McMaster is strengthening its academic and research ties with Caribbean post-secondary institutions as the lead Canadian partner in the Canada-Caribbean Institute (CCI).
Established in 2020, the CCI’s mission is to bring together scholars from across Canada and the Caribbean to collaborate on economic, environmental and social issues that contribute to the shared prosperity of both regions.
McMaster became the lead Canadian partner of the CCI in 2023.
Currently made up of 12 member institutions, the CCI supports research on a range of key policy areas including health; climate change; advancing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals; trade and investment; Caribbean culture and the diaspora; and government and foreign relations, among other areas.
“McMaster’s leadership role within the CCI represents an opportunity to build on our history of research and academic partnerships within the Caribbean,” says McMaster President David Farrar.
“Involvement in the CCI will expand our research activities and allow McMaster to contribute to important policy discussions impacting our two regions.”
Farrar is co-chair of the CCI with Sir Hilary Beckles, vice-chancellor of the University of the West Indies (UWI), the CCI’s lead Caribbean partner.
“The partnership among Canadian and Caribbean tertiary institutions, built through the CCI, embodies the spirit of Canada-Caribbean collaboration over many decades,” says Beckles.
“The extension of this collaboration into the realms of academia and research in areas of mutual interest is of critical importance as we not only address the challenges with which we are confronted, but as we continue to deepen those historic ties.”
A McMaster working group, comprising community members with connections to the Caribbean, meets regularly with Farrar to identify opportunities to support CCI initiatives, potential research collaborations with institutions in the Caribbean, and raise awareness of the CCI in the McMaster community.
McMaster Daily News, February 28, 2024
See the full story and the range of McMaster’s Caribbean connections here.