Sustainable Communities in Central America and the Caribbean

Date: December 4-11, 2015

Venue: Cuenca City Museum and Sucre Theatre, Cuenca, Ecuador

The cities of the Americas are experiencing dramatic and accelerating changes. Significant demographic variations and technological advances are having an increasingly powerful impact on how people live in the region. According to recent studies, Latin America and the Caribbean have the highest rate of urbanization in the developing world. Furthermore, the proportion of the regions’ population living in cities has doubled from 41% to 80% in the last 60 years.

In the case of Ecuador, the urban population has more than doubled from 28% in 1950 to 64% in 2010, generating unique challenges and opportunities. With the objective of highlighting advancements in sustainable cities, the Municipal Government of Cuenca, Ecuador and the Organization of American States have convened a group of urban and social transformation professionals through the 5th Edition of the Sustainable Cities Course.

Cuenca_Ecuador

Course Objective:

Provide theoretical and practical knowledge on the different elements that contribute to the development of sustainable cities to government officials and members of civil society involved in planning processes and urban development

Specific Objectives:

  • Provide state of the art knowledge on the set of systems involved in the urban setting combining social and physical science approaches.
  • Analyze case studies and identify best practices
  • Provide a first hand experience regarding the benefits of green infrastructure, energy efficiency demonstration projects and sustainable transport systems through field visits.

Course Methodology:

The course will include theoretical presentations that combine the professor’s input with student participation. Case studies will be presented and discussed in order to develop practical skills regarding the issues discussed. This website will provide background readings and material on each module so that students can prepare in order to enhance learning and assimilation of the program content. The course will combine theory with practical exercises in which the students will experience the content of each module applied to real life situations through lectures, readings, field trips group exercises and discussion. The course will close with a set of field trips in which students will be able to come in contact with the operations and functioning of green infrastructure, energy efficiency projects and sustainable transport examples in Castries.

For further information on this course please visit: http://sut.cuenca.gob.ec/
Or contact Richard Huber at [email protected].