The SECRA Project: Strengthening University-Enterprise Collaboration for Resilient Communities in Asia

Co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme: Capacity-Building projects in the field of Higher Education (E+CBHE), the three-year SECRA project (Strengthening University-Enterprise Collaboration for Resilient Communities in Asia) aims to promote the establishment of more resilient communities in Asia through university-enterprise collaboration or UEC in the partner countries, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and the Philippines. This project is comprised by 13 partners from six different countries led by the Mid Sweden University Risk and Crisis Research Center in Sweden. The University of Central Lancashire in the United Kingdom serves as the co-lead while the partner schools here in the Philippines are Mapúa Malayan Colleges Laguna, Ateneo de Manila University, and Philippine Normal University.

Focusing 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. The E.T. Yuchengco College of Business, as the lead college of the SECRA project in Mapúa 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 running on-site training sessions.

Mapúa MCL aims to complete the following programs as it moves forward to its second year of implementation: (a) Institutional landscape optimization through the implementation and testing of the UEC Relational Framework; (b) Development of an online platform for the UEC Community of Practice; (c) Innovation and enterprise promotion by carrying out a corporate start-up laboratory; (d) Development and adjustment of the UEC Compass Model and Tool through on-site training sessions; and (e) Dissemination and exploitation strategy development.

The current Mapúa MCL SECRA team is composed of the following administrators who will be responsible in conducting the programs that will help achieve the goals of the Eramus+CBHE SECRA project: Project Leader Prof. Rhodora R. Austria, College Dean of the E.T. Yuchengco College of Business (ETYCB); Dr. Roel C. Rodrigo, Director of the Learning Environments, and Innovations Office (LEIO); Director Jocelyn T. Bellin of the Center for Service-Learning and Community Engagement (CSCE); and Dr. Hermie V. Articona, Director of the Research Promotion and Coordination Office (RPCO).