Malayan Colleges Laguna (MCL) has been named as one of the partners for SECRA, the Strengthening University-Enterprise Collaboration (UEC) for Resilient Communities in Asia project.
Led by the Mid Sweden University Risk and Crisis Research Center in Sweden, with the University of Central Lancashire in the United Kingdom as the co-lead, SECRA is a three-year project with 13 partners from six different countries.
Besides MCL, the Asian partners comprise of Ateneo de Manila University and Philippine Normal University in the Philippines; University of Ruhuna, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, and University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka; and Chiang Mai University, Naresuan University, and Mahasarakham University in Thailand. European partners also include the University of Huddersfield in Great Britain and Tallinn Technical University in Estonia.
With a focus on the consequences of climate change, SECRA aims to contribute to resilient communities in Asia by improving disaster risk reduction through stronger collaborations among universities, public authorities, non-government organizations (NGOs), and industries.
Having received funding from the European Union’s Erasmus+, a program managed by the European Commission along with other organizations to support education, training, youth, and sport in Europe, the project started in January 2021 and will run for three years.
For its first year, the efforts for SECRA will concentrate on mapping the structure for the collaboration for disaster risk reduction in the project’s partner countries in Asia.
As part of the Philippine team, MCL is expected to contribute to Work Package deliverables, ultimately coming up with a country report that would fulfill the overall objectives of the project. Along with the other representatives from the Philippines, MCL will be working on tasks such as conducting document studies and analyses, developing frameworks, online platforms, programs, and tools, preparing policy briefs, policy dialogue, and materials and running on-site training sessions, among others.
“It is both a privilege and big responsibility to be a part of this project, but I am hopeful that it will also create a meaningful impact for the communities we live in,” shared the MCL Project Lead, Dean Maria Rhodora R. Austria of the E.T. Yuchengco College of Business.
MCL became part of SECRA after applying for the grant funded by the EU Commission.
Watch the Philippine Launch of the Strengthening University-Enterprise Collaboration for Resilient Communities in Asia (SECRA) project on the Malayan Colleges Laguna Facebook page on May 19, 2021, 4:00 PM (Philippine Standard Time).