At the International Earth Summit convened in Rio de Janeiro in 1994, all nations of the world were mandated to protect the environment for the benefit of present and future generations. This collection introduces the reader to the major issues involved in the management of a number of resources critical to Caribbean development. The chapters discuss the sustainability of water, fisheries and agriculture in the region from a variety of perspectives. Particular emphasis is also given to the use of energy, recreation and coastal resource management and their impact on the fragile ecosystem. The book makes a contribution to the ongoing debate of sustainable environmental management within the region and the world.

This multidisciplinary volume dicusses the impact of tourism on sustainable development in the Caribbean, the Pacific, and the Mediterranean. Bringing together scholars, development practitioners, international experts, and professionals, the contributors discuss the issues from a holistic and transnational perspective. This work provides a much-needed, thorough understanding of the interplay among economic, cultural, environmental, and public health parameters. The contributors provide a workable definition of sustainable development that can be understood, conveyed, and implemented by policy makers, development practitioners, and tourism professionals. Among the special issues addressed here are the role of women in tourism, the contradictions inherent in cultural tourism, the hegemony of tour operators, disease mapping and risk assessment, and island community involvement in tourism-related land-use planning.

Since the economic decline in the early 1980s, most countries in Central America and the Caribbean have returned to positive growth rates. The recovery often coincided with or followed extensive neoliberal reforms. The contributors to this book address the crucial question of whether these growth rates are sustainable. Several aspects of sustainability are assessed, in particular macroeconomic, social, and ecological aspects. The book includes both comparative analyses focusing on one of these aspects of sustainability, and country case studies. The conclusion is that these countries have not yet arrived at a sustainable growth path due to, for example, high levels of foreign and domestic debt, worrisome trade gaps, a lack of social integration and irresponsible exploitation of natural resources. In sum, the analysis points to serious weaknesses in the current neoliberal model, the implications of which go far beyond this particular region.

The book explores the historical development and status of political and economic institutions in The Caribbean. The Caribbean institutional reality is studied vis-à-vis best international practices. The main objective is identifying positive aspects and institutional areas in need of improvement that could facilitate a sustainable development path in The Caribbean.

The Caribbean countries, and many other Third World countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa, have been under the yoke of structural adjustment measures for more than a decade. Numerous studies have addressed the inequality of North-South relations, the lack of transparency in negotiations that have led to the signature of agreements, the absence of a clear definition of responsibilities of the parties engaged, the inadequacy and inadaptation of policies with regard to the socio-cultural context, and especially the refusal to take into account the social demands of the most deprived. The criticisms formulated in this book can only find a beginning of solutions by the setting up of a solid administrative organization in which the public officials are made accountable and who, once aware of the national and international stakes, can confront the constraints involved in State/international negotiation relations. The book is a very rich presentation of the concept and the problems of structural adjustment and institutional development in the developing countries. Beside the impressive introduction and the convincing conclusion, the articles on these prerequisites for institutional sustainability present the most important empirical research results. The contents is a clear description of problems, failures and results in institutional reforms.

Although the world is saturated with extraordinary methods, innovation, and technology, the Caribbean seems to have been left behind in the sustainable growth of global development. While the majority of the world defines the Caribbean as "paradise," the reality of life for Afro-Caribbean culture is defined by an unrelenting hardship. This book comprehensively analyzes this phenomenon from a unique and intimate perspective in order to offer a viable pathway to sustainable growth. By examining the historic progression of the Caribbean region and the African culture within, the author explores the relationship between creative practice and socioeconomic crisis and questions whether limited access to environments that facilitate original and conceptual ideas correlates with socioeconomic crisis. The outcomes and methods of analysis developed in this book are a useful tool for other cultures or organizations seeking to diffuse socioeconomic crisis and implement a pathway of sustainable growth. This innovative book will be of great interest to students and scholars of cultural and sustainability studies, Caribbean and African Studies, as well as Development and Sustainable Development