Dumancas of Arevalo, Iloilo wins 2005 Eco-Minds Pathfinder Award
Gerard G. Dumancas of Arevalo, Iloilo City.
The road to wining the 2005 Eco-Minds Pathfinder Award started in April this year for Gerard G. Dumancas of Arevalo, Iloilo City.
Fresh from graduating as cum laude in the BS Chemistry program of UP in the Visayas, Dumancas was chosen as one of the 18 Bayer Young Environmental Envoys of the Philippines for 2005. He was selected after an initial screening and final interview with 10 other semi-finalists from Visayas on April 30 in Cebu City. As a Bayer Young Environmental Envoy, Gerard was invited to attend a five-day, live-in eco-camp on May 21-25 at Lagos del Sol Resort, Cavinti, Laguna. Together with the rest of the selected envoys from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, Bayer Philippines covered his expenses.
The Eco-camp gave the Envoys an overview of the Philippine environment and current efforts of various sectors in addressing environmental problems. Various speakers from government, academe, industry, media and civil society shared their experiences and contributions to environmental preservation.
From the 18 finalists, three were chosen to be a part of the Philippine delegation to the international Eco-minds Youth Forum held in the Philippines in October 2005. Dumancas was chosen as one of the three to represent the Philippines.
Fast forward to October 26- 30, 2005. Twenty-seven delegates from eight countries including the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, China and Korea gathered in Manila and Subic for the Eco-minds Youth Forum. The program included lectures, workshops and field trips to several interesting ecological sites. The intent of the event was to come up with workable solutions to the complicated issue of sustainable development.
The delegates were divided into groups with three members each, coming from different countries and different degree programs. Each group was given a difficult case study and challenged to come up with a solution and present it before a panel of jurors that included former Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Elisea Gozun.
Gerard's group was judged the winner and received the Eco-Minds Pathfinder Award. Highly acclaimed Filipino artist Impy Pilapil designed their trophies. They were also given a laptop computer each. His other group mates were Tan Jack Young of Singapore Polytechnic and Leyla Acaroglu of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia.
The Eco-Minds forum was an effort to show that the 'basic principles of environment and sustainable development are interwoven in various disciplines like natural sciences, engineering, management, and social sciences, and how they influence or are influenced by actors in various sectors of society such as government, business and industry, media, NGOs and communities.'
(Lyncen M. Fernandez; with sources from Philippine Star)