Small island communities in the Philippines will soon establish sustainable and inclusive S&T-based livelihoods that started with a two-day proposal packaging writeshop. The Technology Transfer and Promotion Division of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD) spearheaded the activity.
The two-day writeshop was convened for the Inclusive Science for Livelihood in Agri-Aqua (ISLA) in Small Islands Program to orient and level-off with project partners on the ISLA modality and develop ISLA proposals for possible funding in CY 2023.
The d face-to-face activity was conducted on October 25-26, 2022 at PCAARRD, Los Baños, Laguna and was participated by TTPD personnel and researchers from seven state universities and colleges (SUCs) including Isabela State University (ISU), Western Philippines University (WPU), Central Bicol State University of Agriculture (CBSUA), Capiz State University (CapSU), Western Mindanao State University (WMSU), Davao Oriental State University (DorSU), and Mindanao State University (MSU) - Tawi-Tawi.
ISLA modality is a convergence of modalities, components, and technologies. It will be a venue to showcase the roll-out of different S&T interventions in an identified small island community (SIC) in the Philippines. The goal is to establish sustainable and inclusive S&T-based livelihoods while addressing social, economic, and environmental issues/concerns. It also addresses the Harmonized National R&D Agenda (HNRDA) for the AANR sector by utilizing advanced and emerging technologies and information and communication technologies (ICT) as R&D tools to find S&T solutions or develop new products with significant potential impact to the sector.
As one of the priority components of the Industry Strategic S&T Program for Climate Change, the ISLA Program aims to provide assistance and support to capacitate the small island communities for disaster risk reduction and enhance their climate change adaptation. Generally, it intends to provide solutions to the challenges in the small island through the convergence of technologies while maintaining a balance between the human and natural environment for sustainable development.
The writeshop served as a venue to sharpen the skills of researchers in preparing and packaging project/program proposals. Subsequently, their outputs were evaluated by writeshop resource persons and evaluators.
DOST-PCAARRD hopes to implement the ISLA Program across three major islands of the Philippines.