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CONTENTS
IN
FOCUS
p 2 - The
miracle of light
NEWS
p 8 - Ten
years to develop centres of excellence in Africa
p 8- Time to regulate deep-sea gold rush, experts say
p 9 - Fellowships for African physicists
p 10 - 21 projects help to engineer a better world
p 10 - GRASP vows to curb great ape loss by 2010
p 11 - Seven natural sites enrich World Heritage
p 12 - 23 new Biosphere Reserves
p 12 - Saudi Arabia gives boost to Palestinian higher
education
INTERVIEW
p 13 - Stephen
Hill on why recovery is taking so long in Aceh
HORIZONS
p 16 - Caribbean
science under the microscope
p 20 - Cuban science: a jewel in the Caribbean crown
IN BRIEF
p 24 - Diary
p 24 - New releases
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Not
business as usual
The
Cuban Ministry of Science and Technology (S&T) and UNESCO
are organizing a regional conference on Science, Technology
and Innovation for Sustainable Development from 1 to 3 December
in Havana. The organizers are deliberately departing from
a business-as-usual approach. Rather than aiming for the adoption
of a set of recommendations – the more usual outcome
of conferences of this kind – they will be putting on
the table a series of projects for regional co-operation that
participants will be invited to criticize, improve upon and
possibly approve. These operational projects will include
such areas as disaster risk reduction, science education and
science popularization. UNESCO will then assist Member States
in identifying project funding. The rationale behind this
approach is that projects are an effective way of stimulating
intra-regional co-operation in areas of common concern.
UNESCO has long been a proponent of South–South co-operation
throughout the developing world. In Latin America and the
Caribbean, its Regional Bureau for Science in Montevideo (Uruguay)
has been involved in regional projects for technical co-operation
for decades. UNESCO has also played a major role in creating
regional scientific networks; the two most recent ones were
launched in 1998: the network of research and development
(R&D) and science programmes in the Caribbean (Cariscience)
and the network of R&D for postgraduates in science in
Central America (Red-CienciA).
Financial and political instability in recent decades has
taken its toll on S&T in Latin America. Today, the region
represents 8.3% of the world population and 8.9% of world
GDP but just 3.2% of world expenditure on R&D and 2.6%
of scientific articles. Countries have come to realize that,
if their region is to take its rightful place on the international
scene, they are going to have to pull together. That will
entail strengthening intra-regional ties.
Latin America and the Caribbean is a highly diverse region.
Countries devote from as little as 0.1% to 1.0% of GDP to
R&D. Seven states account for 92% of scientific articles
published in mainstream journals: Brazil (40%), Argentina
and Mexico (a combined share of 20%) and, in equal parts,
Chile, Colombia, Cuba and Venezuela.
In the Caribbean, Cuba is a unique case. Contrary to its neighbours,
which still hesitate to embrace a ‘science culture’,
Cuba has invested heavily in biotechnologies and is today
reaping the dividends. In this issue, we take a closer look
at the research situation in both Cuba and the countries of
the Caribbean Common Market.
W.
Erdelen
Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences
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UNESCO
Scientific 
