Guest Articles
Engagement and the Foundation for Development Planning, Inc.

The Foundation for Development Planning, Inc. (FDPI) routinely engages with other organizations and the general public in various ways, ranging from information sharing to supporting the work of other organizations to participation in networks. That engagement is guided by a public engagement strategy. The FDPI understands engagement as a mutually beneficial process and therefore encourages individuals and organizations to become […]

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Climate Change and Health: potential scenarios for small islands in the Caribbean

By Pablo A. Méndez-Lázaro Climate change presents evolving challenges to human health and to the distribution and diversity of living natural resources (IPCC, 2007; Bozzi and Dubrow, 2020). Some of these challenges are due to changing temperatures and weather patterns (Villarini et al. 2011). Extreme events, such as heat waves, widespread flooding, or very strong storms, are of interest to […]

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Small and Medium Enterprises as Indicators of Resilience to Climate Change in the Caribbean

By Asad Mohammed and Perry Polar Paper presented at the Forum for the Future of the Caribbean – May 2015 Abstract The Caribbean’s contribution to global climate change is negligible, but the projected impacts of global climate change on the region may be devastating, given the limited adaptive capacity of the region’s small islands and low-lying coastal states. Understanding a […]

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Re-thinking Environmental Justice

By Perry Polar.   June 5, 2021 In 2020, I was a panelist on the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) City Network’s webinar titled: The New Urban Normal: Climate Inclusion for Equitable Cities. Environmental justice was at the center of the discourse. I have encountered several definitions of environmental justice, with a common thread being the recognition that non-desirable environmental impacts are […]

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Increasing Impact through Collective Action

In a 1994 speech on effective public administration for local government systems, the late Professor Edwin Jones shared what he considered to be the role of public administration in building “… macro organizational capacities, to ensure co-operation among organizations and to steer such organizations toward effective problem-solving via collective decision making.”  He suggested that the actions of public administration “… […]

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Farmers Challenge: Demonstrating the Impact of Advocacy on Public Policy

By Floyd Homer       October 16, 2020 This article demonstrates how advocacy and public awareness can influence public policy and catalyse action on behalf of farmers and farming communities.  Action and advocacy was designed around a short documentary, Farmers Challenge, which highlights the plight of farmers in the small community of Plum Mitan in east Trinidad, of the twin island State […]

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Water Issues in Guadeloupe: From the tunnel of a segmented approach to the prospects of a networked urban response

By Axel Grava     March 20, 2020 Sustainable Development Goal 6 focuses on the need to “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all“.  That goal is difficult to achieve in Small Island Developing States (SIDS), such as Guadeloupe, which are likely to experience water shortages. 71% to 91% of low-lying SIDS face the risk of […]

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Ecological Spaces in Urban Communities: Kingston as an Ecological Space

By Toni-Ann Reid and Winston Quest     October 6, 2017 Paper presented at the Caribbean Urban Forum 2017 Abstract The compounded effects of climate change, escalating population growth, increased land development, alongside socio-economic challenge expose weaknesses in Jamaica’s urban communities, highlighting the vulnerabilities and emphasize the need for sustainable interventions towards a resilient future. What if we designed a new city […]