PRESS RELEASE – COUNCILLORS, staff and partners of the Saint Lucia National Trust (SLNT) gathered for an intense and enlightening Strategic Planning Meeting on Tuesday, November 20, 2018 at the Bay Gardens Inn.
The session formed part of the Trust’s review of its current strategic plan and its preparation for a new plan for 2019 – 2029.
In her opening remarks, SLNT’s Chairperson, Ms. Alison King said, “This strategic planning exercise forces us to take a step back and engage in some critical self-examination, and consider what we do and how well we do it; whether we should be doing it at all; what we need to do more of; and what we are realistically able to do in the prevailing and at times hostile environment. It gives us a unique opportunity to engage with our friends as well as our detractors as we reflect, and plan.”
The new Strategic Plan will be launched at the time of Saint Lucia’s 40th Anniversary of Independence.
Over the coming weeks, a number of activities, including workshops, focus groups, interviews and reviews of documents, will be held to conduct assessments and develop this new vision and strategic direction for the organisation.
This topic was presented at the SLNT’s AGM on 24th November at the Finance Administrative Centre, Pointe Seraphine by Consultant, Yves Renard.
The AGM was open to members and non-members of the Trust.
Some of the partners present at Tuesday’s meeting included the Folk Research Centre, Cultural Development Foundation, National Conservation Authority, the Saint Lucia School Of Music, the Fisheries Department, the Sustainable Development and Environment Division and Department Physical Planning.
Mr. Renard said, “The idea (of the Strategic Planning Meeting) was to explore the current status of partnerships with these organizations, how they share some of their mandates, how they work together and what should be done together. Interesting ideas came up because a lot of what is needed when we talk about heritage, conservation and patrimony in Saint Lucia is education, awareness and advocacy to engage the youth, the general public, partners and policy makers, on matters of heritage conservation.”
The work of the Trust, as stated in the Saint Lucia National Trust Act is national in scope and intersects with that of other organizations and individual interests.
As such, we hope that all our “partners in conservation”, our members and non-members will contribute to this process and share their views on the future of their organization.
To this end, we encourage everyone to complete a brief online survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SLNT-SP.
A dedicated email address has also been created, so persons are asked to feel free to share their ideas there: [email protected].
Messages sent to this address will go directly to Mr. Renard who is facilitating this process and will be treated confidentially.
Let your voice be heard — and let us work together to shape the future of the Saint Lucia National Trust. (SLNT)