The experience of a Cuba-Spain scientific cooperation based on mathematics education: Building an effective model

Abstract

In the present article, we go through the key aspects of the cooperation experience between the Interdisciplinary Modeling Group – InterTech of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), Spain and the University of Pinar del Río (UPR), Cuba in order to make some remarks on developing an effective model for cooperation with universities in developing countries; which may give rise shortly to a fruitful scientific collaboration stage focused on local educational development. We considered in our cooperation actions important issues faced by universities in developing countries and propose solutions to mitigate them. For instance, we discuss about how to prevent migration of young scientists and about a possible win-win relationship between universities from developed and developing countries. Our cooperation interventions are in line with the national and international efforts to help Cuban universities connect with the international scenario. Cuba was always pointed out by its noticeable achievements in education and healthduring the 70 ́s and 80 ́s, only that ,only that its general infrastructure was very affected by the economical crisis of the 90 ́s and other issues derived from it. Some of these issues are discussed in this article based on our own assessment and analysis of the local context. At present, after over 20 years of collaboration, our research group has developed a wide spectrum of academic, research and cultural activities in the UPR and throughout the province of Pinar del Río.