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City-university partnerships in three PHL cities strengthened through EPIC N training in Germany
Photo from EPIC-N website Three Philippine cities benefited from a one-day training on the "Educational Partnerships for Innovation in Communities Network (EPIC-N)" model held last May 03 in Bonn, Germany. Participating cities were selected on a competitive basis with applications coming from about 140 cities globally. The list of Philippine participants were as follows: Catbalogan City• Mr. Edgardo Malate Guya, City Environment and Natural Resources Officer (unable to attend)• Dr. Marilyn Cardoso, University President, Samar State University City of Cagayan de Oro• Ms. Eileen E. San Juan, Local Economic and Investment Promotions Officer• Atty. Dionel O. Albina, Director, Innovation and Technology Solutions, University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines (unable to attend) Iloilo City• Mayor Jed Patricke E. Mabilog, City Mayor• Professor Mary Ann T. Gumban, Dean, College of Management, University of the Philippines- Visayas The EPIC-N model connects local universities and city officials to address the pressing needs of communities as they strive to become more sustainable and resilient. Recognizing the huge interest of Southeast Asian cities in the EPIC N model as evidenced by the volume of applications received from the region, Mayor Jed Mabilog of Iloilo City expressed interest to host a regional EPIC-N training in early 2018. EPIC-N is a community service-based model designed to address the broad spectrum of sustainability-related information and knowledge needs of local governments and communities by systematically matching city needs with university capacity in ways that benefit all parties, with lasting and sustainable impacts for all involved. The model has thus far shown itself to be elegantly simple yet powerful and effective in practice, and seems fully customizable to local circumstances elsewhere. ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability is one of the organizers of this training opportunity; ICLEI Southeast Asia facilitated outreach to the Philippine cities. Other collaborating institutions included the EPIC-N Network, US National Science Foundation, US Environmental Protection Agency Office of International and Tribal Affairs, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Global Adaptation Network (GAN), and the UNEP Global Universities Partnership on Environment and Sustainability. The training was conducted as a pre-event of the Resilient Cities 2017. PARTICIPANTS’ FEEDBACK: What are your main learning points during the EPIC N training? “The main learning points that I acquired are the different strategies that may be utilized to ensure that all important stakeholders - university officials, faculty members, students, alumni as well as those from the local government units can collaborate to be able to address pressing issues within the service communities. Indeed, a strong partnership platform between the university and local government unit can surely impact progress in the community and provide a more realistic and relevant avenue for students to learn.” Dr. Marilyn D. CardosoPresident, Samar State University What are your immediate plans to apply what you have learned from the training? “Immediate plans after the training is the presentation of the EPIC N model to the city mayor and the city council for full support to the program. In Cagayan de Oro, we have the presence of four universities, and city government endeavors to partner with each university as each one has its own strengths in various fields. The partnership may also work as a consortium depending on the requirements of the project. Initially, we will be working on special projects in the areas of transportation, agribusiness, technology solutions for government processes, and re-development plans of the city.” Ms. Eileen Escobar-San JuanLocal Economic and Investment Promotions OfficerCagayan de Oro City, Philippines
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