SUNDAY 3RD AUGUST, 2014 – UWI TODAY
7
OUR CAMPUS
In June, representatives ofThe UWI
and the University of
Havana, Cuba, met at the Institute of International Relations
at the St Augustine campus to discuss “Development
challenges and possibilities for a deeper integration.”
This first workshop on Contemporary Caribbean was
coordinated by Professor Milagros Martínez, Chair of
Caribbean Studies (Cátedra de Estudios del Caribe) at the
University of Havana together with Dr Mark Kirton of the
Institute of International Relations. Participants debated
major problems of the contemporary Caribbean, especially
the challenges associated with Small Island Developing
States and the regional integration recent dynamics. The
cases of Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and Cuba
were specifically examined.
Attending from the University of Havana were
Professors Antonio Romero Gómez, Milagros Martínez
Reinosa and Carmen Castillo Herrera. The Institute of
International Relations was represented byDrsMark Kirton,
Anthony Gonzales and Jacqueline Laguardia Martínez.
Ruben Martoredjo, IIR doctoral student, and IIR alumnus
Hugh Todd from the Guyana-based LIRDS Think Tank
Group, which focuses on law, international relations,
research, defence and security, presented papers. Cuban
Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago H.E. Guillermo
Vázquez Moreno, IIR’s Director Professor Andy Knight and
Rear Admiral Gary Best from LIRDS Think Tank Group
also participated in the two-day discussion.
The UWI and University of Havana discuss Caribbean challenges
(L–R) Mark Kirton, Hugh Todd, Milagros Martínez,
Antonio Romero, Jacqueline Laguardia, Ruben
Martoredjo and Carmen Castillo.
As developing countries
we face issues of high population
densities: poverty, high levels of unemployment, negative
impacts from climate change and limited resources for
which sustainable development has been identified as a
possible solution by many governments. Whilst it may be
easy to assume that it is inherently natural for social units to
incorporate sustainability and planning for generations to
come, sustainable development, as the late Professor Dennis
Pantin highlighted, is in real danger of becoming a cliché
which everyone acknowledges and respects but remains
ill-defined and elusive.
At The UWI we have been privileged to benefit from
the knowledge and academic foresight of Professor Pantin
for whom the study of ways to facilitate the achievement of
sustainable development in island states was an academic
and professional preoccupation. Professor Pantin stands
out as a pioneer in our region who saw sustainable
development as requiring a multi-disciplinary approach
to address our many challenges and achieve its objectives,
that is, development which meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their needs. This objective is of particular importance
since it involves the marrying of environmental, social
and economic objectives whilst seeking to ensure efficient
management of limited resources.
Given considerations of our social space and
environment, achieving sustainability involves finding
solutions for our development issues which balance all three
of these objectives. Since meeting development objectives
requires use of resources, the primary focus of sustainable
development is therefore responsible resource use. That
is, each generation must identify and pursue development
objectives keeping inmind not only their current needs and
constraints but that of future generations. However, whilst
it may be natural for all objectives to be considered when
planning it is often the case where one or more of these
objectives are ignored.
Pantin’s work provided a dialogue for sustainable
development from the perspective of Small Island
Developing States inwhich he highlighted that the economic
fortunes of small island economies are largely dependent on
the ability to anticipate opportunities and threats resultant
from trends in the world economy. He identified approaches
for forecasting the likely impact of the global trends; both
positive and negative and presented a framework for
sustainable Caribbean development in the twenty-first
century in which the role of public policy in informing a
strategy for achieving sustainability was highlighted.
Pantin had presented criticisms of sustainable
development which included the general failure to identify
measurements for development and had suggested the
examination of three indicators surrounding employment
which are pertinent to country’s development. In the case
of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) particularly SIDS
of the Caribbean, sustainable development objectives have
failed to pay attention to their peculiarities, challenges and
constraints. This concern continues to be reflected in the
ongoing sustainable development discourse.
Whilst many Caribbean countries have incorporated
the sustainable development objectives in their development
agendas, its implementation has remained elusive. There is
much difficulty in translating the theory into practice and
clearly articulating the role of all actors. For island states that
are heavily dependent on the environment, the reality is that
sustainable development is not easily achieved and takes
considerable time, political will and national commitment
particularly as it relates to resource use.
Roxanne Brizan has an MSc in Economics (Distinction)
and a BSc Economics with minor in International
Relations. She is a Teaching Assistant with the Department
of Economics, UWI, St. Augustine.
The UWI St. Augustine’s Department of Economics Annual
Conference on the Economy (COTE) 2014
is scheduled for October 9-10, 2014, at the
Learning Resource Centre (LRC) Auditorium, UWI St. Augustine Campus. This year the Conference honours the work of the late
Dennis Pantin
.
Small economies:
better on their toes than on their knees
B y R o x a n n e B r i z a n
