Dr. Barcillano Co-leads a Workshop and Presents a paper in Bangkok, Thailand

Dr. Malu C. Barcillano, Director of the ADNU Center for Local Governance and Program Director of the Master in Public Administration of the Graduate School attended the International conference on “Reinventing Higher Education: Toward Participatory and Sustainable Development” at the Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel, Bangkok Thailand.  This was held last December 12-14, 2007 and was sponsored by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization-Asia Pacific Programme of Educational Innovation for Development (UNESCO-APPEID).

During the conference, Dr. Barcillano co-led a workshop entitled “Forming the Conquiry”. This aims to build a continuing international program of collaborative institutional action-research, and knowledge dissemination, on university engagement with participatory development. This also intends to build on ideas generated at the International Forum on Universities and Participatory Development, which was held at UBC in Vancouver, Canada last November 2006.

Dr. Barcillano was also invited to a post conference event in the form of an International Symposium entitled “Sufficiency Economy, Participatory Development and Universities” (SEPDU).  The symposium was held last December 15-16, 2007 at the Hotel Windsor Suites Bangkok Bangkok, Thailand.  Here, Dr. Barcillano presented a paper on the Sustainable and Participatory Development and Academic Institutions: Its Conceptual Relationship wherein the association between the Graduate School, Master in Public Administration Program and the Center for Local Governance as one of the extension units of the Ateneo de Naga University was highlighted. The SEPDU is part of the series of the events of the 11th UNESCO-APEID International Conference. The objectives for this particular undertaking are the following:

1. Provide the opportunity for collaborative dialogue among partners of social development, academics, and higher education administrators on the roles of university in participatory development; and
   
2. To identify directions, goals and means, as well as future possibilities in strengthening the role of higher education institutions as development alliance within the philosophical framework of sufficiency economy and participatory development paradigm.
   
   
3. To identify directions, goals and means, as well as future possibilities in strengthening the role of higher education institutions as development alliance within the philosophical framework of sufficiency economy and participatory development paradigm.

Dr. Barcillano’s attendance in the conference and the symposium was made possible through the invitation of Dr. Leonora Angeles of the University of British Columbia and was funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).