Support for the Trinidad and Tobago Sustainable Development Network

The purpose of this Network is to create a mechanism through which civic society would seek to influence the process for planning for sustainable development and its implementation in Trinidad and Tobago, as well as to contribute to the approach and content of particular development proposals....

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Climate Change

The Cropper Foundation is in the process of developing a programme of activities to address the issue of climate change.
Reports include:

Outcome from Regional Project to Assess Regional Priorities, Capabilities and Research Gaps on Climate Change and Poverty Reduction in Latin America and the Caribbean:

In 2000, The Cropper Foundation decided to host its first residential writers' workshop. From aspiring writers to university professors, publishers and readers, we all felt that the problem of writing in the Caribbean was far greater than just the lack of publishing opportunities. Publication is almost the last stage in process of creating literature. The place for us to start seemed to be at the other end; with mentoring. Through our partnership with the Centre for Creative and Festival Arts at the University of the West Indies we have now been able to offer three workshops, one each year since 2000, as a three-week residential programme. The generous contributions of time and guidance of the University's Funso Aiyejina and Merle Hodge have given shape and substance to the kind of programme we felt could begin to make a difference in the lives and work of developing writers.

In 2002 we hosted the third of these workshops in Trinidad, in Grande Riviere on the island's stunning north-east coast. Participants came from Grenada, Trinidad, Jamaica, Guyana and the UK. Their programme consisted of time for independent work and the opportunity for both peer review and the experienced tutelage of the facilitators. The writers also benefited from the experience of visiting speakers like Trinidadian novelist Earl Lovelace and Jamaican writer Rachel Manley. 
At the end of 2002, we decided that there would not be a 2003 workshop. We would instead use the time to work on developing new ideas.

The Panel Discussion: The Role of Literature in Shaping Caribbean Civilisation
In an effort to extend the parameters of our support for writers and writing, TCF wanted to engage a wider literary community: not just aspiring writers but teachers, critics, journalists, book sellers and readers.

The public was invited to a panel discussion on the theme The Role of Literature in Shaping Caribbean Civilisation. An afternoon proved just enough to scratch the surface. Our idea of who we are and how we write our narratives bears considerable discussion - and it is a discussion many are willing to engage in. Near 200 people arrived on a rainy Saturday afternoon to listen to Earl Lovelace, Rachel Manley and literary critic Kenneth Ramchand and to share their own views. Apart from a sharing of diverse perspectives and experiences, this was a theme in search of definitions: What constitutes our literature? What is this process of shaping - how are we shaped and how, in turn, do we shape? And of course, perhaps the most elusive definition of all - what is this thing we might refer to as Caribbean civilisation?

That no conclusions could be arrived at was beside the point: of far greater significance was the dialogue and debate generated. Like many of our efforts, we recognise the limited scope of what our discrete activity might hope to accomplish. But it is a start and our hope with this as with all our programmes is that it will catalyse further thinking and inspire others to contribute to this body of understanding.

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