Resources, Environment, and Economics Center for Studies, Inc.
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REECS co-organizes Refresher Course on Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) with the IHS of Erasmus University Rotterdam
By Ina Judith C. Calabio, 19 September 2019
REECS co-organizes Refresher Course on Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) with the IHS of Erasmus University Rotterdam
Refresher Course participants, Macabebe stakeholders, course coordinators, lecturers, and organizers, and Mr. Pieter Terpstra of the Embassy of Netherlands
Graduates of the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS) – Erasmus University Rotterdam and practitioners from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines completed the 2-week refresher course on Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) for Climate Change Resilience and Disaster Risk Reduction co-organized by IHS and REECS in Iloilo City and Clark City on August 19-30, 2019. The course introduced nature-based solution (NBS), a new multidisciplinary urban approach anchored on working together with natural systems to improve climate resilience and disaster risk reduction, its context, tools and techniques for mapping NBS, and real-word NBS applications.
Coordinators of the course were Ms. Charmae Pyl Nercua and Ms. Elena Marie Enseñado of IHS. Dr. Tonie Balangue and Ms. Noela Lasmarias of REECS served as lecturers, and resource persons from the Asian Development Bank Ms. Sonia Chand Sandhu and Ms. Maria Lourdes Martinez Onozawa, also graced the course program.
REECS consultants, Dr. Tonie Balangue and Ms. Noela Lasmarias, as lecturers of the refresher course.
Beyond the lectures, the course included excursions and fieldworks to showcase applications of NBS in Iloilo City, and in Morong and Balanga, Bataan. The excursions featured the Iloilo-Batiano River Rehabilitation project in Iloilo City that models an integrated and sustainable river governance; Ayala Land’s Anvaya Cove in Morong, Bataan that incorporates eco-policies in their practices with its counterpart the Anvaya Environmental Foundation Inc. (AEFI) that envisions an empowered and sustainable Anvaya Cove and Bataan Community; and the Balanga Wetland and Nature Park in Balanga City, Bataan that promotes city resilience.
Excursions in Iloilo City, Morong, Bataan, and Balanga, Bataan
Integrating the key learnings from the concepts and applications of NBS, the course has chosen the municipality of Macabebe in Pampanga to serve as its case study site. The case study aimed to develop local action plans to address identified problems on five thematic areas: housing, public spaces, climate resilience and environment, local economic development, and governance. These local action plans for Macabebe drafted by the participants were presented to local stakeholders during the course’s culmination activity on August 30, 2019.
Mr. Pieter Terpstra of the Embassy of Netherlands delivered the closing remarks to conclude the 2-week course, followed by the awarding of certificates to the participants, and a final message from one of the course coordinators, Ms. Elena Marie Enseñado.