The Los Baños Science and Community Foundation, Inc. (LBSCFI) will celebrate the National Science and Technology Week (NSTW) through SyenSaya, the Los Baños Science Festival, on September 10―12.
SyenSaya intends to provide a venue where people from all walks of life will come to understand, appreciate, discover, and value the role of science in their everyday lives.
Now on its 7th year, the celebration also aims to promote Los Baños as a premiere science tourism destination. This year’s theme is “Los Baños Science Community: Supporting the nation in meeting global challenges.”
The festival will offer three major events. First is an interactive science learning exhibit called “Wonderama” at the Copeland Hall of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB). To promote the appreciation of science, the exhibit will feature basic principles and application modules on food and agriculture, technology, development, and environment.
Wonderama is open to the public, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., throughout Syensaya’s three-day run. Entrance fee is P5.
A climate change adaptation and disaster preparedness forum titled “Handa KNB sa oras ng kalamidad?” is Syensaya’s second major activity. It will be held at the UPLB-NCAS Auditorium on September 11, from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Finally, an R&D awarding and closing ceremony will be held on September 12 at the SEARCA DL Umali Auditorium, also located at the UPLB Campus, from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
LBSCFI is one of four science communities established by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in accordance with the Presidential Executive Order No. 784 in 1984.
The Foundation is comprised of 23 member-agencies consisting of international organizations, private entities, universities, the municipal government of Los Baños, and offices under DOST, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and Department of Agriculture.
The NSTW, on the other hand, was instituted by virtue of Presidential Proclamation 2214 in 1982. It was later amended through Republic Act 169, which sets its annual celebration every third week of July.