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A great meeting of thinking for a great thinker: 5th International Conference “For World Balance”
The 5th International Conference For World Balance With all and for the good of all Dialogue of Civilizations has been convened by the World Council of José Martí Project for World Solidarity and will be held in Havana from January 24 to 28 2023 The Conference will be the culmination of the International Commemoration in tribute to the 170th Anniversary of José Martís birth which is celebrated on January 28 next year In a meeting held with representatives of the Diplomatic Corps accredited in Havana the Director of the Cuban Office of Martí Programme Dr Eduardo Torres Cuevas and its Deputy Director Dr Héctor Hernández Pardo together with Ambassador Teresita Vicente Sotolongo Director of Cultural and Academic Affairs of the Cuban Foreign Ministry and Ana Margarita Morejón Director of International Affairs of the Cuban Ministry of Culture urged to stimulate the presence in the conclave of academics intellectuals artists social and religious activists representatives of political parties and from governments around the world who share the view that dialogue is necessary Dr Torres Cuevas recalled that José Martí raised the need for a way of thinking that would help maintain the world balance to understand each other to dialogue in order to be able together to think about the good of humankind That aspiration has encouraged Martís followers in all parts of the world he assured and from there the idea of these international conferences was born
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Cuba strengthens capacities for the management of its water resources in the face of climate change
Training Workshop for the formulation of projects in the hydraulic sector for the Green Climate Fund A group of 30 specialists linked to water management in Cuba more than half of them women and a third part made up of young people under 35 years of age strengthened their capacities in the formulation of projects related to water security in the face of climate change During two intense days leaders specialists and people dedicated to research at the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources INRH the Ministry of Science Technology and Environment CITMA and the business system of the water sector in Cuba received technical training aimed especially at the development of projects to be submitted to the Green Climate Fund GCF  
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Associate Project Officer for the Transcultura programme - Incubators and Scholarships
The UNESCO Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean is implementing the joint UNESCOEuropean Union programme Transcultura Integrating Cuba the Caribbean and the European Union through Culture and Creativity The Programme is built on two components the first focusing on strengthening the skills and capacities of young cultural professionals and the second on enhancing opportunities through knowledge transfer and exchanges It includes the establishment of a regional Cultural Training Hub in Cuba and will create opportunities for entrepreneurship socioeconomic projects and collaboration in the cultural and creative sectors heritage and tourism within the Caribbean region and with the European Union The programme implementation was launched at the beginning of 2020 and is expected to last until the end of 2023  The incumbent will provide support to the Programme component related to Incubators and Scholarships  
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Innovative cultural cooperation project links the Caribbean and the European Union
Launched on 13 November 2019 during the second Paris Peace Forum with US$5 million in funding from the European Union the Transcultura project aims to strengthen cultural cooperation within the Caribbean region and with the European Union
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UNESCO Transcultura Programme trains Caribbean facilitators for blended teaching
© UNESCOThe UWI Open Campus The University of the West Indies has vast experience and expertise in conducting capacitybuilding courses across the Caribbean region Photo UWIOC  The UNESCO Transcultura Programme Integrating Cuba the Caribbean and the European Union through Culture and Creativity in collaboration with The University of the West Indies The UWI Open Campus has benefitted 150 cultural facilitators from training institutions in Cuba and the Dominican Republic who received the Blended Teaching Training Course 
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Jardines de la Reina National Park: Technical support to strengthen the management and possible future preparation of a World Heritage nomination file
Seminar for managers of the main Cuban marine sites strengthens capacities Managers and administrators of Cuban marine sites strengthened technical capacities during three intense days The main authorities technical workers and specialists of Jardines de la Reina Ciénaga de Zapata and Guanahacabibes national parks gathered in the Cuban capital together with experts from the Regional Center for the Management and Handling of Underwater Natural and Cultural Heritage CUBASUB on line from Santiago de Cuba They all benefited from the technical training dedicated especially to the development of the Declaration of Outstanding Universal Value and on the procedures for preparing nominations for UNESCO World Heritage sites  
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UNESCO - EU Transcultura Programme extends until February 28 its Second Call for Applications for young Caribbean creative professionals
The Transcultura Programme Integrating Cuba the Caribbean and the European Union through Culture and Creativity launched the Second Call for Applications to the Transcultura Scholarship Scheme in partnership with the University of West Indies Open Campus UWIOC It is a fully funded scheme supporting young artists and cultural professionals developing a career related to culture and creativity Candidates will have the opportunity to enroll in short capacitybuilding online and blended courses on Cultural and Creative Industries CCI offered by the Transcultura Regional Cultural Training Hub  The Call has been extended to February 28 2022 This Call for Applications round 2 offers free access to blended courses conducted by the UWIOC for young Caribbeans within the cultural and creative sector enabling them to manage and develop their business ideas and projects The blended courses are part of the Transcultura Course Catalogue     Small Business Management     Effective management and Leadership      Effective Business Communication      Grant Proposal Writing      Financial Monitoring and Evaluation     Project Management     Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation      Finance for NonFinance Manager     Sales and Marketing Management     Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management     Brand Management  The Transcultura training opportunities are designed in both facetoface and online formats primarily in physical centres in Havana but also through partner institutions like the University of the West Indies and its Open Campus However given the need to address and adapt the capacitybuilding component of the Programme there are currently implemented exclusively in an online and blended format With this initiative Transcultura aims to deepen cultural cooperation in the Caribbean and strengthen peopletopeople cooperation by empowering young women and men as agents for sustainable development through capacity building in the cultural and creative industries seeking to boost entrepreneurship and innovation foster cooperation in the arts and culture sector and create exchanges and networks to enhance complementarity and knowledge sharing Transcultura is a fouryear Programme funded by the European Union and implemented by the UNESCO Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean  Do not miss this outstanding opportunity to become a Transcultura Fellow  Learn more and apply here httpswwwopenuwiedutransculturascholarships
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UNESCO joins Cuba in its purpose of promoting science and technology parks
The Training Workshop on innovation policies and science and technology parks organized by UNESCO Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean the Cuban National Commission for UNESCO CNCU and the Cuban Ministry of Science Technology and Environment CITMA concluded successfully in Havana on November 30 2021 with the express purpose of the Cuban authorities to promote the creation of science and technology parks in the country
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Latin America and the Caribbean celebrates 20 years of the 2001 Convention with a strengthened underwater heritage
On November 2 2021 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage reached its 20th anniversary As part of the celebrations in this region of the world the International Seminar Panorama on the management and administration of the Underwater Cultural Heritage in Latin America and the Caribbean takes place which from today until November 24 2021 is held in a virtual mode UNESCO Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean in Havana and UNESCO Office in Quito and Representation for Bolivia Colombia Ecuador and Venezuela in collaboration with all UNESCO offices in the region have organized this meeting with the aim of disseminating the various experiences reflections and case studies related to the management and administration of this heritage at the level of Latin America and the Caribbean The course is generously supported by the Maritime Program of the Heritage Agency under the Ministry of Education Culture and Science of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Numerous have been the actions implemented by UNESCO in the region during these two decades for the protection of underwater cultural heritage even before the approval of this legal instrument including more than 70 training awarenessraising and knowledge promotion activities on this important and fragile heritage both at national subregional and regional level With the seminar that begins today one of these activities concludes UNESCO Regional Virtual Course on the Training Manual for the Foundation Course of UNESCO on the Protection and Management of Underwater Cultural Heritage in Latin America and the Caribbean which since August 17 brings together nearly 80 students from 24 Member States 11 of them from the Caribbean and which had prestigious specialists and international experts mostly from the Latin American and Caribbean region in charge of teaching the different subjects The training included 11 learning modules lasting one week each which addressed the contents of different units of the Manual of UNESCO Foundation Course on the Protection and Management of Underwater Cultural Heritage except for the eleventh which focused on the collaborative design of archaeological research project proposals
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National Network of Biosphere Reserves is strengthened in Cuba
On November 17 2021 an important meeting that had been postponed by the COVID19 pandemic became a reality the National Workshop on Cubas Biosphere Reserves which brought together in Havana in person and virtually the managers of the six biosphere reserves in the country  Since the official visit to Cuba of the Director General of UNESCO Audrey Azoulay in December 2019 it had been agreed to hold this event under the auspices of this organization Thanks to the joint efforts of the Cuban Ministry of Science Technology and Environment CITMA its Environment Agency AMA together with the Cuban National Commission for UNESCO CNCU and UNESCO Regional Office for Culture in America Latin America and the Caribbean it was possible to materialize this important meeting in a very special context the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the creation of Man and the Biosphere MaB Programme as Tatiana Villegas Officer in Charge of UNESCO Office recalled in her opening remarks also highlighting that    
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Caribbean museums strengthen their capacities with the support of UNESCO in the fight against illegal trafficking of cultural properties
In the last decades the illegal trafficking of cultural property has grown to epidemic proportions already comparable to those of the international illicit trafficking of drugs or weapons Caribbean countries face illicit trafficking in preColumbian religious and colonial cultural heritage as well as the illicit trading of underwater cultural heritage from shipwrecks and other submerged structures UNESCO Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean in Havana in collaboration with UNESCO Cluster Office for the Caribbean in Kingston have organized the Virtual Seminar Strengthening the capacities of museum staff in the Caribbean countries for the management of collections with a focus on risk management and the fight against illicit trafficking of cultural property  The initiative is part of the project Improving regional cooperation in the fight against illicit trafficking of cultural property in Latin America and the Caribbean jointly launched by both Offices with the objective of strengthening the capacities museum staff to ensure proper management conservation and preservation of their collections and to improve their response to possible natural and human threats 
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Cimafunk: “Super happy and grateful for this UNESCO initiative”
To Cimafunk music is medicine It can cure or intoxicate you It can cure or intoxicate you It may change your personality completely making you evolve or regress It can open your mind and show you other ways to see the world Music is sound playing with time Thats ancient and powerful magic   With this conviction Cimafunk and his band will arrive at the Worldwide Music Expo WOMEX to be held in Porto Portugal from 29 to 31 October Their musical proposal combining Funk and AfroCuban sounds was one of the winners of the UNESCO TransculturaWomex Call which invited Caribbean music groups to apply for a place to perform under the auspices of the UNESCO Transcultura Programme at Europes largest world music event Cimafunk made a major impact on the Cuban music scene in 2018 with his debut album Terapia and since then his popularity continues on the rise Although his name already appears alongside the worlds Funk greats and on stage in the United States and Europe participating in WOMEX is an opportunity he highly values   
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A Cuban woman who promotes gender equality to the rhythm of the Son wins the UNESCO Transcultura Programme call
Yarima Blanco has the vital energy of a person born in eastern Cuba In 2006 she became the first woman to graduate from the University of the Arts ISA majoring in the tres a fact that has marked her life on a journey with an instrument that until then had been the exclusive domain of men in higher education Today Yarima directs and heads the septet Yarima Blanco y Son Latino where she defies no few myths every day One of those challenges is her performance with the tres a stringed instrument born in rural areas that plays a leading role in the soundtrack of peasant festivals in Cuba