ACTIVEACTIVE CITIZENSHIPCITIZENSHIP FORFOR AA SUSTAINABLESUSTAINABLE ECONOMYECONOMY Abstracts from the Fourth International Exchange Organized by the Antonio Núñez Jiménez Foundation and Kettering Foundation Havana, Cuba February 2-3, 2016 ACTIVEACTIVE CITIZENSHIPCITIZENSHIP FORFOR AA SUSTAINABLESUSTAINABLE ECONOMYECONOMY Abstracts from the Fourth International Exchange Organized by the Antonio Núñez Jiménez Foundation and Kettering Foundation Havana, Cuba February 2-3, 2016 Editors: Ileana Marin and Esther Velis Consulting Editor: Ramón Daubón Copy Editors: Joey Easton and Carlos Landaburu Translator: Ramón Daubón Design and Production: Long’s Graphic Design, Inc. The interpretations and conclusions contained in this publication, unless expressly stated to the contrary, represent the views of the authors and not necessarily those of the Kettering Foundation, its directors, or officers, or of the Antonio Núñez Jiménez Foundation, its directors, or officers. www.kettering.org www.fanj.org Copyright © 2018 by the Kettering Foundation CONTENTS Introduction 1 Ileana Marin and Esther Velis WHAT IS ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP? 5 Cayucas SOS: Active Citizenship for a Sustainable Economy 6 Liliana Núñez and Roberto Sánchez Cuba: Spaces for Citizenship in the Political Context of the Transition 9 Rafael Hernández Means and Obstacles for Democracy in Latin America and the Caribbean 12 Aurelio Alonso The Role of the Corporate Citizen in a Newly Industrialized Cuba 15 Julia Sagebien WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP 19 IN GROWING A SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY? Economic Citizenship: Citizens in Economic Change 20 Randall Nielsen and Ramón Daubón Cities in Transition: Programmatic Bases and Practical Experiences of the 23 Break-the-Circle Transition Institute in Spain Emilio Santiago North American Association for Environmental Education: An Overview 27 Judy Braus WHAT ARE THE CENTRAL CONFLICTS THAT NEED TO BE WORKED THROUGH 31 IN ORDER TO HAVE A SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY (FROM AN ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, AND POLITICAL POINT OF VIEW)? Active Citizenship for a Sustainable Economy 32 John Dedrick An Overview of Cuba’s Economic Trajectory 36 Ricardo Torres Coaching as an Effective Tool for Community Work 39 Marilyn Fernández Female Employment in the New Cuban Economic Model: Unresolved Issues 42 Marta Núñez HOW CAN INSTITUTIONS AND CITIZENS PRODUCTIVELY WORK TOGETHER 45 TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE CREATION OF A SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY? Developing Economic Citizenship in West Virginia 46 Betty Knighton Opening a Path: Active Citizen Participation for Environmental Rehabilitation 50 Ana Margarita de la Torre and Mirlena Rojas Closing Remarks: The Value of an Active Citizenry 53 David Mathews Z Introduction Ileana Marin, Kettering Foundation, and Esther Velis, Antonio Núñez Jiménez Foundation The Antonio Núñez Jiménez Foundation exchanges with groups in the United States (FANJ) and the Kettering Foundation (KF) are and in other countries around the world, engaged in ongoing exchanges to understand including Russia and China. how active citizenship can be strengthened For KF, there is particular interest in and nurtured to better people’s lives through- learning how NGOs that work with citizens out the Western Hemisphere. This exchange in communities are able to align their work began more than a decade ago and, to date, with that of an active citizenry—especially in has included four conferences: two held in addressing the kinds of complex, pernicious Cartagena, Colombia, in 2008 and 2009, and problems that require an array of community two held in Havana, Cuba, in 2014 and 2016. actors if any progress is to be made in address- This current publication brings together ing them. There are rich opportunities for abstracts of the presentations made by partici- learning from the work of FANJ and other pants in the 2016 conference, which was titled organizations it works with in encouraging Active Citizenship for a Sustainable Economy. active citizenship to address domestic issues The approach that KF has taken in the in Cuba, particularly at the local level of exchanges with FANJ is consistent with its neighborhoods, villages, towns, and regions. longstanding practice of developing learning We also think that what KF has learned about exchanges with foundations and other non- communities engaging effectively to address governmental organizations (NGOs) in other complex problems may prove useful to FANJ countries that work directly with communities. and Cuban NGOs as they attempt to engage The relationships develop over extended with local communities. periods of time—as the case with FANJ illus- One area of collaboration has included trates—and they are grounded in a shared an exploration of the role of communities in commitment to experimentation, learning, and addressing environmental protection, conser- sharing what the different participants are vation, and sustainability, particularly in light learning from engaging with citizens in com- of pressures for economic growth. Both foun- munities in their own context. Periodically, the dations want to understand how communities participants meet face-to-face to discuss the wrestle with these tensions. In this respect, KF problems they are addressing, why they are has extensive experience collaborating with addressing them, what they are doing about NGOs in the United States and in other them, and what they are learning from the work. countries that are engaging citizens in address- This approach has been pursued by KF in ing similar environmental challenges. Work ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP FOR A SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY • 1 Introduction in this area includes the development of is- further on this theme in the regional sue guides to encourage deliberation about context in his article, “Means and the trade-offs inherent in any decision. The Obstacles for Democracy in Latin deliberative issue guides that have been de- America and the Caribbean”; while veloped include The Environment at Risk Julia Sagebien, associate professor at (1989), Energy Options (1991), The Energy the School of Business Administration Problem (2006), Sustaining Ourselves (2012), at the Canadian Dalhousie University, America’s Energy Future: How Can We Take writes about the role of what she refers Charge? (2015), and, in collaboration with to as the corporate citizen in a newly the North American Association for Envi- industrialized Cuba. ronmental Education, Climate Choices: How • Randall Nielsen, KF program officer, Should We Meet the Challenges of a Warming and Ramón Daubón, independent Planet? (2016). consultant, discuss economic citizen- In its capacity as a Cuban foundation ship and the role of citizens in economic that does research on the protection of the change. Emilio Santiago, an expert in environment and its relationship to culture the politics of ecology and economy in and society, FANJ invited KF to Havana for Spain, writes about the “Movement for an exchange with practitioners and academ- Cities in Transition,” which was created ics representing eight Cuban organizations, by civil society and citizen organiza- two US organizations, and three organiza- tions in his country to address today’s tions from Canada, Panama, and Spain. socio-ecological crisis. Judy Braus, The participants in the 2016 Havana ex- president of the US-based North change were invited to talk about their efforts American Association for Environmen- to encourage active citizenship for a sustain- tal Education, offers an overview of able economy in their particular contexts: how her organization uses education • Liliana Núñez, FANJ president, and to encourage a heightened level of Roberto Sánchez, director of the FANJ awareness about our environment. nature and community program, • The central conflicts that need to be speak to the role of active citizenship worked through in order to have a in developing a sustainable economy sustainable economy (from an envi- in their piece, “Cayucas SOS: Active ronmental, social, economic, and Citizenship for a Sustainable Econ- political point of view) are addressed omy.” So does Rafael Hernández, in the piece by John Dedrick, KF vice- director of Temas magazine, in his president and program director, and article, “Cuba: Spaces for Citizenship in the overview of Cuba’s economic in the Political Context of the Transi- trajectory by Ricardo Torres, professor tion.” Aurelio Alonso, deputy director with the Center for Studies of Cuban of Casa de las Américas, elaborates Economy CEEC. Marilyn Fernandez, 2 • ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP FOR A SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY Introduction program officer with the United similar challenges in the United States and Nations’ Habitat program in Cuba, Cuba, we decided to delve more deeply into makes the case for coaching as an the question of how communities become effective tool for community work, resilient. Representatives from Havana, while Marta Núñez, a sociologist and Cojimar, and Guanabo (Cuba), and from professor at the University of Havana, Mobile and Baldwin counties in Alabama focuses on one of the “unresolved (United States) have been exploring this issues,” as she calls female employ- question. Their work will form the core of ment in the new Cuban economic our January 2018 exchange, which will also model. be held in Havana. • Some of the ways in which institutions We would like to close by expressing our and citizens productively work together deep gratitude to each of the authors, transla- to contribute to the creation of a sus- tors, editors, and layout and design specialists, tainable