Sustainable Communities in Central America and the Caribbean

Sustainable Cities Course, 13th Edition

Date: May 31-June 3, 2017

Venue: St. Kitts Nevis

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. Rapid .urbanization is posing serious challenges to OAS member states in terms of housing, common spaces, sustainable transport, controlling and reducing pollution, the collection and disposal of industrial and electronic waste, and the adoption of renewable and clean energy, among others. Cities often expand beyond their planned limits, and official and informal systems to provide water, sewerage, waste disposal, and other common services to these areas are often insufficient and inefficient.

Resilience to Natural Hazards : Hope Nevis has a project : Build community resilience to drought, flooding and other natural hazards in one community in each of Nevis' five parishes by implementing sustainable preventative practices to safeguard the communities from hazards and equip the local population with the knowledge and technical skills to prepare, respond to and minimize the fallouts from natural and human induced hazards.

Sustainable Transport Solutions: The Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College completed the Sustainable Transportation for St. Kitts-Nevis with the use of facilities for non-motorized modes in Basseterre City. Develop a database for transportation statistics to inform policy and forecast needs to avoid potentially costly mitigation measures. Formulate a Transportation Plan as an element of the General Plan Framework or Master Plan for the country and implementation framework for re-distribution of mode share, with emphasis on reducing traffic congestion, pollution, and cost to commuters.

With the objective of highlighting advancements in sustainable communities, the Organization of American States (OAS), with funding from US/OAS, in partnership with the Government of St Kitts Nevis has organized a Sustainable Cities course for a group of urban and social transformation professionals. The Sustainable Cities course provides an integral overview of the different aspects that contribute to building sustainable communities, targeting different topics emanating from the First Summit on Sustainable Development in the Americas held in Santa Cruz de la Sierra in December 1996. In this context, section II.3 Sustainable Cities and Communities recognized

  • The incorporation of the poorest and most disadvantaged sectors of the population into the productive process by, inter alia, creating jobs through public and private investment and expanding and enhancing access to credit and to environmentally sound technologies;
  • Growth in job creation in small and micro-enterprises by simplifying paperwork, bureaucracy, and operations that affect them and by promoting the economic competitiveness and environmental efficiency of these production units in urban as well as rural areas;
  • Narrowing of the housing unit gap and expansion of basic infrastructure services through a comprehensive approach to the problem of rapid urban growth, including the use of clean, safe technologies;
  • Promotion of the quality of life in cities and communities, taking into account their spatial, economic, social, and environmental circumstances; and
  • Assurance of the most efficient and least polluting industrial and transportation practices so as to reduce adverse environmental impact and promote sustainable development in cities and communities

Course Objective:

To provide theoretical and practical knowledge of 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:

  • To provide state of the art knowledge of the set of systems involved in the urban setting combining social and physical science approaches.
  • To analyze case studies and identify best practices; and
  • To provide a firsthand experience regarding the benefits of green infrastructure, energy efficiency demonstration projects and sustainable transport systems.
  • Produce through group sharing a policy and recommendations document in each module theme

Course Methodology:

The course will include theoretical presentations that combine the instructors’ inputs with student participation. Case studies will be presented and discussed in order to develop practical skills. The course 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 include the Climate Change fest through which participants will be able to see and observe local practices in the operations and functioning of green infrastructure, energy efficiency projects and sustainable transport examples. Participants through group sharing produce a policy and recommendations document in each of the modules.

Course Content

For further information on this course please contact Richard Huber at [email protected]