Side Event #1

Havana water supply system and management

The Albear Aqueduct, a masterpiece of Cuban hydraulic engineering, won Gold Medal at the Paris World Fair in 1878. Designed by the Havana engineer Don Francisco of Albear (1816-1887), it still functions as a key source of supply for the Cuban capital with a daily output of more than 100,000 cubic meters, accounting for 10% of the city water supply.

Visitors can be shown around by specialists who are at hand to explain how it works.

Side Event #2

Cultural heritage management – Old Havana rehabilitation project

The historical center of Old Havana, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982. This saw the restoration of the city’s three main squares, the Plaza de la Catedral, the Plaza de Armas and the Plaza Vieja, and the adjoining streets, the Calle de los Oficios, Calle de los Mercaderes, Calle Tacon and Calle Obispo. The Convento de Santa Clara and the so-called castles, Tres Reyes del Morro and La Cabaña were also renovated.

In October 1993, the city’s historical centre, home to nearly 67,000 people, was decreed a priority conservation zone, giving the Historian’s Office new authority to develop a self-financed administration that today implements a master plan for the area.

A tour of the area starts at the Historian's Office, with an explanation of the workings of the Plan Maestro. Visitors can take a stroll through the renovated centre, see a scale model of Old Havana, and soak up the atmosphere and enjoy the local facilities.

Side Event #3

Community based neighbourhood improvement

The Cayo Hueso Integral Transformation Workshop

Cayo Hueso, a once deteriorating, densely populated neighbourhood in central Havana, was first settled in 1912 by Cuban tobacco workers returning from Key West and Tampa in Florida at the end of the war against Spanish colonialism. Long in need of regeneration and renovation, the neighbourhood’s estimated 39,000 people have a strong sense of ownership in a part of town where many families have lived in the same homes for four generations.

A major urban renewal project spearhead by the Cayo Hueso Integral Transformation Workshop started in 1988 with the aim of closely involving local residents in a new social and physical transformation drive.

In 2002, a series of community projects was launched to inspire pride and belonging. These include an Audiovisual Project, a Playing in my Neighbourhood project, a Doctors and Nurses Family Project, a Boys and Girls Housing Project, and an I Love my Neighbourhood campaign. After 13 years in the making, visitors today can easily discern the changes made and those underway inspired by the workshop.

Side Event #4

Havana city park - Metropolitan Park

Havana´s Metropolitan Park is an urban environmental reforestation project along the banks of the city’s Almendares River aimed at transforming it into a green zone of natural beauty and gardens with space for farming. Its designers see the park as a means of showcasing environmental education and sustainable economic development.

The aim of a Side Event would include:

• Explaining the idea using a scale model;
• Showing the seed production process;
• Explaining community solid waste treatment;
• and demonstrating how two local community teams keep the river banks pristine.

Side Event #5

Natural disaster management - Hurricane prevention

In Havana tropical cyclones and storms appear frequently and cause every time floods in several neighbourhoods of the city.

To insure protection of citizens and property, Havana established five centres for risk and early warning managment for civil protection in 2004. These centers are equipped with a preventive system to be able to rapidly respond in case of disasters.

A visit to one of these centers will provide the participants with more insight in this disaster preventive system.

Side Event #6

Urban social services

Cuba developed important social public services for various age groups with gender concern in terms of health and education which are internationally recognised. During this Side Event some of these services will be presented such as a care centre for pregnant women, geriatric centre, special housing for aged people, mental health centre (under construction), family doctor consultancy, and a computing club for youngsters.

The visit of these services in the Old Havana include a walk through rehabilitated areas (or areas under rehabilitation) and a presentation in the municipal hall of the Local Human Development Project and its objectives in this municipality.