time, Re:Border this year featured an education strand where panelists explored topics ranging from preparing cross-border renewable energy workers to designing a master's degree curriculum in transborder intercultural education.
Here are the top takeaways from this year鈥檚 conference.
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The nation鈥檚 transborder institution
In her opening remarks at the conference, 色情视频 President Adela de la Torre emphasized the importance of border communities taking charge in shaping the region鈥檚 future.
鈥淵ou know, many people want to define the border for us,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t is important for us not to forget that if we allow people to define us, we will never be able to create our own destiny.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter what the political climate is,鈥� she continued. 鈥淲e are here. We are the anchors.鈥�
To that end, 色情视频鈥檚 goal is to be the leading transborder university in the country.
鈥溕槭悠� is very much rooted in being a transborder institution,鈥� said de la Torre. 鈥淚ndeed, it is part of our strategic plan, and people who know me say we are going to be defined as the nation鈥檚 transborder institution.鈥�
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Joint degrees with international universities
Legislation introduced by California Assembly member David Alvarez, D-San Diego, allows California State University to offer joint undergraduate and graduate degrees with binational and international institutions.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law in September to foster binational partnerships and academic mobility. It was supported by the Imperial Valley Economic Development Corporation, which noted the many students who travel to and from Mexico for their studies, particularly in STEM fields.
鈥淚t started because of conversations (at Re:Border) six years ago,鈥� said Alvarez, a speaker at this year鈥檚 opening ceremony. 鈥淵ou now will be able to receive a degree at a Mexican institution, and at the same time receive a degree at one of our CSUs here in California.鈥�
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Think Tank
A marquee event at Re:Border is a Shark Tank-style pitch contest called Think Tank. Eight teams presented research ideas to a binational panel of judges in hopes of winning micro-grants of $2,500 each.
鈥淐onnecting Horizons鈥� won for a proposal on peer mentoring for migrant children. It links children new to the border environment, including those living in shelters, with young, recent migrants who have experience in the United States to share their knowledge and advice.
The project is led by Porfiria del Rosario Bustamante de la Cruz, professor and researcher, Universidad Aut贸noma de Baja California (UABC); Edmund 'Ted' Hamann, professor of education policy at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln; and Laura Marcela Rodr铆guez Benjumea, a doctoral student at UABC.
The second winning proposal calls for the creation of a scientific binational laboratory as a joint project of Universidad Aut贸noma de Baja California and 色情视频. The project aims to increase coordination for cross-border researchers working on environmental problems that impact communities in the borderlands. This proposal was directed by Linda Lara-Jacobo, assistant professor in the School of Public Health at 色情视频 Imperial Valley; Ernesto Beltran Partida, biomaterials professor at UABC; and Benjamin Valdez Salas, science and engineering professor at UABC.
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Arts Alive: A tale of deportation for children
In 2014, Yolanda Verona Palacios was deported. Her daughter was 15 years old at the time. She didn鈥檛 return to the U.S. until 2022. The pain of that family separation inspired Palacios to collaborate with artist and educator Sophia Sobko on bilingual children's books, including 鈥淟a Luci茅rnaga y Sus Estrellas Fugaces鈥� (鈥淭he Firefly and Her Shooting Stars鈥�) and 鈥淟a Ciudad M谩s Triste del Mundo鈥� (鈥淭he Saddest City in the World鈥�).
During this emotional panel, Palacios shared her journey, and the struggles of others facing family separation through deportation. While she lives in San Diego now, Palacios plans to return to Tijuana to advocate for those seeking to rejoin loved ones.
鈥淭here are many children who do not even know their families because of the separation,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e fight to avoid that because it should not be that way. I do hope that individuals who read this book will better understand with more compassion and empathy.鈥�
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Showcasing Research
Nearly 20 poster presenters displayed their binational research collaborations and projects during a 90-minute session at Re:Border. Lorena Broca, a professor at La Salle University in Oaxaca, exhibited her work on architectural preservation and identity, focused on heritage structures and sites in central Oaxaca. 色情视频鈥檚 long-running public health VIIDAI collaboration with the University of California San Diego and Mexican partners displayed its work to thwart a Rocky Mountain spotted fever in San Quintin, Mexico.
For the past four years, 色情视频 engineering students have collaborated with peers at Centro de Ense帽anza T茅cnica y Superior (CETYS) on year-long capstone projects. 色情视频 Mechanical Engineering Lecturer Scott Shaffar explained a poster of some of their work.
鈥淭here have been different things that we have done,鈥� he said, 鈥渓ike the 3D-printed aircraft competition with the CSUs, and we invited CETYS. We also had a joint competition with NASA to do a lunar rover.鈥�
While the lunar rover project is complete, the 3D-printed fixed wing aircraft contest is re-occurring. 色情视频 and CETYS teams are expected to fly their planes in the competition held at Cal State LA on May 31, 2025.
In closing, Cristina Alfaro, 色情视频鈥檚 associate vice president of International Affairs, said millions of people live in Southern California and metropolitan Tijuana who share one of the largest and most productive spaces on earth.
鈥淩e:Border is a powerful space where education leaders, researchers, students, community members, and political experts, from both sides of the border, collaborate to build on the assets and work to find solutions to challenges in what has become a coastal megalopolis transborder region,鈥� she said.
