EIGHTEEN Mexicans crowded into the narrow Victorian alleyway and stared up at the roof. As they snapped pictures and chatted quietly to each other, the translator explained the house's solar panels and energy-efficient insulation.
The Mexican delegation – largely a mixture of mayors and state-level governmental workers – were in the Meadows as part of a UK fact-finding trip on issues ranging from energy efficiency to community engagement to waste management.
And the visitors were impressed by how much of what they were seeing could be used on their side of the Atlantic.
"It's wonderful," said Jose Angel Hernandez Barajas, mayor of Nogales, on Mexico's northern border with Arizona. "I thought because we are an economy that is very different that there are some projects that we could not implement because of the money.
"Now I'm certain that we can implement 99 per cent of the things that you are doing in England."
Those things included solar panels, houses oriented towards the sun to use natural power, energy-conserving solid-wall insulation and reused water. The delegates saw examples of that in the Meadows, where community green projects have included interest-free loans to residents for green technology.
After visiting several terraced houses that have benefited from insulation or solar panels, the delegates visited the new, environmentally-friendly home of Nottingham architect Julian Marsh.
His wife, Judy, gave them a tour of a house with an extensive list of special features, including a heat-absorbing roof and walls and a main frame made from recycled timber pallets.
The previous day, the group had visited Lincolnshire, where they saw flood defences at Skegness and Mablethorpe and a waste transfer station and recycling centre at Louth. The rest of the trip is being spent in London.
Also included in their Nottingham tour was a tram ride, which offered interesting ideas to Luciano Quadri. He works for the ministry for environment in Mexico City, a metropolitan area of 22 million people. "Now we are thinking about bringing some trams into the centre of Mexico City," he said.
He was particularly interested to learn about tram funding schemes and policy.
He was also impressed by the community green schemes in the Meadows. "This is an excellent example of what private citizens can do with government incentive," he said.
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