The mission to the Philippines provided an opportunity to strengthen long-standing partnerships and explore new avenues of collaboration.
For over thirty years, the University of Namur has maintained close academic cooperation with several Philippine institutions. Initiated in 1992 in the field of geography, this collaboration has gradually expanded to include numerous disciplines, including history, social and political philosophy, and environmental sciences.
These partnerships have led to numerous joint research projects focused on major challenges facing the Philippines, such as natural resource management and the defense of local communities’ rights. They have been supported by various sources of funding, both national and international. Furthermore, for nearly 10 years, an Erasmus+ ICM agreement has been in place between UNamur and the University of the Philippines, Diliman.
This dynamic of cooperation continues today, notably through the “Philippine Studies Programme” from which UNamur benefits, which highlights scientific collaborations and opens new avenues for academic, cultural, and societal partnerships.
The delegation, which also included Sébastien Dujardin (Department of Geography), was received by the Population Institute and the Resilience Institute at the University of the Philippines, the Service Learning team at Ateneo de Manila University, the Office of Economic and Cultural Diplomacy at the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Office of International Relations at the Lyceum of the Philippines University, and the Belgian Ambassador in Manila. These various meetings provided an opportunity to explore new collaborations.
