Sustainability, Art, and Culture Combine in Cuba
On January 8, the 2020 Winter Sustainability Studies Abroad in Cuba program will depart to spend two weeks studying the Complexities of Sustainability. The program features a newly revamped curriculum in partnership with local organizations, and students will have the opportunity to work directly with Cubans on organic farms, UNESCO Heritage sites, and neighborhood issues. They will also get involved with a clean-up or two along the way! (Spanish language not required.)
Photo: Stony Brook study abroad students spend a day working on an organic farm in Cuba during the 2018 Winter Sustainability Studies Abroad in Cuba program.
For a number of reasons, Cuba represents a wonderful case study for the value of using the natural history, arts, media, and cultural traditions as a means of encouraging citizens to adopt environmentally sustainable practices. Since the 1990s, Cuba has been in the unique situation of being forced to address sustainable agricultural and environmental practices. Given the pressure to increase tourism to keep money flowing into Cuba, the need to reform industrial farming practices, and the need to address failing infrastructure after the end of Soviet assistance (called the Special Period), Cuba has made a number of dramatic decisions to move toward sustainability. As governments around the world have found, laws and incentives may do a lot to encourage changes in daily choices toward sustainability, and long-term change must use existing arts to make sustainability a part of culture.
"Studying abroad in Cuba is an eye opening experience for those who study sustainability, talk about sustainability, and preach sustainability, but only by choice," said Matt Desiderio, a senior in Sustainability Studies who participated in the 2018 Winter in Cuba program. "In Cuba there are no other options."
During the trip, we will visit multiple organic farms in Havana as well as in rural areas in western Cuba. On the southern coast we will visit Parque Nacional Cienaga de Zapata (a UNESCO site), the Bay of Pigs, Playa Larga. In the mountains to the east, we will visit Las Terrazas, Viñales, and spend the night in Pinar del Rio. During our time in Havana, students will have the chance to visit with Cuban writers and performers interested in environmental outreach and will tour important sites throughout the city.
"Going to Cuba was a transformational experience that highlighted the relationship between the United States and Cuba through candid discussion with everyday Cubans," said past participant Adam Creglia. "It gave me a unique perspective on the environmental challenges that face our world today and highlighted sustainable solutions to fighting climate change."