Join Dr. Joseph L. Scarpaci, Executive Director of the Center for the Study of Cuban Culture + Economy (CSCCE) and REVITALIZATION publisher Storm Cunningham on June 21-28, 2017, for the Revitalization + Sustainability Bamboo Workshop. You’ll enjoy one week in Cuba to participate in a hands-on workshop about revitalization practices!
Coffee and chocolate in abundance
Cuban bamboo is resilient, as are the people. It is a potentially useful and sustainable native grass that has been under-utilized on the island. Unlike its Latin neighbor, Colombia, or parts of Southeast Asia, Cuba is only now exploring the many potentials of this “miracle grass”.
We join Cuban hosts engineer Carlos Martínez Romero and artist Gisela Rodríguez Vilaboy, in their interdisciplinary workshop in Havana’s Chinatown for hands-on work in assembling small bamboo products and re-imagining revitalization.
Exotic wildlife abounds
We begin with a walking tour of Centro and Old Havana by Dr. Scarpaci, exploring urban planning issues of re-purposing buildings and vacant lots. Walking-tour topics include urban revitalization, impromptu loft-building, urban gardens, co-locating work/job, and more.
Our introduction to the bamboo workshop starts off with a short safety course on the use of certain machines (drill press, sanders, circular saw).
Next, we tour local homes to get a sense of the kinds of household products that could be used by senior citizens, toddlers, and other residents.
Tiano Indians dance with tourists
Hosts Rodríguez and Martínez will provide feedback as small teams of two or three participants set out to use this sustainable material to satisfy a household need determined from their neighborhood/household reconnaissance.
The emphasis is on discovery and creativity to meet local needs with local solutions, rather than a silver-bullet fix.
Back in Havana, we will finalize team design projects, explore the rest of Metropolitan Havana through a city tour.
Cienfuegos
This is where decades of experimentation, composting, worker stimulation, and business-to-business partnerships have launched a sustainable enterprise in what was previously vacant land near a public housing project.
While the focus is on fun and adventure, the Revitalization + Sustainability Bamboo Workshop will likely be one of the most memorable and valuable learning experiences of your life.
Dr. Joseph L. Scarpaci has visited Cuba more than 80 times since 1990 and has co-published with Cuban experts in the fields of historic preservation, Cuban branding, landscape, and entrepreneurship on the island. He has served as Executive Director of the Center for the Study of Cuban Culture and Economy since 2010, and has introduced more than 800 American travelers to Cuba. Contact: joescarpaci@gmail.com. Tel: (540) 230-3143.
Storm Cunningham, Guest Expert, publishes REVITALIZATION: The Journal of Social, Economic, and Environmental Renewal. He is on top of the latest trends in urban-rural regeneration, nature, nature restoration, and economic resilience. George Ochs, Managing Director of JP Morgan, has called Storm “The world’s thought leader on community revitalization and natural resource restoration.” Storm’s landmark first book (in 2002) was The Restoration Economy. His first trip to Cuba researched and consulted on the restoration of Havana’s Alemendares River. Contact: storm@revitalization.org Tel: (202 684-6815
See CSCCE website.
