QUEZON CITY, Philippines—Dr. Maria Cristeta Cuaresma, Senior Program Head of the Education and Collective Learning Department, and Ms. Sharon Malaiba, Unit Head for Partnerships, represented the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) at the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Council (SEAMEC) Flagship Program 3 (FP3) titled "Ready SEA: Showcasing the Integration of Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change in the Teaching and Learning Process," held at Novotel Manila Araneta City Hotel on 25 March 2025.
With the theme "Harmonizing Futures: Integrating Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change in Southeast Asian Education," the FP3 brought together education stakeholders from different Southeast Asian countries to discuss embedding disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) and climate change adaptation and mitigation (CCAM) into the basic education curricula. FP3 aimed to produce learning resource packages for integrating essential DDRM and CCAM into students' curricula and teaching and learning processes across the region.
To formally start the program, Mr. Malcolm Garma, Undersecretary for Operations of the Department of Education (DepEd), Philippines, delivered a message on behalf of DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara. The message focused on climate-related disasters in Southeast Asia and their profound impact.
"We encourage educators to transform vulnerability into resilience with the integration of disaster risk and climate change in the teaching and learning process," the Secretary stated.
Dr. Cuaresma presented SEARCA's contributions to green education, including the online courses that the Center developed in partnership with various organizations and are now being offered by the University of the Philippines Open University. She also discussed the initiatives of the University Consortium, such as the Erasmus+-funded Postgraduate Micro-Credentials in Food Security and Climate Change (PMS FSCC), which succeeded the Joint Master of Science in Food Security and Climate Change (MS FSCC). Additionally, she introduced the School-plus-Home Gardens Program (S+HGP), which has been scaled up to School plus Home Garden cum Biodiversity Enhancement Enterprise (SHGBEE), which focuses on biodiversity enhancement and entrepreneurship and its proposal for Building Climate Resilient Young Smallholder farmers and agripreneurs Through Alternative Learning Systems (CRYSTALS). Dr. Cuaresma also demonstrated that the Center practices what it preaches by showcasing its Sky Garden and Friendship Garden, from which SEARCA sources some of its giveaways to partners.
Representatives from the ministries of education of Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia, and representatives from other organizations, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Save the Children Foundation, and Oscar M. Lopez Center also delivered presentations focusing on integrating disaster risk and climate change topics in basic education curricula. They also emphasized the importance of collaboration among agencies to guarantee food security in the region.
The day concluded with the participants strongly reaffirming their view that all students need to learn how to handle emergency issues arising from disasters and the impacts of climate change. These learnings are vital for students to be resilient and to be fully aware of their environment as they are leaders of the future generation.
SEAMEC is the governing council of the Southeast Asia Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO). Along with SEARCA, other SEAMEO centers that actively participated in the event were SEAMEO Regional Centre for Sufficiency Economy Philosophy for Sustainability (SEAMEO SEPS), SEAMEO Regional Centre for Education in Science and Mathematics (SEAMEO RECSAM), Southeast Asian Regional Centre for Tropical Biology (SEAMEO BIOTROP), Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Regional Centre for Special Educational Needs (SEAMEO SEN), SEAMEO Regional Tropical Medicine and Public Health Network (SEAMEO TROPMED), and Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Regional Centre for STEM Education (SEAMEO STEM-ED).