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PO Box 8655

Burlington, VT 05402

www.VtCaribbean.org

Cuba Program Update, 2015-2016


Dear Friends, Colleagues and Supporters,
The Vermont Caribbean Institute was founded in 2004, by three visionary individuals Marisha Taylor from Vermont,
the Cuban architect Emilio Escobar and his wife Thelma Esnard - who believed in the power of people-to-people exchange to bring two countries together. Since then, VCI has coordinated dozens of exchanges of Vermonters travelling
to Cuba and Cubans travelling to Vermont, to share, and to learn about issues ranging from arts and culture, historic
preservation, marine ecology, ecological economics, agroecology and sustainable food systems, and public health.
These exchanges have taken the form of public exhibits, forums, conferences, workshops, educational courses, and professional development opportunities.
In 2013, VCI initiated a strategic visioning process with Cuban partners and identified three key areas for future work: historic preservation and community development, environmental conservation with a focus on marine ecology, and agroecology and sustainable food systems. In January 2015 I joined VCI as Executive
Director charged with leading implementation of this new strategic vision. The
announcement of normalization of relations had just been made and I was
thrilled at the opportunity to continue the great work of VCI in this very new
political landscape, recognizing the many challenges and opportunities that
lie ahead.

We believe there
is great opportunity
and value in mutually
learning and working
together to achieve
shared goals

Normalized relations open new opportunities for engagement between our


countries, but also raise important questions about the potential negative
effects of such engagement on the social and environmental advances made
in Cuba. The shared values between Cuba and Vermont on environmental
conservation, sustainable food systems, and historic preservation for community revitalization, as well as the inspiring and innovative approaches that translate these values into practice, are what continues to drive our work. We believe
there is great opportunity and value in mutually learning and working together to
achieve shared goals. Citizen and science diplomacy have been a cornerstone of our
work and have served to bring our communities closer, overcoming the legacy of Cold
War policy.

At this crucial time in history, VCI is prioritizing our work on the island with an emphasis on supporting the sustainability
gains that have been made in Cuba over the past several decades and sharing the lessons learned outside of Cuba. We
believe strongly in linking people, institutions and movements on both sides of the Florida Straits who are dedicated
to creating more ecologically resilient, socially just and economically fair systems. We support the sovereignty of the
Cuban people and nation and will continue to work closely with our partners on the island to share lessons learned
and success stories to a wider audience and to increase their access to resources and opportunities. Below are recent
highlights of our work in people-to-people exchanges and our growing collaborative research and action program.
With gratitude,
Margarita Fernandez
Executive Director

PO Box 8655

Burlington, VT 05402

www.VtCaribbean.org

People-to-People Exchange Program


Farmer to Farmer Exchange Program: Both Vermont
and Cuba have strong organic farmer movements, so
since 2013 VCI has been coordinating farmer exchanges
in order to foster connections and learning opportunities.

Isis Salcines with Vermont farmer John Hayden

In 2015, we organized four exchanges. In March 2015, we


traveled to Cuba with three organic farmers from Vermont
to expand partnerships and collaboratively identify areas of future work for mutual exchange and learning opportunities around best practices for organic agriculture
and sustainable food systems. We met with government
agencies, NGOs, research institutes and
farmers. In April 2015, VCI partnered
with Americas Media Initiative
and coordinated the Vermont
leg of the documentary tour
Tierralismo: Stories from a
Cooperative Farm, a film
about one of the most successful urban farms in Havana - Alamar Organoponico. The lead farmer, Isis
Salcines, toured with the
film
and was able to spend
Director of Indio Hatuey
a
week
meeting with innovaAgricultural Research Station,
tive
farmers
and food system
Giraldo Martin
initiatives in Vermont.
In July 2015, VCI hosted the director of
Indio Hatuey Agrcultural Research Station, Giraldo Martin

and a researcher, Luis Hernandez, for a 4-day visit to learn


about the use of biogas on farms in Vermont, in order to
inform the Cuban national biogas project they lead. The
visit also included learning about Community Supported
Agriculture, Food Hubs, and Food Cooperatives. During
this trip, a Memorandum of Understanding between VCI
and Indio Hatuey was signed which outlines specific areas
for future collaborative work.
In November 2015 VCI served as the Via Campesina organizer of the US delegation to the International Conference
in Cuba on Agroecology organized by the National Association of Small Famers (ANAP). We secured 68 participants from the US representing urban and rural organic
farmers from across the country, as well as NGO representatives and academics. VCI also worked with the Cuba-US
Agroecology Network to coordinate 10 members of the
network to attend.

International Conference in Cuba on Agroecology

Ludwig Artist Exchange Program: For several years,


VCI has partnered with the Cuban based Ludwig Foundation which serves a large community of artists in Cuba.
This exchange program supports Cuban artists to spend
a month in Vermont learning English, volunteering with a
local NGOs and exhibiting their work. In September 2015,
two young Cuban artists one a photographer and filmmaker and the other a musician exhibited a photography
and sound exhibit at SEABAs 2015 Art Hop that took a

PO Box 8655

Burlington, VT 05402

www.VtCaribbean.org

comparative look at entrepreneurship in Havana, Cuba and Burlington,


Vermont, highlighting unique features of each citys small entrepreneurs
and drawing parallels between the two. The artists also volunteered with
the local nonprofit Migrant Justice and filmed and edited a short documentary about the organizations mission to support
migrant farm workers in Vermont.
Undergraduate and Graduate Courses: Each year VCI works with universities to custom design and carry out
courses in Cuba that address a wide
range of issues, including: marine
ecology, agroecology, food systems, gender equality, arts and culture, socio-political systems, urban architecture, among others. In January 2016 we worked with the Center for Marine Studies at the University of Havana to organize our second marine ecology course for
St. Michaels College. Students and professors spent 10 days scuba diving and
snorkeling in the northern and southern coasts of Cuba learning valuable applied
marine ecology research skills. In the spring 2016 semester, VCI Executive Director,
co-taught a marine ecology and agroecology course with Professor Joe Roman from
the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics where graduate students from the University of Vermont and the University of Havana learned about the connections between
agricultural systems and marine ecosystems.

Collaborative Research and Action Program


The Cuba-US Agroecology Network (CUSAN), a new
initiative born out of the Schumacher Center for a New

CUSAN promoters travel to Cuba

Economics in collaboration with other US-based institutions, aims to foster dialogues and collaborations between sustainable food system advocates in Cuba and
the United States. In October 2015, VCI worked with the
Schumacher Center to lead a small delegation of promoters of the network to Cuba with the goal of sharing the
concept of the network, and soliciting advice, ideas, and
support. Since then, VCI has served as the liaison with key
Cuban institutions in the development of plans for the
network. VCI, in partnership with the Schumacher Center
and the Cuban Association of Agronomists and Foresters,
is coordinating a meeting in May 2016 to formally establish the network across borders by bringing together key
agroecology stakeholders from both countries to define
the networks strategic objectives, governance and membership structure, and areas for collaboration.

PO Box 8655

VCI and the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics of the University of Vermont have partnered to establish long-term research projects and collaborations around sustainability issues with academics,
NGOs, and citizens in Cuba. Research project themes include sustainable agriculture, biodiversity conservation, economic development,
forestry, rural livelihoods, environmental policy and governance, and
climate change. VCI led a research scoping trip for 10 Gund fellows in
Jan 2016 to meet with potential partners and explore areas of mutual
interest for research collaborations. Three Cuban organizations have
committed to working with Gund and VCI to raise funds to implement

collaborative research projects. Specific areas of research include: a


ridge to reef approach that connects sustainable agriculture and coastal ecosystems; food systems action research project that explores innovative participatory network approaches to food system planning
that support agroecology and food sovereignty in Vermont and Cuba;
and participatory action research that links urban agroecology in Cuba
and Vermont.
Special Issue: Cubas Agrifood Systems in Transition: VCIs Executive Director, Margarita Fernandez, is co-editing with Cuban agroecologist, Fernando Funes Aguilar, a special issue for the open access,
nonprofit environmental science and policy journal that was spawned
by BioOne, Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene. This special issue
aims to foster exchange and dialogue on Cubas agrifood system, from
past and current sustainability successes and challenges to recommendations for continuing evolution towards sustainability under normalized relations with the U.S. We currently have 18 Cuban authors submitting articles that address a range of biophysical, social and economic
issues.
We are also working with Americas Media Initiative and a Cuban documentary film maker to produce 5 short videos that tell the story of
the evolution of agroecology in Cuba through the eyes and voices of
farmers, researchers and academics, government officials, NGO representatives and consumers. The series is called, Green Cuba: Towards
a New Agrifood System Paradigm and incorporates the following
themes: agroecology transition, public policy, agroecology science
and production, socio-cultural impacts of agroecology movement, and
agroecology and sustainable economies.

Burlington, VT 05402

www.VtCaribbean.org

The Vermont Caribbean Institute


(VCI) creates sustainable solutions
to strengthen communities in the
Caribbean and U.S. by designing
people-to-people and educational
travel opportunities and implementing collaborative research and
development projects to address
todays most pressing socioecological challenges.
We would like to thank our funders
and clients for giving us the
support we need to make our
projects a reality.
Stan and Marisha Taylor Flora
Family Foundation Christopher
Reynolds Foundation Sustainable
Future Fund University of Vermont
St. Michaels College Dartmouth
College Individual Donors
We would also like to thank our
Cuban partners for their continued
collaboration and active participation in our diverse programs.
Helmo Hernandez and the Ludwig
Foundation Dr. Eusebio Leal and
the Office of the City Historian
University of Havana Center for
Marine Studies Dr. Fernando Funes
Aguilar and Indio Hatuey Agriculture
Research Station Cuban Association
of Agronomists and Foresters
Antonio Nunez Jimenez Foundation
National Association of Small
Farmers National Institute for
Tropical Research Finca Marta
Alamar Organoponico the many
Cuban farmers and citizens
that host us.

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