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SPRING-Asia
Program @ 12
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During the UP SURP's 43rd
Foundation Day in October 2008, the School will also
celebrate 12 years of continuing partnership with the
Technische
Universitat Dortmund (Dortmund
University of Technology) in Germany through the
Spatial Planning for Regions in Growing Economies or SPRING, a
graduate program in regional and district development planning and
management.
The
joint program was established through a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) between the
University of the Philippines School of Urban and Regional Planning
and the
Technische
Universitat Dortmund (Dortmund
University of Technology) Facultat
Raumplanung (Faculty of Spatial Planning). The first batch of SPRING-Asia started their
coursework at the UP SURP in October 1996 or during the second semester of the
Academic
Year 1996-1997.
Referred to
as
SPRING-Asia, it offers the two-year international joint Master of Science
Regional Development Planning (MS RDP) program with courses conducted in
Germany (during the first year) and in the Philippines (during the
second year). It has a parallel program for students who opt to
undertake their second year in Africa with the
Department of Planning, Kwame Nkrumah
University of Science and Technology (DoP KNUST) in Kumasi, Ghana
and the
School of Urban and Regional Planning, Ardhi University in Dar es
Salaam, Tanzania or in Latin America with the
Faculty of Economic and Administrative
Sciences, Universidad Austral de Chile (UACH) in Valdivia, Chile.
The
SPRING program primarily aims "to
increase the ability
of participants to play an active, prominent role in planning regional and district development".
It caters to planners who have obtained a four-year Bachelor's Degree
(or equivalent), have a minimum of two years experience in a planning-related field, and have a strong commitment to further work in
regional development planning.
Members of the UP
SURP Research and Publications Staff were able to interview the
following SPRING-Asia students who comprise the 12th Batch and are
expected to finish the program in the academic year 2008-2009. The
write-ups, which will be published in the December 2008 issue, will primarily share the
insights
and experiences of
the SPRING students while they are under the program.
|
Name |
Country of Origin |
|
Mustapha Bangura |
Sierra Leone |
|
Jose Francisco P. Laso |
Chile |
|
Connie B. Morga |
Philippines |
|
Peter Thiongo Njoroge |
Kenya |
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Samanthilaka
Weerasooriyge Priyantha |
Sri Lanka |
|
Paolo Ernesto V.
Reyes |
Philippines |
|
Basheer
A.M. Saeed |
Iraq |
|
Chun Yu Wang |
China |
The following students
comprise the 13th batch of SPRING-Asia
students will start their term at UP SURP in September 2008.
|
Name |
Country of Origin |
|
Ma. Besilda
A. Arevalo |
Philippines |
|
Nirajan
Dhakal |
Nepal |
|
Julius M.
Galdiano |
Philippines |
|
Evelyn S.
Lorenzo |
Philippines |
|
Eshan Karl
Mabang |
Philippines |
|
Shirleyana
|
Indonesia |
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Mirza Soraya |
Indonesia |
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LOCAL PLANNING
Most provinces miss their
potentials for development because they plan
programs and operations without
consideration of sectoral concerns, the
budget, and the plans of the national and
municipal governments that they are supposed
to complement.
An expert in urban and
regional planning said in a recent
conference in Quezon City that the low
capabilities of provincial planning and
development offices (PPDO) result in poor
plans that have little impact on local
development.
>read full
text
LAND USE
ANCESTRAL DOMAIN
GRP-MILF draft pact on Bangsamoro homeland
>Read full text of the Memorandum of
Agreement on the Ancestral Domain Aspect of
the GRP-MILF TRIPOLI AGREEMENT ON PEACE OF
2001
HOUSING
DEVELOPMENT PLANS
Coalition of gov’t
workers opposes QC development plan
A newly formed coalition of
government workers’ unions has opposed the
plan to develop 340 hectares of government
property in Quezon City into a business
zone, saying it would lead to the
displacement of thousands of workers and
informal settlers.
>read full text
80 families to get
cheap housing units in Quezon City
MANILA,
Philippines— In a bid to “provide decent and
affordable housing” to informal settlers,
the Quezon City government has awarded 80
families with affordable residential units
in Project 4, Quezon City, the city’s
housing agency said on Friday.
>read full text
REAL ESTATE
High-end
residential condos in demand, says
consultancy firm
High-end
residential condominiums are in demand, the
international real estate consultancy firm
CB Richard Ellis Philippines said recently.
As a result of
increased demand, prices for high-end
residential condominiums in Makati City have
risen from P90,000 per square meter in 2006
to as much as P130,000 per sq m this year.
This was revealed in a statement sent to
Inquirer Property.
>read full text
RP properties
‘hottest’ in Southeast Asia now
The Philippines was recently
declared a popular real estate hub in
Southeast Asia by the international
commercial real estate services firm, CB
Richard Ellis Philippines. It further cited
that “investment opportunities in tourism,
infrastructure, mining and real estate
remain high” here.
>read full text
RESOURCES
Evaluating RP's asset reform
Cognizant of this social justice problem,
the government passed various "asset reform"
laws aimed at giving the poor control over
the assets and natural resources they need
for survival. The best known asset reform
program--land reform--is now being hotly
debated in Congress. Farmers are lobbying
for the extension, with reforms, of the
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988
(CARL), while landlords are trying to stall
Congress.
Seemingly forgotten, however, are the other
asset reform laws--the Indigenous People's
Rights Act of 1997 (IPRA), the Fisheries
Code of 1998, and the Urban Development and
Housing Act of 1992 (UDHA).
>read full text
14.5M
experienced hunger, says SWS
More
Filipino families across the country
experienced involuntary hunger (hunger due
to lack of food) between April and June than
during the first three months of the year, a
recent Social Weather Stations
survey showed.
>read full text
Drinking water from faucet still possible in
RP
In a country where rivers are being killed
by pollution and fragmented policies are a
threat, bottled drinking water has become a
necessity for most Filipinos.
The Philippines, however, can go back to the
good old days when citizens drank clean,
cold and refreshing water straight from the
tap. It will need a coherent water policy,
strong political will, and financing.
>read full text
President Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo announced in April the allocation of
P43.7 billion for a program that aims to
push for high palay yield, and
eventually rice self-sufficiency for the
country.
The FIELDS (Fertilizer, Irrigation,
Education and training of farmers and
fisherfolk, Loans, Dryers and other
post-harvest facilities, and Seeds of
high-yielding, hybrid varieties) program has
been designed to address the country's
looming shortage of rice.
>read full
text
>back to top
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