In Mexico, sci-café is quite a new concept and has had enormous success. It is organized by Maya Viesca in Guadalajara (see below) and by myself in Mexico City.

My experience is that sci-café is a very promising concept, since more and more people want to understand how science and technology will model our future society. We are a generation who has seen incredible scientific changes that have changed our lives. Just think of this. Who in Italy had a mobile or computer 20 years ago? Now with discussions heading towards cloning and robots taking control of our lives, there is plenty to discuss in sci-cafes!

We have had two events here in Mexico city, organised by British Council. Can robots have emotions? With Prof. Dylan Evans, a good speaker and very provocative, which is excellent to detonate discussion. His theory is that since humans act like robots, and robots are made by mankind, then robots could act as humans. Originally I didn't believe in the importance of having an experienced facilitator. I thought anyone with good speaking skills could do the job, simply by introducing the expert and taking care of the time. But how wrong I was! Fortunately British Council Science team in Manchester convinced me of having a good facilitator and believe me the difference was enormous. This person does not have to be a scientist, but does need to understand the subject being discussed and should have general communication skills, together with sense of humour. This person is not only in charge of taking time but mainly of keeping the discussions rolling in the right track.

Our second event was related to climate change and though less controversial, it took place just after hurricanes Wilma struck the coast of Mexico, so participants were eager to learn if there is any connection between global warming and the incidence of stronger hurricanes. Sci-café is an incredible experience for all. Scientists enjoy communicating with wider audiences their research and getting some feedback, the public enjoys having scientists explaining issues that can affect our lives, the café owners make good money in these events, and organisers, get a sense of satisfaction at seeing that their work was worth it.

Lucia Pérez-Moreno (5 December 2005)
Science Projects Manager, British Council México

The sessions of the Café Scientifique in Guadalajara are held the first Tuesday of the month, except January and August. With it, we try to encourage a few ideas:
* Talking about science can be an excellent leisure activity.
* Scientists are part of our society, direct contact with them is important.
* The Café is to imagine and have a good time, knowledge comes later, naturally.
* The Café is basically made of by the audience, with its questions and interaction, the guest scientist is a facilitator.

At the moment we have held 12 sessions since September 2004, in a large variety of themes: physics, exobiology, sustainability, astronomy, geometry, genetics, immunology, robotics, and so. Our gem was undoubtedly the visit of one of the best Mexican scientists Antonio Lazcano, who talk about The origin of life, what we know, what we ignore to a huge audience.

There are some assistants that, no matter the subject, go to the sessions. This make me think they like the formula and that we are kind of creating a community. We have an average audience of 50 people, and we always record in MP3 the sessions and hang them in our web site, so people can listen to them anytime.

This café is organized by ITESO, the Jesuit University in Guadalajara, México, and takes place at Casa ITESO Clavigero, an historic building own by the University as an extension of its campus.

Maya Viesca (9 dicembre 2005)
Centro de Promoción Cultural
ITESO, la Universidad jesuita de Guadalajara