"SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES" or "VILLAGE BEAUTIFUL AND SUSTAINABLE" AWARDS INITIATIVE:
A Draft AELLC/DAAS Proposal for "Reunion 2008"
RATIONALE
There are a number of reasons for promoting sustainable village development in Dominica.(*) Historically, villages have been marginalized by the hyper-centrality of the main town or towns to national economic life. Moreover, in Dominica, the extremely rugged terrain and frequent natural disasters have made the villages even more isolated from each other and the main towns than is the case elsewhere. Indeed, rural communities have been adversely affected in disproportionate ways by the major problems impacting Dominica's development over the last thirty or so years. By far the most compelling of these problems have been hurricanes and other natural disasters and the loss, or drastic decline, of the traditional banana market. The wiping out of economic livelihoods through natural disasters and the economic ravages of globalization has led to mass migration and serious population loss. This, again, has disproportionately affected rural communities, which have been unable to sustain a "critical mass" of population, one of the factors necessary for socio-economic viability and development. This loss of population has been dramatically illustrated in recent times by closure of village schools due to lack of students. It should be pointed out that women and youth have been particularly marginalized by economic decline in the rural communities and have been at the forefront of exit migrant streams.
On the other hand, the villages are both physically and economically central to (a)Dominica's natural asset and heritage base, (b)growing economic trends, and (c)new economic possibilities and openings. Thus villages or rural communities comprise the human settlements in closest proximity to Dominica's rich rainforest and water resources, including the Morne Trois Pitons World Heritage Site. Hence, it might be said, they comprise those most immediately charged with trusteeship (on behalf of, and together with, other Dominicans and the world community) of those precious resources. Secondly, rural communities are central to new economic trends and possibilities, some of these indicative of rather typical Caribbean developments and others connected to Dominica's unique ecological asset base. Thus as a counterfoil to the loss of population and traditional agricultural markets we see a number of new entrants within the inner or outer boundaries of village life: to name two, returnees and/or retirees who have built new houses and have re-located to the area, often bringing with them great reserves of energy, ideas and skills; and hotel, sightseeing, adventure- and eco-tourism, and related recreational enterprises which have opened up in the interior regions and in or near villages. More intimately connected to the livelihoods of village residents and rural producers are both the existing and the potential economic alternatives associated with "fair trade" markets for agricultural products, crafts and other cottage industry products. The development of the fair trade banana market looms large in Dominica's national economic agenda, and rural producers resident in villages have been at the centre of this development. In addition, rural producers and service providers are key stakeholders in the organization of diverse alternative export and tourist markets, which are expected to form the centerpiece of Dominica's national economic profile in the near future. One can sum up by saying that village development (infrastructural, institutional, economic, and human-resource) lies at the very core of the new economic trends that either already, or have the potential to, form the mainspring of Dominica's economic strategy: "fair trade" and other alternative and niche markets in agro-products and cottage industrial products; ecotourism, adventure tourism and heritage tourism; and, possibly, educational and cyber-industries. It is imperative, therefore, that rural residents and producers build their capacity for taking full advantage of, creating, and exercising participatory control over the impact of these opportunities.
OBJECTIVES
The overall objective of this proposed initiative is to use the arena provided by REUNION 2008 for the strategic advancement of the following goals:
- To promote village infrastructural, institutional and human-resource capacity
- To enhance the profile of villages or rural communities in national (self-) awareness; specifically to increase awareness of village problems, achievements, and special roles in national development
- To showcase unique historical and contemporary village profiles on the national stage
- To promote village pride, self-esteem, and self-awareness, as well as inter-village & island-wide relations
- To discuss and raise awareness of sustainable and participatory development challenges, potential and opportunities
- To create island-wide and island/diaspora participatory networks, using the medium of friendly competition and contests.
PROPOSAL DESCRIPTION
The proposal is to have villages or village groups enter an award competition in which they will be judged in four basic areas: (1)environmental sustainability, (2)economic sustainability, (3)civic engagement and participation, and (4)historic heritage and creative writing. Both an overall village award and category awards to groups and individuals might be offered.
- The environmental component will include for consideration: promotion of environmental awareness; pro-active initiatives in environmental protection and ecological sustainability; and an aesthetic enhancement or beautification sub-component.
- The economic component will include for consideration: strategies for coping with economic loss or devastation from natural disasters or the negative impact of globalization; building innovative, alternative and sustainable economic livelihoods and new local and global links; village economic cooperation.
- The civic component will include for consideration: dynamism in village councils; participatory, inclusive and democratic civic institutions and civic engagement; and participation by women and youth in village governance and civic associations
- The historic heritage and creative writing component will showcase a "Village History: Oral, Archival and Monumental Sources" section and a creative writing section. This competition will reward the best accounts of village history using oral sources (interviewing older informants) and various archival sources (village and national archives; church archives; family letters and other private collections), the preservation and presentation of historical monuments, AND the best creative and fiction writing -- maybe limited to short stories and nonfiction creative writing essays -- featuring village life and settings. This section, like the others, needs more refinement, and may need to be open to island-wide participation, but the focus of the overall project on the villages should be maintained for reasons laid out in the rationale.
The following areas are not yet well developed:
Judging the Competition
I suggest judging teams include both local and diaspora folks, selected for their area of expertise and experience. The initiative should also seek local co-sponsorship from non-governmental organizations and appropriate government departments or parastatals. The Adult Education Committee of DAAS is proposing to coordinate the historic heritage and creative writing component from the diaspora end, and to begin by locating local partners who would be willing to flesh out and help to implement the ideas we have put forward.
Awards
Awards might include: money; being featured on a new "Village Beautiful and Sustainable" website (built with the voluntary or semi-voluntary assistance of a website designer); being guaranteed the services of at least one consultant in an area of need defined by the village for up to one year; or resources such as computers or agro-processing machinery. It would be necessary to raise funds or other resources to furnish the awards.
*
For now, we retain the designation "village" as a way of specifically directing our focus to the rural communities in distinction from the "towns" (Roseau and Portsmouth). The fact that this project proposes to focus explicitly on the rural communities in no way implies a bias against urban communities. It is, rather, a recognition that development, both planned and unplanned, has tended traditionally to be urban-centric and neglectful of rural community sustainability and viability. As one project among many, it is intended to help, in some small way, to redress this imbalance.
