Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social & Economic Studies

For the academic year 2018/2019, the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social & Economic Studies (SALISES) continued to meet targets and requirements linked to The UWI Triple A Strategy. SALISES’ strategies were governed by the principles of transformation, excellence, accountability and mission-driven work (TEAM). Some critical highlights of the period were:

• The conversion of the current MSc Development Studies Programme to online delivery mode increasing access to postgraduate education opportunities.
• Collaboration with external stakeholders as part of strengthening academic-industry alignment; including key partnerships with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) for conferences and forums on critical Caribbean regional issues.
• The launch of The UWI-Global Belt and Road Research Network dedicated to research the implications of China’s Belt and Road Initiatives from the vantage point of the Caribbean and global South – in keeping with the institutional agility required given current global power shifts.

SALISES was able to carve out an extremely active calendar of symposia and public lectures which addressed a wide spectrum of public policy activities and provided opportunities for its scholars to expose their research which informs the policy process in the Caribbean.

ACCESS

Student Enrolment

Approval was granted for SALISES to move its flagship MSc Development Studies programme onto an online platform commencing September 2020. This transformational activity is expected to improve regional and global access to the programme and increase the number of students enrolled.

Publications

Across the Mona, Cave Hill and St. Augustine campuses, SALISES staff reported twenty-eight peer-reviewed publications.

ALIGNMENT

In 2018/2019, public engagement on critical issues affecting developing states was very high. Numerous seminars addressing a wide spectrum of regional and international public policy activities were hosted. They included:

• The 20th Annual SALISES Conference under the theme Rethinking Caribbean Futures: New Paradigms, Possibilities and Policies.
• Navigating Globalisation – China’s Belt and Road Initiative: Implications for the Caribbean – a symposium examining China’s foreign policy posture.
• Barbados and the First Phase of the IMF/BERT Plan: Of Recovery and Precarity – a policy forum to raise public awareness of the new fiscal consolidation programme in Barbados and its potential impact.
• Future Competitiveness: Augmented Human Capital and Talent – the Opening Address of the 2019 Sir Arthur Lewis Distinguished Lecture by President and Vice-Chancellor of Brock University, Dr. Gervan Fearon.
• The 13th Annual Caribbean Child Research Conference.
• State Capacity and Economic Development – a presentation by Sir Timothy Besley, The W. Arthur Lewis Professor of Development Economics, London School of Economics and Political Science.
• The Economics of Brexit – a presentation by Professor Robert Elliot, University of Birmingham, UK.
• Empowering Persons with Disabilities – a joint seminar with the Equal Opportunity Commission of Trinidad and Tobago.
• The Regional Impact of the Current Political and Humanitarian Crisis in Venezuela – a presentation by Jose Cardenas, Director, Vision Americas.
• Sir Arthur Lewis and Today’s Caribbean Economies – a presentation by Dr. the Honourable Nigel Clarke, MP, Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Jamaica.
• Revisiting Jamaica’s Crime Plan – a panel discussion with key stakeholders from the public and private sector.
• From Windrush Generation to Brexit: The state of Black mental health in Britain – a presentation by Dr. Patrick Vernon, Clore and Winston Churchill Fellow.

Academic and Industry Research Partnerships

SALISES continued to forge academic and industry research partnerships on regional and global issues. The success of these partnerships was recognised when the Institute was awarded the 2019 Principal’s Research Award for the Research Project with the Greatest Business/Economic/Development Impact in the Faculty of Social Sciences as well as the Mona Faculty of Social Sciences Award for the Research Project Attracting the Most Research Funds.

Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) aimed at pursuing collaboration in teaching and research, were entered into with the Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, Canada as well as the Universität Kassel, Germany.

SALISES also partnered with the International Organisation for Migration and the Planning Institute of Jamaica on the Global Migration Film Festival and the launch of the publication ‘Migration and the 2030 Agenda: A Guide for Practitioners’. An inter-disciplinary partnership on climate change preparedness and response in the Caribbean was supported by the Institute for Development Studies (University of Sussex, United Kingdom) and the Platform on Disaster Displacement (PDD) based in Geneva, Switzerland.

AGILITY

Financial Health

SALISES undertook a major initiative geared at generating new streams of research funding in an emerging issue area; China and South – South Relations. The Institute embarked on an internationalisation of the process. While this also aligns with the Triple A goals of access and alignment, the potential for a rich source of research funding has been explored and identified.

SALISES also undertook the following policy research projects:

• Living Young and NEET: Does Gender Matter? and Correctional Needs Assessment: Evaluation of Barbadian Prison System’ with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
• The development of macro-economic models for forecasting and policy analysis for Curaçao and Saint Maarten with the Central Bank of Curacao and St. Maarten.
• Sustainable Island Futures – a University of Prince Edward Island, Canada research project with the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
• Combating Child Trafficking – a Jamaica-US Child Protection Compact project with the US State Department and Winrock International.
• Horizon Scanning & Foresighting Study for Jamaica’s Third City with the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and Institute for Sustainable Development (ISD).
• Identification of Employment Opportunities in Four Parishes (St. Mary, Portland, St. Thomas and St. Elizabeth) for The Labour Market Information System with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Jamaica.
• Justice Undertaking of Social Transformation Project with the Government of Canada and the UNDP.

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