Guzon, Fuentes lead speakers in regional planning summit
Former Environment Secretary Elisea “Bebet” Guzon and South Cotabato Gov. Daisy Avance-Fuentes will lead a battery of resource persons in the coming Western Visayas Regional Planning Summit on March 26, 2009 in Iloilo City.
Awarded as one of Champions of the Earth in 2007 by the United Nations Environment Programme, Guzon will keynote the summit on the theme “Weathering Uncertainties: Building a Resilient Region.”
Fuentes, meanwhile, will share the experience of the Allah Valley Landscape Development Alliance (AVLDA) in South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat provinces in promoting environmental resource sustainability.
The AVLDA is a multi-sectoral alliance composed of local government units at provincial, city and municipal levels; national government agencies in Region 12 and coalition of social development organizations working for environmental resource sustainability while promoting economic investments and supporting community needs and security from natural disaster risks.
The summit was called to help set the course of both the Metro Iloilo-Guimaras and the Western Visayas regions amid repeated disasters that devastated them, specifically the flood wrought by Typhoon Frank in June 2008 and the MV Solar 1 oil spill tragedy in August 2006.
Jointly organized by the Metro Iloilo-Guimaras Economic Development Council (MIGEDC), the Department of Interior and Local Government (NEDA) and National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the summit aims to identify and arrive at consensus on the bioregional challenges of the MIG and Western Visayas regions, share experiences in addressing sustainability and governance issues and foster discussion on emerging creative trends in regional planning such as disaster risk management and climate change.
Other speakers in the summit include Andrew Farncombe, Vice President for International Partnerships of the Canadian Urban Institute; Kristoffer Berse, knowledge management manager of the Earthquakes and Megacities Initiatives; and Presidential Assistant Raul Banias, executive director of Task Force Bangon Panay.
Farncombe will discuss the remarkable journey of Metro Vancouver in Canada towards “thinking and acting regionally.” Metro Vancouver has been a participant in CUI’s work in the Metro Iloilo-Guimaras Region, and has served as an important urban-region governance benchmark for MIGEDC.
Drawing on the city region’s rich history in sustainable transportation, land use and growth management planning, he will explain how critical decisions made by the community, professionals and leadership at all levels propelled Vancouver into the forefront of planning sustainable, resilient and liveable city regions.
Engr. Bienvenido Lipayon, regional director of the Environmental Management Bureau; Engr. Al Fruto, project coordinator of the Iloilo Flood Control Project; and Engr. Evan Anthony Arias, senior planner of the province of Guimaras will complete the list of speakers.
The summit will be held at the Iloilo Grand Hotel in Iloilo City. More information on the summit can be obtained from its website at www.iloiloguimarassumit.com.
Other organizing partners in the summit include the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the University of the Philippines in the Visayas, the Central Philippine University and the Canadian Urban Institute, with funding from the Canadian International Development Agency through CUI’s Urban Partnerships Program Philippines.