2024 Award "Best Practice in Citizen Participation"

In Mexico, Ocoyoacac is located in the Toluca Valley, between the cities of Mexico City and Toluca de Lerdo. It is currently governed by the Partido Verde Ecologista de México with C. Samuel Verdeja Ruíz as Constitutional Municipal President (2022-2024). 

Nowadays, the municipality presents diverse cultural manifestations and attractions, such as the Dance of the Muleteers, declared immaterial cultural patrimony of the State of Mexico, and the representation of the Holy Week that has taken place for more than 50 years. It also enjoys natural wonders such as the Valley of the Marquesa and the speech of several indigenous languages such as Otomi, Nahuatl and Zapotec. However, Ocoyoacac is catalogued within the Declaration of Urban Priority Attention Zones 2024 (DOF: 25/11/2023), an appointment granted to present special attention to develop actions that contribute to reduce marginalisation, social backwardness, poverty and social deprivation. 

That is why the Circuito Orgullo Cultural Ocoyoacac “Here comes the COCO” is a public policy promoted by the City Council of Ocoyoacacac, through the Directorate of Education and Culture, which covers the entire indigenous community, children, adolescents, adults, seniors, men and women, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+, regardless of their social and religious status, with the aim of decentralisation and democratisation of cultural services to ensure the exercise of the Cultural Rights of the inhabitants and visitors of the municipality.

“COCO” came to life during 15 months of action, benefiting more than one million people by decentralising cultural and artistic activities and distributing them to all the localities of the municipality. It also re-appropriates conventional and unconventional public spaces, breaking with the structures of recruitment of young people who are harassed by organised crime. And finally, it establishes a showcase that allows the artistic work of creators, artists and cultural agents of the community to be exhibited, fostering a culture of peace. 

Here comes the COCO is a cultural epicentre that has a regional impact on alternatives for the administration of free time and leisure through a first class cultural programme, promoting the development and wellbeing of the most vulnerable populations and positioning itself as an engine for promoting a culture of peace.

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