Feminist role model: Tec professor joins global pro habitat network

Tec de Monterrey professor Zaida Muxí has been appointed to the Board of Habitat International Coalition (HIC).

HIC is a global network for rights related to habitat and housing that fights for social justice, gender equality, and environmental sustainability.

The distinguished professor from the School of Architecture, Art, and Design was appointed as Representative for Women and/or Feminist movements once all the members of the Board had approved her candidacy.

Muxí received the letter making her new role official after being nominated and recommended by Sathi All for Partnerships, an HIC member in India, and obtaining support from several organizations and social movements.

The architect forms part of the Faculty of Excellence initiative, which focuses on attracting internationally-renowned professors with outstanding experience and revolutionary ideas to join the Tec’s faculty.

A new professional challenge

The expert in urbanism with gender perspective said that being Representative for Women and/or Feminist movements on the Board of this global network is an opportunity and a challenge to keep learning and working for the right to adequate habitats with dignity.

“I feel very flattered and a great sense of responsibility, as this is a position to represent women and feminist movements on the board of an international organization.

“There, I have to position the right to a habitat of the people I represent and bring their voices to international arenas,” said Muxí, who has devoted her career to studying and proposing sustainable cities from a gender perspective.

The University of Buenos Aires graduate will lead and supervise HIC’s political strategy in accordance with the needs and aspirations of the members it represents.

She will also report and collaborate on defining HIC’s values and positioning, among other duties.

Muxí will hold this role at HIC for four years, concluding in June 2028, during which she will get in touch with women’s groups and feminist movements through symposiums for presenting and sharing experiences, as well as organizing co-learning spaces.

About Zaida Muxí

Muxí became aware of gender during her time at college, when she noticed the inequality and challenges she had to endure as a woman.

The academic has researched women’s participation in architecture and collaborated with other experts in the field and authors such as Jordi Borja, with whom she worked for four years and co-authored the book “Public Space: City and Citizenship.”

Muxí has also published her findings on women’s participation in architecture in books such as “Women, Houses, and Cities” and “Architecture and Politics.”

This led to her entering urban planning for the public sector in Spain, where she has been Director of Urban Planning in Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Barcelona.

What’s more, she was responsible for managing and executing the Sustainable and Integrated Urban Development Strategy financed by the European Regional Development Fund, as well as being a member of the Bit-Habitat foundation’s board of directors.

“I have to position the right to a habitat of the people I represent and bring their voices to international arenas.”

The projects that this architecture professor promoted during her public administration included the participation of girls and boys in the design of a square with a gender perspective; a resource center for women; and a feminist economy.

She currently works with teachers to prepare students for joining efforts in designing inclusive, fair, and sustainable cities and promotes an interdisciplinary introduction to the gender perspective in all the school’s programs.

The Board of Habitat International Coalition (HIC)

This is a global network that consists of more than 410 popular, non-governmental, and academic organizations and research and training institutes, as well as human rights activists who work in the field of habitat and housing.

The network acts as a pressure group to defend people who do not have a home and those who live in unsuitable conditions.

It is a voice for the right to housing on the international stage, which also serves as a platform in the strategies of non-governmental sectors for formulating public policies and programs on human settlements and housing.

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