theme III “Sustainability & Indigenous Entrepreneurship Strategies FIBEA Rio +20

Strategies for sustainability, organic growth and network development in Latin America for Latin Americans • theme III “Sustainability & Indigenous Entrepreneurship Strategies • FIBEA Rio +20 • Patricia Bingué - Voices of Culture

Actionable Process • Short Term Plan • Inventory in the areas of primary product, knowledge, know how, traditions, finished goods • How: • Pay attention to what gets sold very frequently and what people ask for the most and how often • Ask the buyer/person interested why they want your goods/services/traditions • Ask where else have they purchased/asked for what they are buying/getting from you

Short term plan - cont. • Make this a community effort by forming small committees responsible for gathering the information collected by each vendors • Have a group responsible for write everything down - ask school kids, school teachers to get involve • Develop a schedule to collect the info by setting up regular meeting time for everyone to come together • Have a central location to meet and save all information but give everyone a copy • Co

Mid term - Outreach to nearby communities • Select time of the year to visit another town, city, state that make/sell similar products or have similar or parallel tradition • Strength in numbers is a strong advantage when making request to the government and/or outside organizations • Ability to ask questions to others - The more questions asked, the more both communities will know and learn • Can learn new techniques or information that can help you do what you do better

Midterm plan- Outreach to communities in nearby countries • Overcoming the language barrier: students at universities within the state, find professors from the area, friends and family living in other countries, volunteers visiting the region • Everything has to be documented, dated and saved • Maintain regular communication and exchange with various communities and your team of helpers • Share your list of challenges and ask them to share theirs with your community

Building a center of referencein each community • Who sell more of what, who does it better? Not for competition but for defining expertise • Ask the buyers why they prefer the selected product/service • Record every comments received regarding the transaction • Get as many people as possible in the community involve • Tell them why their active participation is important

Long term plan - Marketplace and training services • Word of mouth by active communication with members of other community will increase your market reach • Get local students, volunteers to start establishing ways to get your goods to other communities faster • Ask for name, location and phone number from everyone that purchases from you • Call and contact those individuals on a regular basis even if it is just to say hi • Organize committees to handle the different things that needs to be done

Knowledge Protection • Record as much information as much as possible and add your name, community and date to everything • Always ask people why they need to know how you do what you do. • Check in with your community group before you share any information with a group from outside your community • When answering questions do it in the open, avoid doing it in private conversation

Regional Marketing Strategies • Get to know some of the different Latin America Regional Integration Organizations in existence: ALADI, CELAC, UNASUR, SELA • UNESCO in 2003 established a Convention for Safeguarding Intangible Culture Heritage • Find ways to become active participants in community, state and regional discussions by ways of your committee group to go then report back to the entire community • Do one additional activity every year • Create a knowledge transfer plan, start small but keep going no matter the challenges

ALADI: Latin American Integration Association • Seeks regional economic integration with the goal of a common market. ALADI establishes trade regulations, regional tariffs, and trade agreements between member countries. The group emerged from the Latin American Free Trade Association (LAFTA), founded in 1960.LAFTA was replaced by ALADI, which now has 14 members,it functionsas an umbrella for other regional bodies such as MERCOSUR and the Andean Group.

CELAC : Community of Latin American and Caribbean States • CELAC is a successor to the Rio Group and the Latin American and Caribbean Summit. The group aims to serve as a forum for regional dialogue to promote regional integration and advance social issues.

UNASUR:Union of South American Nations • The umbrella organization for MERCOSUR and the Andean Community of Nations (CAN) is modeled after the European Union. It includes a South American Parliament and the Bank of the South. The Bank aims to fund development projects and foster regional trade. However, the bank has yet to begin operations, since a minimum of 5 member countrieshas to approve the Bank’s Constitution.

SELA:Latin American and the Caribbean Economic System • Founded in 1975 - Is an organization of 27 countries joined together to promote regional integration and economic policy coordination.

UNESCO:United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization • Brazil office is in Brasilia • Has two important Programs: • 2003 Convention for Safeguarding Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage • INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR CULTURAL DIVERSITY

theme III “Sustainability & Indigenous Entrepreneurship Strategies FIBEA Rio +20