Key Highlights on Advancing to an Urbanized and Sustainable Future: AUN-EEC Conference 2024 “Rewilding the City”

Written by: Janna Alessandra Lagman

During the afternoon parallel sessions of the 5th AUN-EEC Conference held on August 14, 2024, breakout rooms via Zoom were opened, with each focusing on a topic aligned with the theme “Rewilding the City,” allowing the participants to engage in discourses based on their interests and expertise. Hosted by the AUN-EEC Secretariat housed at Ateneo Institute of Sustainability, Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), the Philippines and the ASEAN University Network - Sustainable City and Urban Development (AUN-SCUD), housed at the Centre for Sustainable Infrastructure Development in Universitas Indonesia, the insightful programme featured keynote lectures, panel discussion, and parallel sessions led by esteemed scholars and professionals from various sectors.

Smart cities, urban development and sustainability are among key social topics that constantly evolve in conjecture with new innovations, developments and challenges to the way society develops, sustains and advances the facilities and infrastructure of their urban areas. The third and the fourth parallel sessions of the 5th AUN-EEC conference was dedicated to discussions about smart cities, urban resilience, and sustainability and trends in sustainable cities, respectively. Through presentations of academic papers and case studies by experts and scholars from higher education institutions across the Asia Pacific region, these parallel sessions highlighted ongoing developments, challenges, innovations and opportunities in the terrain of sustainable cities and urban development.

Parallel Session 3: Smart Cities, Urban Resilience and Sustainability

Dr. Maria Luz C. Vilches, the Vice President for Higher Education of the Ateneo de Manila University, commenced the session with the programme as she gave her welcoming remarks. Highlighting the increasing issues that continue to transpire from climate change, she has expressed appreciation for the theme of this year’s conference. “Cities don't seem to be a palatable idea anymore to a lot of people,” she explained as it is wild in a negative sense, considering the pollution, traffic congestion, and other environmental issues being experienced across the globe. With the aim to reverse the idea into a more positive sense, she hopes for engaging and fruitful discussions, and is very much looking forward to the proposals on how to rewild the cities.  

In the session, with Dr. Cindy Rianti Priadi, an Associate Professor from the Department of Civil Engineering - Faculty of Engineering of Universitas Indonesia, as the moderator, each speaker was given ten minutes to present their paper. 

The first presenter, Ms. Kyu Kyu Tin, discussed the heat waves in the countries of Southeast Asia. Some of her major key points were about the factors attributed to the occurrence of heatwaves, which include a combination of human-induced climate change and El Niño events, and its impact on the region particularly on the energy and agricultural sectors, such as the excessive energy demand, drought, and wildfires. She also presented case studies featuring countries that encountered heat waves, namely India and Pakistan who experienced one of the most severe heat waves in 2022, Thailand who had temperatures exceeding 40 degrees celsius in 2023, and Vietnam who had prolonged heat waves in 2024. Towards the end of her presentation she explained several mitigation and adaptation strategies, and briefly discussed the Sustainable Development Goals that are relevant in the topic, which are #2: Zero Hunger, #3 Good Health and Well-Being, #6 Clean Water and Sanitation, #7 Affordable and Clean Energy, and #13 Climate Action. 

It was then followed by a presentation from Ricardo T. Bagarinao who focused on his topic about rewilding the cities through home garden agroforestry. He began by explaining its concepts and structures, and a sample study which aimed to determine the bird species recruited through the home garden and to analyse the ecological services it provided. He also shared the methods used in the study, including the observation done for six months, photo documentation, and the usage of internet-based sources, and ended with an explanation of the prospects of home garden agroforestry. 

Succeeding series of presentations went on, ranging from the papers by Jacqueline Theis who tackled New Zealand Biodiversity Factor - Residential, Ms. Richelle Rhea R. Baria who focused on analysing coastal development transformation - a framework for socio technological infrastructure for Metro Legazpi, and Ms. Ma. Cristina Evangelista who tackled the circular economy through construction innovations.

The full recording of Session 3 of the conference is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8PP6By6BiQ 

Parallel Session 4: Smart Cities, Urban Resilience and Sustainability

In line with the topics of the third parallel session, the fourth parallel session centred on the trends in urban sustainability. With Mr. Gino Antonio P. Trinidad, an instructor from the Department of Political Science at the Ateneo de Manila University, as the moderator, the same amount of  time of ten minutes were also allocated for each presenter.

Presentations in the fourth parallel session featured the papers by Maxine Cuartero and Gayle Macam who focused on the Ateneo commute culture. They began by providing a background on the twenty percent contribution of Ateneo De Manila University along Katipunan and presented examples of conversations and posts on social media that tackle the traffic congestion and their commute  culture. They then proceeded with their discussion on how the Biyaheng Ateneo: Ateneo Commuters Facebook Group, and their systems of shared meanings and experiences, contribute to the organisation of the Ateneo commute culture.

Zhang Liu also presented and focused on the prevalence of motorcycle commuting in Southeast Asia. As the primary mode of commuting in the region, considering its low cost and convenience, the discussion mainly revolved around the major safety challenges it poses, including speeding, non-usage of helmets, and drunk driving. Moreover, Inero V. Ancho, Elaijah Andrea M. Gironella, Mark Yvanne A. Mendres, and Danica Jae B. Sagun discussed the Gabaldon School Buildings towards human development through human ecological perspectives. With their aim to highlight the structure as a pedagogical space and its preservation, they have employed a study with a qualitative method, focusing on document analysis, resulting in the discussion about Gabaldon serving as a reflection of the Filipino Identity. 

The recording of Parallel Session 4 of the 5th AUN-EEC Conference is available at https://youtu.be/FO-EGgLWyhg.