about: acsac
New project management course dates - Dominica and the Bahamas
The Association of Commonwealth Societies of Architects in the Caribbean (ACSAC)
ACSAC is an association of societies and institutes of Architects in Caribbean Commonwealth states. Many ACSAC Institutes are members of the Commonwealth Association of Architects ( CAA). Since the withdrawal of Canada from the Commonwealth Association of Architects, ACSAC has been the regional association covering the Americas for the CAA.
ACSAC was instrumental in galvanizing efforts which led to the establishment of a regional school of architecture the Caribbean School of Architecture at the University of Technology in Kingston Jamaica. The School now offers CAA validated Bachelor’s degrees and Master’s Degrees in Architecture.
Since the establishment of the School ACSAC activity subsided until ACSAC Chairman Robert Woodstock and Vice-Chairman Steve Browne - with the encouragement and participation of the CAA - initiated a series of meetings beginning in Jamaica in April 1999 with a view to reviving the regional role of the association.
Since this time regular meetings have been held to attempt to develop the association. In March 2002 a meeting was held in Barbados at which some fundamental issues concerning the role of ACSAC were raised. It was agreed that the challenges and opportunities facing the profession both globally and regionally require that there is a forum and medium for interaction and that ACSAC was well placed to serve this role. In order to achieve this ACSAC required strengthening. Regular meetings were convened and have been well attended, sponsorship was sought from sources other than the CAA and support between islands has grown. Linda Moore and Mark Raymond both attended the CAA Conference in Bloemfontein South Africa in August/September 2003 and regular meetings and information sharing has continued.
In 2004 through the Trinidad and Tobago Institute of Architects, ACSAC successfully applied for grant funding from Pro€Invest and for a policy dialogue initiative. This project is intended to provide a clear agenda for ACSAC identifying specific areas of activity and strategy for sustaining the association in the future.
The initiative is made even more pertinent with the advent of the Caribbean Single Market Economy (CSME) which is likely to impact significantly on regional practice.