Cooperativismo y Desarrollo, January-April 2019; 7(1): 26-41
Translated from the original in Spanish

Programa de integración de la cooperación internacional a la implementación de estrategias de desarrollo local

Jesús Alberto Gorgoy Lugo¹, Carlos César Torres Páez²

¹Centro para la Gestión Estratégica del Desarrollo Local. Plataforma Articulada para el Desarrollo Integral Territorial (PADIT) en Pinar del Río. Cuba. Email: jesusagorgoy@gmail.com
²Centro de Estudios de Dirección, Desarrollo Local, Turismo y Cooperativismo. Universidad de Pinar del Río "Hermanos Saíz Montes de Oca". Cuba. Email: carlosc@upr.edu.cu

Received: January 16^th, 2019.
Accepted: January 31^st, 2019.

ABSTRACT

The program starts from the logic of local development, the ongoing transformations promoted in the country with the implementation of the guidelines and the need to contribute to the improvement of the living conditions of the territory population. It is inserted strategically in the implementation of the Articulated Platform for Integral Territorial Development in Cuba. The aim is to strengthen ongoing processes and connect to national socioeconomic development priorities, in coordination with the territorial development agendas, contributing to the escalation of the economy and consolidation of economic circuits; as well as the increase in the levels of income, employment and access to services of the population, with emphasis on women and young people; all of the above from: supporting economic development sectors that are part of value chains and generate employment capacity for the local population and promote initiatives aimed at the provision of local services through multi actoral and interterritorial articulations. In order to disseminate experiences, it is also proposed to systematize and disseminate the practices and instruments promoted around the management of territorial development on the basis of multi-actor, multi-level and interterritorial articulation. This is expected from the promotion of local projects that value endogenous potentials and respond to differentiated dynamics and needs of the population of these territories.

Keywords: international cooperation; local development; governments; articulation.

RESUMEN

El programa parte de las lógicas de desarrollo local, las trasformaciones en marcha promovidas en el país con la implementación de los lineamientos y la necesidad de contribuir al mejoramiento de las condiciones de vida de la población del territorio. El mismo se inserta de manera estratégica en la implementación de la Plataforma Articulada para el Desarrollo Integral Territorial en Cuba. Se pretenden fortalecer los procesos en marcha y conectarse a las prioridades nacionales de desarrollo socioeconómico, en articulación con las agendas de desarrollo territorial, contribuyendo al escalado de la economía y consolidación de circuitos económicos, así como al incremento de los niveles de ingresos, empleo y acceso a servicios de la población, con énfasis en mujeres y jóvenes. Todo lo anterior a partir de: apoyar a sectores dinamizadores del desarrollo económico que estén formando parte de cadenas de valor y que generen capacidad de empleo a la población local e impulsar iniciativas orientadas a la provisión de servicios locales mediante articulaciones multiactorales e interterritoriales. En aras de la difusión de experiencias, se propone la sistematización y divulgación de las prácticas e instrumentos promovidos en torno a la gestión del desarrollo territorial, sobre la base de la articulación multiactoral, multinivel e interterritorial. Ello se espera obtener a partir de la promoción de proyectos locales que pongan en valor potencialidades endógenas, respondan a dinámicas y necesidades diferenciadas de la población de dichos territorios.

Palabras clave: cooperación internacional; desarrollo local; gobiernos; articulación.

INTRODUCTION

In the process of updating the Cuban economic and social model, it is wished to strengthen international collaboration and cooperation. It is also recognized that, taking into account the starting conditions and the country's limited capacity to generate technologies, one way to access new technologies is international cooperation, in conjunction with foreign direct investment (Torres Páez, 2016).

In December 2014, as part of the functions of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Cuba, the Articulated Platform for Integral Territorial Development (PADIT) was launched as a continuation of the Local Human Development Programme (PDHL), which began in 1999 and lasted until 2012.

In this process, in the province of Pinar del Río there is a contradiction given by the fact that, on one side, there is a need to incorporate international cooperation into the process of strategic management of local development, with an interterritorial, multilevel and interactor approach; on the other hand, there is no evidence of the existence of a tool that articulates international cooperation funds to the needs of the local development management.

The general objective of the research is to design a program for the articulation of international cooperation to the local development management process in the province of Pinar del Río, based on the strengthening of institutional capacities, the promotion of productive and value chains and the improvement of the quality of social services.

In order to achieve this objective, the theoretical-methodological foundations on the role of international cooperation for local development are systematized; the current state of articulation of international cooperation to local development management in the province of Pinar del Río is characterized; the components of the program for articulation of international cooperation to local development management in the province of Pinar del Río are defined and the program designed in the province of Pinar del Río is partially validated and it is partially validated the programme designed in the province of Pinar del Río. 

MATERIALS AND METHODS

For the development of the research methods and techniques were used according to their adequacy in the different stages; they were:

Dialectical-materialistic method. It constitutes the rector of this research. Based on the dialectical method, other methods will be used such as: historical, logical, analysis and synthesis and systemic.

As essential empirical methods were used: bibliographic review, measurement and documentary analysis.

The following techniques were used to collect information:

• Individual interview: with the objective of evaluating the mechanisms used by the Provincial Administration Council (CAP) and the Provincial Assembly of People's Power (APPP) for the articulation of international cooperation to the management of local development in the province of Pinar del Río;
• Survey: to analyze the state of opinion of the Municipal Administration Council (CAM) and the Provincial Group of Local Development on the level of articulation of international cooperation to the management of local development.

In order to diagnose the current situation of the articulation of international cooperation to the management of local development in the province of Pinar del Río, it was started from the determination of the main actors involved in this process and used a methodology that implicitly carried an empirical diagnosis, for which it was necessary to resort to secondary and primary sources according to the information needs, using scientific methods, procedures and techniques to collect, process and analyze the data.

The methodology used consists of four fundamental stages, in which the information needs of the researcher are determined, the sources of information to be used to obtain the required information are defined, the formats for capturing the information are designed and, once captured, the data are analyzed and the information is processed.

Step 1. Determination of information needs

It is identified in function of knowing which are the main regularities of the current situation of the articulation of the international cooperation to the management of the local development in the province Pinar del Río, for which it is important to know:

• Regulatory and political framework associated with international cooperation and its articulation with local development.
• Level of knowledge of local decision-makers regarding the subject under investigation.
• Tools and mechanisms used to articulate international cooperation and local development management.
• Actors involved in the process and its functioning.
• Existing levels of articulation between international cooperation and local development management.

Step 2. Definition of information sources

Secondary sources of information: a set of available reports and documents were used that allowed a first approach to the problem, among which are:

• Methodological indications of the Ministry of Economy and Planning (MEP) for the elaboration of the plan and budget.
• Methodological indications of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and International Cooperation for the management of international cooperation projects.
• Conceptualization Project of the Cuban Economic and Social Model of Socialist Development.
• Project of National Plan of Economic and Social Development until 2030: Proposal of Vision of the Nation, Axes and Strategic Sectors.
• Draft Guidelines for the Economic and Social Policy of the Party and the Revolution approved at the VI and VII Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC).
• Report on the results of the implementation of the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines of the Party and the Revolution in the period 2011-2016.
• Constitution of the Republic of Cuba.
• Reports to the National Assembly of People's Power on the issue of international cooperation and local development.
• Country Program for International Cooperation, Plataforma Articulada para el Desarrollo Integral Territorial (PADIT).
• Reports from CAP and APPP of Pinar del Río on the issues of international cooperation and local development.
• PRODOC, terms of reference and final reports of international cooperation projects implemented in the province of Pinar del Río.
• Development strategies at municipality and province level.
• Final summary report of the PDHL/Cuba 1999-2012.

Considering that the information treasured by secondary sources is not sufficient to have an exact knowledge about the process of articulation of international cooperation to the management of local development, it is appealed then to use also primary sources applying the method of measurement through the technique of the interview.

Primary source of information: individual structured interviews were conducted with a duration of approximately 20 minutes, in which each interviewee was able to freely express their opinions and considerations on the process of articulation of international cooperation to the management of local development, as well as its strengths and weaknesses at present. Interviews were held with the president of the Provincial Assembly of People's Power (AMPP) and the Provincial Administration Council; vice-president of the Provincial Administration Council that deals with economic matters; territorial director of the Ministry of Economy and Planning and national coordinator of the Articulated Platform for Integral Territorial Development. These specialists were selected for their responsibilities at the head of institutions that lead processes of articulation of international cooperation to the management of local development.

In addition, a census was carried out (through a survey) of the members of CAP and GPDL to collect their criteria associated with the level of articulation of international cooperation to local development management and the main strengths and weaknesses of this process.

Step 3. Design of formats for capturing information

For the documentary analysis, the relative aspects of the identified information needs were verified in each document, according to the scope of the documentation consulted.

For the application of the interview, the following tasks were taken into account:

• Determination of the objectives of the interview and selection of the type of interview.
• Elaboration of the interview guide.
• Determination of the procedures for recording information (literally).
• Piloting the interview guide.
• Establishment of the indispensable conditions for the conduct of the interview.
• Application of the interview taking into account its three moments: opening or beginning, central part or development and conclusion or closure.
• Evaluation of the information collected.

On the basis of the elements described above, the guide for the individual interview and the questionnaire to be applied to members of the CAM and the GPDL are designed.

Step 4. Data capture, analysis and information processing

Secondary information source: the documentary analysis reviewed various documents formulated in the last five years (2011-2016), capturing the information required according to the needs identified.

Primary sources of information: the data were collected in situ, taking into account the interview with the criteria of the specialists, who freely expressed their opinions and considerations on the process of articulation of international cooperation to the management of local development, as well as its strengths and weaknesses. This interview was conducted in the institutions of origin of the specialists, from dispatches requested by the author. The application of the survey was carried out taking advantage of the ordinary meeting of the CAP and the GPDL.

Basis for the proposal

Starting from the identification of information needs and the definition of primary and secondary sources that allow their satisfaction, different methods, procedures and techniques were used that allowed to arrive at the following regularities associated with the process of articulation of international cooperation to the management of local development:

• Insufficient degree of agreement and articulation of actors, territories and levels for the articulation of international cooperation for local development.
• The provincial group has focused its management on the analysis of non-compliance with operational (tactical) tasks and not on strategic management actions.
• At the provincial level and in municipalities, there are no work strategies to undertake the task of "receiving international collaboration".
• There are no effective monitoring actions of the projects during their implementation stage.
• Difficulties persist in acquiring resources and equipment in time.
• Although multiple training actions have been carried out on issues related to local development, there is still a lack of knowledge on the management of collaborative projects (formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation).
• Insufficient use of the possibilities of hiring specialized technical personnel for project design.

In the local development management process, the capacity of the government and the public administration to mobilize financial resources according to the implementation of their development strategies is essential as a driving force for generating employment and improving the quality of life of the population (Capote Pérez, Torres Páez, & del Castillo Sánchez, 2017; Costamagna & Larrea, 2017; German Agency for Technical Cooperation, 2004).

International cooperation represents an important source of financing, which complements the efforts that each nation makes in order to achieve its development, and which must be articulated to the strategic priorities defined at different levels, in order to maximize their impact and be coherent with the public policies of each territory (Capote Pérez, Torres Páez, & del Castillo Sánchez, 2018).

Considering the context trends, and from the perspective of territorial development in Cuba (Capote Pérez et al., 2018; Torres Páez, 2016; Urgellés Cardoza, 2009), PADIT identifies a group of challenges on which it intends to focus. Among the fundamental ones are:

• The achievement of greater articulation between levels of government (nation-province-municipality) and territories.
• The achievement of greater interactor integration that allows the fragmented and sectoral functioning to be surpassed.
• The strengthening of local capacities for financing management and greater capacity for attracting external sources of financing.
• The improvement of information and communication management processes in local governments and institutions.
• Improved performance and interrelation of productive actors in order to promote a favorable local economic environment.
• The promotion of social and gender equity in the management of territorial development, through inclusive social services.
• The management of knowledge and innovation, starting with the incorporation of new perspectives, instruments and technologies; as well as the strengthening of innovation systems that respond to the productive fabric of the territory.

PADIT is based on the recognition of the challenges and opportunities of the current transformations promoted in the country through the guidelines of economic and social policy, the basis for the updating of the Cuban development model. To this end, PADIT, as a framework program, offers an articulated development platform that promotes processes of decentralization, strengthening of local and territorial capacities for planning, development management and multilevel articulation.

The PADIT program is organized in three specific objectives (effects) and aims to achieve six results. In relation to the objectives, these are as follows:

• Strengthen local public institutions, strengthening the government's capacities for the articulated management of territorial development, increasing the participation of women and young people.
• Generate initiatives and employment opportunities in economic-productive spaces and their access to social services promoted in the territories.
• Complement national decentralization and territorial development policies with approaches and instruments aimed at articulated management.

PADIT aims to achieve among its results the incorporation of instruments for participation, coordination and articulation in the planning and management processes; the strengthening of capacities for the management of financing for territorial development that allow for better programming and use of resources; as well as improvements in communication and information management processes that favour the participation and articulation of actors.

In addition, it seeks to strengthen ongoing processes and connect to national socio-economic development priorities, in coordination with territorial development agendas, thus contributing to the scaling-up of the economy and the consolidation of economic circuits, as well as to increased levels of income, employment and access to services for the population, with emphasis on women and young people. This is expected to be achieved through the promotion of local projects related to value chains that enhance employment capacities for women and young people, and with social services based on management schemes that articulate state and non-state forms, responding to the differentiated needs of the population of these territories.

In order to disseminate experiences, PADIT also proposes the systematization and dissemination of the practices and instruments promoted around the management of territorial development on the basis of multiactor, multi-level and interterritorial articulation.

The PADIT programme is conceived as a single work strategy in which the different actors complement and articulate each other. At the national level, the IPF, the MEP and the INIE play the decisive technical and institutional role in the strategic orientation of the programme and, at the territorial level, the Provincial and Municipal Administrative Councils are the spokespersons for the respective localities. PADIT, in order to achieve a unique but differentiated strategy, has several project documents that respond to the territorial logics of the identified pilot provinces (Pinar del Río, Artemisa, Cienfuegos and Holguín) and has an ad hoc project document for knowledge management, the transversal axis of the program, whose leadership is exercised by INIE, in close coordination with the MEP and the IPF and some key national partners for the identified issues.

The concept of territorial development of PADIT is defined as the process of transformation and sustainable advancement of a territory whose purpose is the welfare of the local society, from dynamizing the existing capital and apprehending the opportunities and demands that other areas / territorial scales present to it; this proposes a management model of territorial development based on articulation from three dimensions:

• A vertical dimension that articulates the objectives and/or interests of the national and local levels, taking into account the sub-national or intermediate levels. This connection is the current basis of the planning procedures in use in the Cuban context.
• A horizontal dimension, which produces the development of networks and links in two senses: one of interterritorial order and the other of intersectoral order.
• An interactoral dimension, emphasizing in this last case the relations between the public sector and the new economic-productive actors that emerge in the current situation.

In addition, the temporal dimension, which includes the other three, when articulating the objectives referred to short, medium and long term horizons and allows mitigating the contradictions between them.

Considering the context trends, and from the proposed territorial development perspective, PADIT identifies a group of challenges on which it intends to focus. Among the fundamental ones are:

• The achievement of greater articulation between levels of government (nation-province-municipality) and territories, enabling complementarities between them, better management of resources, greater use of economies of scale and equalization of territories. These articulations should be promoted from a two-way logic, which tempers and harmonizes an established vision of planning and management from "top to bottom" and another one of a markedly "local-municipalist" character (Alonso Alemán & Bell Heredia, 2013).
• The achievement of a greater interactoral integration that allows to overcome the fragmented and sectorial operation that today undermines the different institutional spaces, reaching a greater integrality and horizontality in the management of the territory, better channeling and use of resources, superior programming of investments and development of innovation environments (Boffill Vega, Calcines Díaz, & Sánchez Cid, 2009; Castro Perdomo & Rajadel Acosta, 2015). This will require perfecting and rethinking the current planning and management instruments and their interrelationships, which today are limited due to the accumulation of instruments and their low levels of integration, the predominance of the sectoral approach and the divorce or disconnection between planning and management.
• The strengthening of local capacities for financing management, which will make it possible to reduce the existing budgetary limitations in the territories for their development, based on a greater use and combination of own and external funds. In the fiscal sphere, local administrations will have to improve capacities that result in the optimization of their budgetary and tax management. The plan and budget instruments, even with their current formats, can be further exploited by improving planning and budgeting processes, as well as by promoting activities that generate direct income to the territory or the aggregation-complementarity of resources from different sectors around an issue or investment. In addition, greater capacity will be required to attract external sources of financing that, in addition to the state budget, provide resources for the development of the territory or are aimed at vulnerable groups; as well as to promote fiscal/financial incentive mechanisms to stimulate the contribution of the productive sector and microfinance devices to support local producers/entrepreneurs in accessing financing.
• The improvement of information and communication management processes in local governments and institutions, based on achieving greater quality and reliability of information, better performance of the entities responsible for providing it, and the strengthening of communication processes in localities that make it possible to socialize information related to territorial management and motivate the participation and contribution of socioeconomic actors and citizens in these processes. The management of information referring to the territory today is in need of greater capacities and instruments that contribute to its articulation and integration at the local level, a greater design of disaggregated and territorialized indicators, useful to the processes of decision making, projection and monitoring of the development of the territory. The still insufficient culture and skills to adequately manage information, so that it can contribute effectively to territorial planning and management, also play a role.
• Improved performance and interrelation of productive actors in order to promote a favorable local economic environment. This will require a more proactive attitude in the development of policies aimed at stimulating key actors and productive sectors, as well as the strengthening of synergies around the promotion of economic circuits and value chains. Favouring the labour insertion of women and young people in these productive spaces, as well as the improvement of conditions for their performance and the display of skills and creativity should also form part of the economic promotion policies and actions that are promoted locally. It will be necessary to recognize the importance of the new generations in the future development of the territories, the challenges posed by their incorporation into the non-state sector and the persistent gender schemes that place women in traditional and subordinate roles.
• The promotion of social and gender equity in the management of territorial development, through inclusive social policies and services. The country has universal social policies, social indicators with high levels and a relatively low level of territorial differentiation. However, there has been a call for greater analysis and consideration of the heterogeneous social needs, as well as the demand for the restructuring and/or creation of social services that will allow a greater and more effective response to the differentiated demands and particular population dynamics of the territories (Íñiguez, 2014).
• The continuous development of human resources and organizations, knowledge management and innovation. The incorporation of new perspectives, instruments and technologies and the strengthening of innovation systems that respond to the existing socio-productive fabric, will be essential to achieve better performance of local agents and provide products and services of higher quality and competitiveness.

The general objective is to improve the living conditions of the population of the Cuban territories linked to the programme, with emphasis on groups of women and young people, through articulation processes that favour territorial development.

In order to achieve the results, the project will focus on developing a set of actions aimed at:

• Consolidating the leadership and managerial capacities of provincial and municipal administrations, providing them, through training, seminars, exchanges and technical missions, with appropriate management approaches and instruments.
• Promoting experiences that accurately connect agendas of governments at different levels in a two-way logic (top-down, bottom-up).
• Promoting intersectoral, interactoral and interterritorial alliances for the management of development agendas.
• Supporting sectors that dynamize economic development and demonstration projects that are part of value chains and generate employment capacity for the local population.
• Promoting initiatives and demonstration projects aimed at the provision of local services through multiactor and interterritorial articulations.

The PADIT program is a single territorial development strategy, a large strategic umbrella that will be implemented through different projects, which will guarantee not only the appropriation of this territorial approach, but also the construction of transverse and joint actions for the benefit of all the actors involved and indirect beneficiaries. According to the need to have a single and coherent program approach, but at the same time adjusted and responding to territorial needs and priorities, there will be several national implementation projects for the provinces participating in PADIT and a cross-cutting project for knowledge management.

PADIT General Programming Proposal in Pinar del Río

General objective: to support the process of strengthening the local capacities of the territorial governments of Pinar del Río for the strategic management of sustainable local development; promoting the enhancement of endogenous resources and the quality of social services, on the basis of inter-territorial, multi-stakeholder and multilevel articulation based on the improvement of the quality of life of the population.

Specific objectives:

• Strengthen local institutionality, strengthening the capacities of municipal governments and at the provincial level for a strategic management of sustainable local development.
• To increase the level of employment, income and access to social services, especially for women and young people in the municipalities and the province of Pinar del Río, based on the enhancement of endogenous resources.
• To support the incorporation into national and territorial policies of the inter-territorial, multi-stakeholder and multilevel instruments for the management of local development produced by the programme.

Expected results:

• Output 1: Strengthened capacities of territorial governments for the design and implementation of participatory, multi-stakeholder, multi-level and inter-territorial tools for Strategic Management of Sustainable Local Development (GEDELS).
• Output 2: The management capacities of municipal and provincial administrations have been developed to increase and diversify local sources of financing for territorial development.
• Output 3: Improved communication and information management processes and products promoted by territorial governments and administrations on a participatory basis and with a strategic focus.
• Output 4: Productive and value chains are promoted in a creative and innovative manner, revitalizing local development with emphasis on the employment of young people and women.
• Output 5: Improved social services aimed at reducing social vulnerabilities and favouring population dynamics, with emphasis on women and young people.
• Output 6: Experiences and tools developed in a participatory manner for the improvement of the Strategic Management of Local Development (GEDL) have been systematized.

In order to achieve the results, the project will focus on developing a set of general activities aimed at:

• Sensitizeing and train leaders and relevant actors in the design and participatory implementation of local and interterritorial strategies for the GEDELS.
• Training leaders and members of administrations in the improvement of mechanisms for financing local development (participatory budget, tax management and others).
• Training and preparing members of public administrations and assemblies and other entities in communication and information management for development.
• Sensitizeing, train and prepare decision-makers and productive actors of the municipalities of Consolación del Sur and Los Palacios in the identification of local economic projects that respond to the development logics of the municipalities and the province.
• Implementing demonstrative experiences in the municipalities of Consolación del Sur and Los Palacios to improve the quality of life of social services with emphasis on women and youth.
• Systematizing and disseminate successful GEDELS experiences in the province and municipalities at the national and international levels.

Results of the validation of the PADIT programming proposal

PADIT's National Coordinating Committee and its National Technical Secretariat have established 10 priority lines of action that reflect the platform's support for territorial development processes activated and promoted by the province and municipalities.

These lines of action are as follows:

• Territorial development management.
• Financing territorial development.
• Communication for territorial development.
• Production and service chains.
• Socio-labour environments and employment.
• Population dynamics and gender equality.
• Articulation of the different forms of management of the economy.
• Innovations and creative alternatives applied to territorial development.

Below is a table summarizing the main results for each line of action

Table - Results for each action line

LINE OF ACTION	RESULTS
Management of territorial development	Six tools are obtained that contribute to the strategic management of local development. More than nine provincial organisms act articulately in the design of the provincial development strategy. More than 150 local actors from the municipalities Consolación del Sur and Los Palacios and from the provincial level in terms of strategic management of sustainable local development and 62 others in project management.
Financing territorial development	Mobilized municipal government funds in excess of 600.00 MCUP to finance projects associated with municipal priorities. Funds raised through territorial contribution for local development above 7,000.00 MCUP and through Municipal Initiative Projects for Local Development (IMDL) above 80.00 MCUC. The amount captured by the income from enterprises generated from public-private partnerships is 70.00 MMT and the amount of profits contributed by these projects is 8.00 MCUC. Seven new IMDL projects are in design by Municipal Local Development Groups of Consolación del Sur and Los Palacios and 13 others in the rest of the province. 91 new jobs generated by IMDL projects underway. Four IMDL projects in the municipalities of Consolación del Sur and Los Palacios and 13 others in the rest of the province. Thirty-four specialists trained in financial instruments to promote local development.
Communication for territorial development	Identified needs for improvement in information management processes. Defined the policies for the work with the press and the Media Plan. Seven communication products published in local, national and international media. In the process of updating the communication strategy of the municipalities Consolación del Sur and Los Palacios and that of the province and in design that of the municipality of La Palma. Three applications are executed as a pilot according to communication strategies.
Production and service chains	Existence of six enterprises where co-financing initiatives take place. Defined four opportunities for joint projects between state and non-state actors in the municipalities of Consolación del Sur and Los Palacios. The Center for Support to Local Economic Development (CADEL) in the province of Pinar del Río has been designed and is in the process of being implemented. The number of IMDL projects approved is 31, and 18 are underway.
Socio-labour environments and employment	Four IMDL projects are underway that generate employment in the municipalities of Consolación del Sur and Los Palacios. 17 new jobs generated by IMDL projects underway. The Labour Orientation Centre for women and young people has been designed and is in the process of being implemented.
Population dynamics and gender equality	The municipal and provincial subgroups have been defined to work on the population variable in the municipal and provincial development strategies, respectively. Conciliation meetings have been held with key actors in the territory regarding the gender perspective. Opportunities for synergy have been identified between the Women's Chair at the University of Pinar del Río, the Federation of Cuban Women, the National Association of Economists and Accountants of Cuba, the Cuban Association of Agricultural and Forestry Technicians and the National Union of Jurists of Cuba. Of the jobs generated by IMDL projects under implementation, 41.8 % are women and 19.4 % are young people.
Articulation of the different forms of management of the economy	Four instruments are applied for stakeholder consultation. There are two municipal development strategies that conceive inter-territorial actions. Nine provincial institutions have been identified with the possibility of acting with joint agendas and a plurality of articulated actors. Non-state actors incorporated into the Municipal (Consolación del Sur, Los Palacios and La Palma) and Provincial Local Development Groups. Diagnosis of the current state of integration between state and non-state actors in the process of strategic management of local development in the municipalities of Consolación del Sur and Los Palacios.
Innovations and creative alternatives applied to territorial development	Introduced the use of renewable energy sources in the production of milk and beef vaccines. Designed the Labor Orientation Center for women and young people. Created three children's circles attended by state enterprises and cooperatives. Supported the system of day care centers for the elderly. Designed the nephrological consultation system specialized in older adults.

As a synthesis of the results so far achieved, the following general assessments can be made:

• The strategic management of local development acquires strategic importance in the process of updating the Cuban economic and social model, for the possibilities it offers in the use of endogenous and exogenous resources on a sustainable basis, aimed at improving the quality of life of the population. This requires the mobilization of financial resources to activate these potentialities, among which are the international cooperation funds that complement the efforts that each nation makes in order to achieve its development, and must be articulated to the strategic priorities that are defined at different levels.
• From the consultation of primary and secondary sources of information, it could be determined that the current situation of the province of Pinar de Rio with respect to the integration of international cooperation to the process of local development management, is characterized by being systemic, atomized, disarticulated, without a proactive attitude to the opportunities offered by the international cooperation environment and that responds more to the operativity of the work than to a strategic approach to development. The importance of the role that international cooperation should play in the process of local development management, the necessary linkage of the entities with the cooperation actors, as well as the importance of efficiency and speed in the channeling of cooperation funds is recognized.
• A programme for the province of Pinar del Río is structured within the framework of the Articulated Platform for Integral Territorial Development, which, through an international cooperation project containing three outcomes and six products, contributes to supporting the process of strengthening the capacities of governments for the strategic management of sustainable local development; promoting the enhancement of endogenous resources and the quality of social services, on the basis of interterritorial, multiactor and multilevel articulation. In this direction, important results can be seen in the lines of action defined, which are made visible and disseminated at different levels and will continue in 2017, based on a group of actions that respond to the logical framework matrix of the project.

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