Initiative:
Culture and Development: Improving institutional and human capacities to strengthen cultural and creative industries and to promote culture as a tool for social inclusion. Phase II

Description:
The importance of the contribution of cultural and creative industries to the creation of jobs, as well as in the promotion of citizenship participation, diversity, tolerance and understanding among societies, has begun to be widely recognized in some circles.

OAS Member States have, for decades, formulated statements acknowledging the contribution of culture as an integral factor for development and wealth creation, and as a means to fight against inequality and poverty, as evidenced in declarations and communiqués as well as in the policies, programs and projects implemented in some of the states. However, some regions of our Hemisphere are not fully capitalizing on the potential of culture.

In several meetings of Ministers of Culture and of the CIC, Member States from the Caribbean Region have expressed the necessity of receiving training and financing in this area. It is widely accepted that the Caribbean enjoys much success in the creative economy given the international success of many of the Caribbean’s musical genres, recording artistes, literary authors and festivals. However, the region continues to demonstrate relatively poor trade performance in the cultural and creative sector, in many cases, due to the absence of data infrastructure to capture the economic contribution of the sector. Given this gap, it is critical to develop a data infrastructure for the creative industries in the Caribbean region to contribute to reaching the potential of the sector.

Many countries of the region have expressed concern about the lack of data to document the contribution of cultural industries to their economies, and the lack of systematic information about cultural policies and programs and their impacts on both economic and social development. This lack of good data, and a lack of opportunities to learn about cultural policies and programs in other member states, is a constant refrain in meetings of cultural authorities in the hemisphere, both in the framework of the OAS and in other international forums.

Likewise, during their Fourth Inter-American Meeting, the Ministers of Culture and Highest Appropriate Authorities entrusted the CIC to: “Create a network composed of policy-makers, civil society and international organizations, to assist the member states in the design and implementation of public policies in culture, gather and share information and good practices, strengthen their human and institutional capacities, and promote awareness of the potential of culture to contribute to economic growth and social inclusion.” This mandate was partially fulfilled through execution of the first phase of the current project, “Culture in Development: An Inter-American Information Network” whose objective was making visible the contribution of culture to economic growth, social cohesion and sustainable development, and making it possible that the cultural dimension be incorporated in the agendas of the different sectors and in the design of public policies in the fields of education, planning, finances, tourism, among others. This project phase resulted in production of a portfolio of good practices, a series of technical cooperation missions among member states, development of a communication strategy on the importance of culture to development, among others.

The new phase of the project responds to the need expressed by Member States to:

i) Expand the Portfolio of Successful Practices and carry out a new round of Technical Assistance Missions and maintain the Internet portal www.desarrolloycultura.net;
ii) Collect, analyze and update much-needed information on the state of cultural and creative industries in the Caribbean region and the capacity to measure their contribution to the economies, both vital to documenting and demonstrating the sector’s impact on socioeconomic development., and
iii) Continue supporting the efforts of the Inter-American Committee on Culture (CIC) as a hemispheric technical-political forum by making it possible to continue its planning meetings and to disseminate and promote its activities through production of communication materials (brochure, articles on the web or in other regional media outlets, and at seminars, congresses and other events hosted by other organizations).

The importance of the contribution of cultural and creative industries to the creation of jobs, as well as in the promotion of citizenship participation, diversity, tolerance and understanding among societies, has begun to be widely recognized in some circles.

OAS Member States have, for decades, formulated statements acknowledging the contribution of culture as an integral factor for development and wealth creation, and as a means to fight against inequality and poverty, as evidenced in declarations and communiqués as well as in the policies, programs and projects implemented in some of the states. However, some regions of our Hemisphere are not fully capitalizing on the potential of culture.

Activities:
Following the Ministerial mandate, this project, in its proposed next phase, proposes the following result:

Mechanisms of information exchange and technical assistance created or strengthened through horizontal cooperation in topics such as: launching cultural and creative enterprises; creating and/or strengthening cultural information systems; strategic planning of the different areas of the cultural public institutions; preservation and revaluation of intangible and linguistic cultural heritage; mainstreaming of culture in sectors such as: youth, environment, tourism, education and finance, the following activities will be implemented:

1. Maintenance and development of the content in Spanish and English of the Internet Portal www.desarrolloycultura.net, implemented in collaboration with Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar, Colombia, and increase of the content with the University of the West Indies, Barbados.
2. Execution of online seminars (Webinars) from the Internet Portal on topics related to the CIC Work Plan, and of in-person planning meetings with experts. It includes previous selection of topics and presenters.
3. In-person planning and evaluation meetings of the Internet portal and all other topics of interest related to this project, of experts representing Universities associated to the OAS, to be held in Washington, D.C. (Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar and University of the West Indies, Barbados).
4. Call for and Selection of new practices to add to the virtual version of the portfolio “Culture, Common Denominator for Development. 18 Successful Practices.”
5. Call for proposals, selection and allocation of funds for a second round of technical cooperation missions between cultural Ministries or institutions among Member States.
6. Follow up and draft final report of technical cooperation missions.
7. Diagnostic study on the capacity to measure the contribution of creative industries to the economies of member states and on the existence of policies to increase that impact.
8. Dissemination and promotion of the results of the work of the Inter-American Committee on Culture through the following: updating of the Web page; design and online distribution of a news bulletin; design and print of brochure; and presentation and promotion of the results of CIC projects in various forums.

Beneficiaries:
All OAS member states

Direct:
• Policymakers in ministries of Culture or equivalent institutions
• Professionals in the culture field
• Local governments of all Member States
• Cultural organizations and civil society institutions

Indirect:
• Entrepreneurs in small cultural industries
• General public

Partnerships:
• Ministries of Culture or their equivalent institutions of OAS member states
• Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar – Cartagena de Indias, Colombia
• Shidrath Ramphal Centre- International Trade Law, Policies and Services of the University of the West Indies – Cave Hill, Barbados

Initiative:
Expanding the Socio-Economic Potential of Cultural Heritage in the Caribbean. Phase I: Needs Assessment and Project Selection.

Description:
The enormous socio-economic potential of the diverse range of cultural heritage resources of the states throughout the Anglophone Caribbean is seriously under-realized due to inherited structural rigidity and significant demographic and economic changes experienced across the region. According to various researches in the region, among the most serious regional challenges to the effective conservation and management of CH resources are: limited resources for national administrators of cultural heritage; the increasing dominance of international “mass” tourism interests in regional and national planning; the decreasing significance of local traditions.

Meetings of Ministers of Culture in the Inter-American context have identified protection and promotion of cultural heritage as a priority for at least a decade. Caribbean member states expressed on multiple occasions their interest in obtaining technical support for heritage preservation and development efforts through the CIC. The present project would be a partial response to that interest.

The end-of-project situation will mark the beginning of a longer process of addressing regional capacity needs to realize the socio-economic potential of cultural heritage in the Caribbean Region. The two outputs of the project will accomplish standalone goals as well as lay the foundation for continued capacity building across the region:
a. A detailed situation analysis of cultural heritage needs and opportunities that will inform future strategies for participatory heritage engagement; national and regional policy initiatives; and public outreach, professional development. These needs and opportunities include: (1) problems and issues that most urgently concern stakeholders; (2) desired changes and opportunities; (3) current infrastructural priorities, redundancies, and shortfalls; (4) effectiveness of current laws and policies related to cultural heritage; (5) key socio-economic indicators related to cultural heritage and tourism; and (6) the full range of potential heritage resources germane to specific sites that may receive differential, official recognition.
b. An established and documented framework for regional collaboration and planning with cultural heritage stakeholders including an online regional CH information system to facilitate collaboration among stakeholders (across the region and CH sectors). A Regional Heritage Network will link a wide range of stakeholders through online and face-to-face meetings to exchange information, and collaborate in filling gaps in resources and know-how. The network will also identify and assist in the planning of pilot projects that will be aimed at expanding the socio-economic and cultural potential of CH resources throughout the region. The foundation of this Regional Network will be established through the initial Needs Assessment and regional meeting, which will help identify potential members of this network. It will be formalized in a later project stage.
c. Detailed recommendations for potential pilot projects that will serve as a model for multi-level, interdisciplinary, and participatory heritage engagement programs that enhance the protection of cultural heritage resources; increase regional, national, and local control over socio-economic benefits derived from cultural heritage; and strengthen collective memory and shared identity among the population. The recommended projects, to be implemented and evaluated in a subsequent project phase, will maximize the use of existing resources and expertise in the region and will be adaptable for use by all member-states represented in the network as a means of making CH conservation a sustainable contributor to the region’s development.

All outputs of Phase I will facilitate the subsequent implementation in a later project phase of regional pilot projects that address the main problems identified. Specifically, this will include 1.) New legislative or administrative frameworks that will enhance the capacity of local governments, working in concert with private citizens, to ensure conservation and effective presentation of cultural heritage resources; 2.) Long-range economic strategies and cooperative public-private partnerships to build linkages between local economic resources in the heritage sector and the global economy (in order to mitigate the “leakage” of tourism revenue from the regional economy); and 3.) to empower local communities to creatively preserve and revitalize distinctive elements of traditional culture.

Following OAS mandates, the goal of this project is to develop a framework to promote the protection and development of the cultural heritage of the Caribbean region by governmental institutions, the private sector and civil society organizations, thus contributing to expanding the socio-economic benefits of regional cultural heritage as valuable and non-renewable public resources.

Activities:
- Document and analyze needs and priorities as perceived in the region regarding the protection, use, and enhancement of cultural heritage. This information will be gathered by formulating and disseminating an online survey to regional stakeholders, with attention to environmental concerns, consideration for the representation of vulnerable populations and for gender equality. Responses to this survey will be analyzed to identify and prioritize regional needs and opportunities and evaluate survey performance indicators. The information collected will be organized in a web-based database.
- Develop a set of recommendations regional capacity-building and collaborative stakeholder actions to enhance the socio-economic and cultural potential of cultural heritage in the region. This will be achieved through a stakeholder meeting and regional workshop in one of the Caribbean countries to present initial results of the survey, conduct focused discussion sessions to expand the survey results and collaboratively select regional themes for the project initiatives; and a flied consultation with key stakeholders to verify and expand conclusions of needs and priorities assessment.
- Identify potential host sites for pilot project initiatives based on recommendations and in consultation with regional stakeholders.

Beneficiaries:
(Direct)

• Caribbean countries: Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago. Open to the participation of Haiti in English.
• The staffs and public clients of ministries of culture, monuments and antiquities services, and other public institutions of the Caribbean region.
• The private sector and business community that are engaged in investment, land development and in the tourist industry of the Caribbean region.
• Civil society—namely self-identified collective groups within the population, which may range from families, to neighborhood associations, to religious denominations, to ethnic groups, to regional populations, who all have a stake in preserving their shared traditions and places of significance, in the countries where the project be implemented (Caribbean region)

(Indirect)

• Local communities surrounding the cultural heritages resources in the Caribbean countries.
• Communities of the Caribbean countries participating in the project.
• Future generations who will inherit a sustainable structure for managing and using their cultural heritage resources.

Partnerships:
- ICOMOS - International Council on Monuments and Sites/ National Committees throughout the Americas and the world.
- ICOMOS - International Council on Monuments and Sites/International Scientific Committees
- CARIMOS - Monumentos y Sitios del Gran Caribe (Monuments and Sites of the Greater Caribbean)
- INTO International National Trusts Organization (England and Wales)
- USNT United States National Trust for Historic Preservation
- YUDW Yale Urban Design Workshop (United States of America)

Considering the important role that culture plays in our societies, the OAS has launched the celebration of Inter-American Year of Culture 2011. Within the framework of the project “Culture in Development: an Inter-American Information Network” actions to promote cooperation in culture policy between Member States, civil society, and international organizations were carried out, resulting the implementation of 10 technical cooperation missions in which a total of 11 Member States participated in 16 institutions, public and private, as well as the publication of a portfolio of 18 successful practices from different Member States, which testifies to the essential role that culture plays in development and the wellbeing of the nations of the Americas.