The first-ever hybrid course on development entrepreneurship (DE) was launched on May 8, 2023 at the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD) in Los Baños, Laguna.
DE is an approach that uses entrepreneurial principles to introduce policy reforms for transformative change. Mr. Thanh Le, the Development Counsellor of the Australian Embassy Manila, described DE approach as adaptive, iterative, and effective in pursuing meaningful reforms.
DOST-PCAARRD Socio-Economics Research Division (SERD) Director Ernesto O. Brown, welcomed the participants during the launch. He highlighted the Council's strong commitment to science-based policy reforms that drive progress in the agriculture, aquatic, and natural resources (AANR) sector. He also acknowledged that pursuing policy reforms remain challenging and expressed confidence in the course's ability to assist advocacy teams.
In the past two years, the Council has funded six policy advocacy projects, which aim to champion reforms based on the results of policy research projects supported by the Council. Each advocacy project aims to pursue reforms on watershed-based land use planning, almaciga resin conservation and utilization, ecotourism-based lake management, financial management reform, and payment for ecosystem services.
Ms. Hazel Aniceto, the Philippines country manager of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), shared that a few ACIAR-supported projects have expressed intent to adopt a DE approach in their projects as part of their strategy and engagements with other stakeholders. She attested that engagements and the application of the DE approach have been successful in many areas.”
Mr. Rene Sanapo, Leadership Development Manager of the The Asia Foundation Philippines’ Coalition for Change (CfC), shared that the DE Hybrid Course aims to assist reform leaders in identifying, clarifying, and selecting policy reform ideas to be applied in an adaptive, politically smart, and entrepreneurial way. The Course is designed to enhance the reform strategies of DOST-PCAARRD’s policy advocacy projects by introducing the DE principles and concepts while also strengthening the advocacy competencies of the project teams.
Six policy advocacy teams from the University of the Philippines Los Baños’ College of Forestry and Natural Resources (CFNR), College of Public Affairs and Development (CPAf), and School of Environmental Science and Management (SESAM) comprise the first cohort of the DE Hybrid Course.
The CfC’s leadership development team designed the course as a four-week learning activity with in-person and online asynchronous learning sessions. It is based on the DE Online Course but leverages the opportunity for participants to come together and learn in person. The DE Hybrid Course’s online learning activities are ongoing and can be completed asynchronously in a self-paced mode.
A collaboration between the DOST-PCAARRD and The Asia Foundation, the in-person sessions of the technical workshop were also conducted in the same venue.