Vice-Chancellor’s OVERVIEW
SUNY-UWI Center for Leadership and Sustainable Development
Dr. Keith Nurse, one of the pioneers of research in Climate Action for The UWI, and executive producer of Forward Home: The Power of the Diaspora , participated in a lively discussion session with attendees after the showing of his film on October 28 at SUNY University in Albany. The Center also played a key role in assisting with the organization and staging of the successful Climate Action Summit on September 20, 2019. The gathering was the brainchild of Dr. Stacy Kennedy, Director, The UWI Office of Global Partnerships and Sustainable Futures, who spearheaded this high- level session which brought together in one space at the SUNY Global Center, in New York, an august gathering of development partners from around the globe. Senior representatives hailed from agencies like the UNDP, the World Bank, the IMF, and the CDB. Coming down the pipeline is the second joint academic programme under the auspices of the SUNY UWI CLSD, a dual Master’s programme in Leadership and Sustainable Development to be delivered by The UWI Open Campus and SUNY Empire State College. A strong demand is anticipated for this programme, which has already received approval at the State Board level. It will help to equip leaders and community influencers with key skills needed to analyze and meet the demands of our modern society, employing the science of sustainable development to facilitate optimization of resources, economic growth and social progress. The operations of the Center are jointly managed by co-directors, Ann-Marie Grant, for The UWI and Dr. La Tasha Brown, for SUNY.
The SUNY UWI Center for Leadership and Sustainable Development (SUNY UWI CLSD) is the pioneering collaboration between The UWI and the State University of New York (SUNY). It was established primarily to focus on the challenges constraining the achievement of the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Caribbean and its diaspora in New York, as well as empowering underserved communities through advocacy, providing access to solution-oriented research and academic programmes. Reaching out to the “man in the street”, the Center leverages popular aspects of the culture of the Caribbean and the Diaspora, featuring them as part of the ongoing series of community engagement events that are open to the public at no cost. On August 19, 2019, a forum titled “The Caribbean Music Industry 2019—What’s next for Reggae, Dancehall and breakout artists?”, featured keynote speaker Dr. Carolyn Cooper— Professor Emerita of The UWI, who delivered a riveting session to an appreciative audience. Contributing to the catalogue of knowledge about the industry was a group of expert panellists drawn from media, artistes and artist management personnel. The CLSD also hosted the Caribbean Diaspora Film Series. Five films, including Life and Debt , were shown over the period June to November 2019 at various SUNY Campus sites. Audiences were able to have discussions with the directors of these powerful and stirring films. The selection was based on the films’ ability to portray culture and history in ways that examine the political, economic and cultural development of the region and the Diaspora.
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