Syllabus
CDAE
195: Sustainable Development in Small Island States: St. Lucia
Fall semester, and ~December 30 - January 14
Time, Place: |
Lectures,
Wednesdays, 4:00-5:30, Perkin 107 |
Instructors: |
|
Gary Flomenhoft |
Offices: |
|
105b Johnson
House, 617 Main St. |
Office hours: |
|
10:30-12:00
MWF |
Telephone: |
|
656-2996 |
E-mail: |
|
gary.flo@uvm.edu |
Teaching
assistants: |
|
Course Summary
Course objectives
Topics to Be Covered
Resources
Course Requirements
Grading
Field projects (including
project steps)
Tentative schedule
Course summary
This course is a general introduction to the problems of
sustainable development on small island developing states utilizing a
case study of St. Lucia, West Indies. The course culminates in a
two-week field component in St. Lucia, working with local partners to
solve pressing problems which they have identified. During weekly
meetings during the semester, we will go over critical background
information about the island, and do preparatory work for our field
projects.
Field projects will follow two different tracks. One track will
work with the Ministry of Commerce, Investment, and Consumer Affairs on
issues they identify related to consumer affairs and small enterprise
development. The second track will focus on ecological economics-- the
integration of ecological sustainability, social justice and economic
efficiency. This track will collaborate with the Ministry of Social
Transformation, the Department of Heritage Tourism, and/or community
organizations. We will stress complementarities between these two
tracks
more than differences. For example, a project working with the "buy
local" campaign would integrate material from consumer affairs,
business, tourism and agriculture. In both cases, our goal will
be
to help solve pressing problems identified by our local partners.
Problem solving courses are different from traditional courses for
several reasons. While academics in universities study
disciplines, people in the real worldstudy problems. That is,
problems do not respect the artificial boundaries of disciplines, and
complex problems can rarely be understood from within the narrow
framework of a single discipline. In addition to the skills of
disciplinary analysis, this
course will focus on the skills of interdisciplinary synthesis, and the communication of research results
to
decision makers who can use them.
Course objectives:
Our overall objective for this course is to learn
about
the problems confronting the sustainable development in St. Lucia,
potential solutions, and the relevance of both to understanding
problems
of sustainability at larger scales.
Specific objectives required to achieve this include:
1. Understand the system in
which the specific problem occurs, i.e. learn about St. Lucia
2. Developing interdisciplinary problem solving skills
3. Understanding the interconnections between ecosystems, urban
systems and agricultural systems
4. Contributing to solving a real life problem
5. Learning effective communication skills to help translate
research into action.
Topics to Be
Covered
As we stated above, in this course
we will study a specific problem, then decide what we need to learn to
solve it. We will however study the following topics to better
understand the system in which the problem occurs.
1. Political, social, economic and ecological background to
St. Lcia
2. Systems thinking
3. An introduction to consumer affairs
4. The impacts of transition to a single market economy in
the Caribbean
4. The distribution of wealth and resources
5. Agricultural Issues and Policies
6. Resource/Environmental Issues and
Policies
7. Community Development Issues and
Policies
8. Rainforest to reef field trip
9. If there is time, we will do a
short section on international trade, which is highly relevant to the
themes of the course
Resources:
Local Partners:
We will be working closely with
ministers and government officials from the department of consumer
affairs, the department of heritage tourism, and the ministry of social
transformation. We will update this section as we get more information.
Workbook in
applied problem solving approaches to ecological economics
This is a draft of a forthcoming
textbook by Josh Farley, Jon Erickson and Herman Daly. It lays
out an approach to applied problem solving projects intended to help
you set up a problem, analyze it, synthesize the elements of your
analysis into a more complete understanding of the whole, then
communicate your results to those who can act on the
information.
Lectures:
Introduction
to applied problem solving
Sustainability
Science
Consumer
protection
Web Sites:
Island resources foundation
Sustainable
Living in Small Island Developing States
Small Island Developing
States Network
SIDSNet
success stories
Organization
of Eastern Caribbean States, St. Lucia
Ministry of
Commerce, Investment, and Consumer Affairs
Ministry
of Social Transformation
Heritage Tourism Programme
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries,
Forestry and the Environment
CANARI (The Caribbean Natural
Resources Institute) CANARI seeks to create avenues for the
equitable participation and effective collaboration of Caribbean
communities and institutions in managing the use of natural resources
critical to development. This is a great resource.
Consumers International
www.stluciamirroronline.com
Student provided links
Perspective on Rural Land Management
and Soil and Water Conservation in St. Lucia
http://www.slumaffe.org/rural_land_management.pdf
Abstract:
This article provides a historical perspective of agriculture and soil
conservation on St. Lucia, and poses questions of how to put policy
into
action and slow or stop the land degradation. It presents an
interesting solution. The author suggests that getting farmers
and
communities to rally around the issue of water security could lead to
activism for changes in land management and advocation of sustainable
farming practices. In this approach, sustainable land management
is "piggy-backed" on a water management theme. The hope is
that farmers and landowners would be enticed to make changes for their
communities, and not just for economic reasons.
<>
Public
Support Needed for Successful Fire Service
http://www.stlucia.gov.lc/pr2004/september/public_support_needed_for_successful_fire_service.htm
This article is about how The St. Lucian
government is calling upon its citizens to help in the restructuring of
their fire department, Saint Fire. The government is asking for
citizen’s support in many issues dealing with fire prevention and
emergency
services. One main thing they are asking for is cooperation with fire
and emergency officials. They are there to help the people, but they
can not put forth a full effort without the people’s cooperation. They
are asking the people to cease unnecessary phone calls to 911 and to
answer questions correctly about emergencies when asked. Officials are
also trying to improve the public’s awareness of emergency vehicles on
the road.
Considering the growth and development to St. Lucia improvements must
be made to SaintFire. A strategic plan was created in 2000, and
government officials are trying
to achieve its objectives. By the end of the year they plan to build a
new station in Micoud. They are also planning on creating a new head
facility in Castries. This will definitely help with technology. The
government has also secured land to build a training facilitynear the
Stadium in Vieux Fort. This will be very beneficial considering
firefighters must train overseas. These improvements to this sector
will
certainly speed up emergency services and also provide more qualified
people todo the job.
Police brutality exposes our mental slavery By Jessica Joseph
Abstract:
http://stluciastar.com/midweek/wedSept1-04/news2.htm#news3
Course Requirements:
During the semester, attendance at
the weekly class will be mandatory. Students who fail to attend
classes without prior approval of faculty will not be allowed to
accompany the course to St. Lucia. Students will be responsible
for initiating their research under the guidance of the professors, but
our approach will be more 'guide by the side' than 'sage on the
stage.' We will stress communication skills, and there will be at
least 3 oral presentations in front of the class. The final
presentation
will take place in St. Lucia, and we expect our project partners to be
in the audience. It must be a professional quality presentation.
We are going to St. Lucia to learn and contribute to solving real life
problems, and expect you to devote all your energies to this for at
least 8 hours per day. You will be free to enjoy the island on
evenings and weekends, on the condition that you are fully alert during
course time.
Tentative Grading Scheme:
The bulk of your grade will be
determined by your course project
Class Participation: 20%
Project proposals: 15%
Other assignments: 12.5%
Final Project:
25%
Presentations: 20%
Peer
evaluations: 2.5%
Class Policies:
1) Attendance is mandatory during
the semester
2) You will essentially be working as consultants while in St.
Lucia. You must act professionally and dress appropriately.
Appropriate dress depends on your project and partners.
3) MORE TO COME
Field Projects (UNDER CONSTRUCTION!)
We will describe the projects in detail here as we develop them more
fullly.
PROJECT STEPS
Project
contract
Initial
literature review