AUN-EEC Unveiled an Exciting Year Ahead with Initiatives to "Rewild the City" in 2024 and Membership Expansion

The ASEAN University Network on Ecological Education and Culture (AUN-EEC) Secretariat called its General Assembly on 12 March 2024 with the attendance of representatives from AUN-EEC member universities and member institutions. The meeting signified another big year of excitement for AUN-EEC with the announcement of its 2024 activity line-up along with the introduction of 10 new member institutions; encompassing university-based academic entities, university-based student organisations, and professional organisations including private businesses, non-governmental organisations, and local government units. The AUN-EEC Secretariat also provided updates to the thematic network’s members on the progress of its bylaws drafting process to respond to its growing membership.

The meeting was moderated by Dr. Emmanuel D. Delocado, Executive Director of AUN-EEC, and the opening remark was made by Dr. Choltis Dhirathiti, AUN Executive Director. Dr. Choltis called to attention the growing interest in multilateral cooperation with ASEAN universities among international partners such as in Japan and Australia, especially at a network level. He highlighted the AUN Thematic Networks as the frontline of AUN’s international collaboration onwards, and AUN-EEC’s continuous organisation of activities and events demonstrated the potential waiting to be tapped in the AUN Thematic Networks. In the conclusion of his remarks, Dr. Choltis expressed his enthusiasm for upcoming AUN-EEC’s activities and pledged the full support of the AUN Secretariat in bolstering its potential.

Following the opening remarks by Dr. Choltis Dhirathiti, the AUN-EEC Secretariat, led by Dr. Delocado, presented the exciting line-up of AUN-EEC’s activities in 2024 along with updates on the growth of the network and the ongoing process of its bylaws drafting.
 

Rewilding the City

 

The banner theme for the AUN-EEC’s activities in 2024 is “Rewilding the City.” The growing urban population has put cities at a tension spot in the advocacy for environmental protection and sustainability efforts. However, city life is the reality for the large amount of population in many countries across the earth. Therefore, under this theme, AUN-EEC aims to reposition cities as the epicentre for ecological education and environmental discourses and expand on how modern cities can thrive hand in hand with environmental advocacy.

An array of activities and events has already been prepared by the AUN-EEC Secretariat to engage participants from diverse sectors of the public in this enriching conversation.

Revisiting the City

Coming up on 16 April 2024, Revisiting the City is a webinar set to present the tension in cities and discuss the importance of cities as the focus of ecological education and culture. The webinar also aims to spotlight the initiatives of the public that have been ongoing to ‘rewild’ the city. Accompanying this webinar is “Recapturing the City,” an Instagram campaign that invites youth to ‘capture’ the tension between their cities and environmental advocacy through photography.

Rewilding the City

Following Revisiting the City, Rewilding City is a day-long online conference set to take place in August 2024. The conference will feature a morning plenary session with keynote speakers and panel discussions, followed by an afternoon parallel session with thematic paper presentations. Corresponding to this conference is a 3-month long Instagram contest for members of the public to submit Instagram reels and videos under the theme “Reviving the City” 

The conference will be held jointly with AUN Sustainable Cities and Urban Development (AUN-SCUD).

Reimagining the City

Another event to be held jointly with AUN-SCUD, “Reimagining the City” is planned to be a workshop and competition on city planning.

Roundtable Discussion for Education on Sustainable Development

Capping the 2024 line-up is the Roundtable Discussion for Education on Sustainable Development, set to be held in November 2024. The discussion will feature a plenary session on education for sustainable development in Southeast Asia and a panel discussion on mainstreaming education for sustainable development in universities. The event is to be held in partnership with the Lily Gokongwei Ngochua Leadership Academy (The Lily).

Interested individuals can stay tuned to the AUN-EEC’s official website and Instagram for more details to come.

 

The AUN-EEC Secretariat also extended their warmest invitation to all the participants for events held by the Ateneo Institute of Sustainability. These include a series of two webinars “Climate Voices on the Ground: Perspectives from Different Sectors" and “Climate Research 'As If People Mattered'” coming in April and May 2024 respectively. The webinars are a part of the “My Climate Risk (MCR)” activity, a lighthouse activity from the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) which aims to develop and mainstream a ‘bottom-up’ approach to regional climate risk. Ateneo de Manila University, through the Ateneo Institute of Sustainability (AIS), hosts the MCR-ADMU Hub, one of the WCRP’s My Climate Risk hubs in the Asia-Pacific region.

Interested participants can learn more about the two webinars and register at: https://linktr.ee/MCR_ADMU
 

AUN-EEC Bylaws and Membership Expansion

Apart from the exciting line-up of events in 2024, the AUN- EEC Secretariat also provided the attendees with an update on its bylaws drafting process, which has been initiated since 2021, and recent membership expansion.

Currently, the AUN-EEC includes 41 members, with 10 being new members representing university-based offices or departments, university-based student organisations, and professional groups which encompass private businesses, non-governmental organisations, and local government units.

The 10 most recent members include:

• University-based offices or departments
  • Capiz State University - Capiz Ecology and Conservation Centre
  • Isabela State University - Cabagan Campus
  • Isabela State University - Cauayan Campus, School of Arts and Sciences
  • Saint Louis College
• University-based student organisations
  • Caraga State University - Caraga Environmental Advocates Society
  • Philippine Normal University Biological Society
  • Young Environmentalists' Society - Benguet State University
• Professional Group, Private Business, NGO, LGU, etc.
  • Reboot Philippines Renewabl Energy Transition Institute, Inc.
  • For The Future – Myanmar
  • Young Urbanists of Southeast Asia

This promising growth of the thematic network has been taken into consideration in the bylaws drafting process, where the AUN-EEC Secretariat invited the meeting attendees to share thoughts and suggestions on clauses regarding AUN-EEC’s membership status, eligibility requirements, roles and responsibilities, and obligations that shall correspond to the network’s expansion.

The bylaws are expected to undergo another round of asynchronous commenting in March and be available for approval by March or April of 2024.

This exciting line-up of events and the growth of the thematic network signify the bustling energy and brimming reservoir of potential to be explored for AUN-EEC. The AUN Secretariat commits to providing complete assistance in strengthening AUN-EEC's capabilities as well as its other AUN Thematic Networks. 

Read more about AUN-EEC’s previous activities and events at:

• Fortifying Sustainability: Revisiting the ASEAN University Network Ecological Education and Culture Conference (AUN-EEC)
• AUN-EEC, ASU, ALI launch Turn It Around! AUN edition cards on the youth’s aspirations for the environment
• AUN-EEC organizes a webinar on ASEAN ecosystems and environmental education