LC to host sustainable city futures forum-workshop

City Futures for City Leaders in Penang City, Malaysia. The Ilocos Times columnist Shermon Cruz with Dr. Sohail Inayatullah and fellow futurists facilitated a strategic foresight forum-workshop for the State of Penang, United Nations University, Think City CEOs, Khazanah Nasional Berhad and members of the Public Service Department of the Government of Malaysia. A similar forum-workshop on resilient cities will take place here in Laoag on May 21-24, 2014. (Shermon Cruz)

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the UNESCO Social and Human Sciences Sector, the UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines, the Center For Engaged Foresight in collaboration with the City Government of Laoag, Northwestern University Laoag, Tamkang University Taiwan, the Hawaii Research Center for Futures Studies, the International Society for Heal Being Studies, South Korea and SMART Communications Philippines will hold the first forum-workshop on anticipatory thinking, strategic foresight and city governance to explore, imagine and create preferred futures of Philippine cities on May 21-24 at the Laoag City Auditorium.

Dubbed “Resilient Cities, Brighter Futures: Forum-Workshop on Anticipatory Thinking and Strategic Foresight for Sustainable Cities”, the workshop calls for an innovative exercise to introduce the skills related to Futures Literacy and to build the capacities of participants to use the future more effectively for city strategic planning, policy-making and decision making to transform Philippine cities in a climate change driven era.

The workshop will also engage participants in a collective reflection; spur their creativity and innovation in the difficult task of reframing the future of Philippine cities. The desired endpoint is to raise participants’ awareness, improve their capacity to imagine and use the future and build a shared narrative to address the challenges of Philippine cities. The forum-workshop offers participants a learning-by-doing experience in “using the future differently.” Professor Sohail Inayatullah, a 2010 Laurel Award Winner for all-time best futurists as voted by Shaping Tomorrow Network, will facilitate the futures workshop.

This four-day event will begin with a plenary session that will feature a general introduction to Future Studies as a new and emerging academic field, a presentation on the experiences of Foresight Centers in Asia and the Pacific region and a critique of current developments in urban areas and a presentation in imagining plausible solutions and innovations.

A two-day workshop will follow to familiarize participants to some futures thinking concepts and strategic foresight methods and engage them in an intense framing and re-framing discussions, to generate new knowledge, new insights, questions, narratives and alternative options for different sectors engaged in building sustainable and resilient Philippine cities. The fourth day will be devoted to a provincial heritage tour in Paoay and Vigan’s UNESCO World Heritage Site.

For more information and inquiry, interested city leaders and organizations may contact Mr. Shermon Cruz, Executive Director of Center for Engaged Foresight CP Nos.: +639479639858 / 09173185162; Tel. No or Fax: 077 607 03 43; or email: engagedforesight@gmail.com

Free dormitories eyed for Nueva Era students in LC, Batac

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Empanada festival: A celebration of good taste and good life

By Dominic B. dela Cruz & Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporters BATAC CITY—If there is one thing Batac is truly proud of, it would be its famous empanada-making business that has nurtured its people over the years. Embracing a century-old culture and culinary tradition, Batac’s empanada claims to be the best and tastiest in the country with its distinctive Ilokano taste courtesy of its local ingredients: fresh grated papaya, mongo, chopped longganisa, and egg. The crispy orange wrapper and is made of rice flour that is deep-fried. The celebration of this city’s famous traditional fast food attracting locals and tourists elsewhere comes with the City Charter Day of Batac every 23 rd of June. Every year, the City Government of Batac led by Mayor Jeffrey Jubal Nalupta commemorate the city’s charter day celebration to further promote its famous One-Town, One Product, the Batac empanada. Empanada City The Batac empanada festival has already become an annua

P29 per kilo rice sold to vulnerable groups in Ilocos region

BBM RICE. Residents buy rice for only PHP29 per kilo at the NIA compound in San Nicolas town, Ilocos Norte province on Sept. 13, 2024. The activity was under a nationwide pilot program of the government to sell quality and affordable rice initially to the vulnerable sectors. (Lei Adriano) San Nicolas , Ilocos Norte —Senior citizens, persons with disability, and solo parents availed of cheap rice sold at PHP29 per kilogram during the grand launching of the Bagong Bayaning Magsasaka (BBM) Rice held at the National Irrigation Administration compound in San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte province on Sept. 13, 2024. “ Maraming salamat Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. sa inyong pagmamahal sa Region 1 lalong-lalo na sa bayan namin sa San Nicolas,” said Violeta Pasion, a resident Brgy. 18 Bingao in this town. The low-priced grains were sourced from the National Irrigation Administration’s (NIA) contract farming with irrigators' association members in the province. Along with Pasion, Epi

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