Training the Caribbean territorial heritage: the CARITALENTS cooperation project in Barbados and Dominica

Abstract

Today as in the past, the Caribbean is the setting for intersections among peoples, cultures, economies and the natural environment, of which the local territorial heritage is the historical outcome. Thanks to their origins, natural and anthropic fragilities affecting these habitats are likely the most suitable to be cared by interventions based on knowledge sharing and exchange. In the Lesser Antilles, climate change and market globalization threaten the physical and human environment, imposing unsustainable socio-economic transformations and affecting namely young people disadvantaged and at risk. Therefore, the islands of Barbados and Dominica share the duty of preserving their territorial heritage against urban degradation, economic vulnerability and social disintegration. The CARITALENTS cooperation project fostered the sharing of expertise on territorial heritage between international and local experts and its transfer to local actors, especially by training young people through innovative participatory tools. Actions aimed at enhancing awareness and knowledge about local heritage are the hinge of Experimental laboratories developed throughout the territory of the islands. Two laboratories amongst the other are accounted, as selected cases useful to the assessment of the project effectiveness in renovating a collective vision on local territorial heritage from the viewpoint of young generations.