Dr. Ricardo T. Bagarinao, Dean of the UP Open University Faculty of Education, conducted a talk on the CARe-UPOU flagship program of the University on 3 March 2017. The guiding principles and possible researchable areas under CARe-UPOU were the main topics of the conversation.

CARe-UPOU, which stands for "Climate Adaptive and Resilient UPOU", is considered as a critical program for the University mainly because of the fact that UPOU's operations are hugely dependent on online systems. With the Internet being vulnerable to climate-related events and other natural disasters, it is imperative for the University to ensure Internet resilience to maintain its integrity as an Open and Distance e-Learning (ODeL) institution.

For the University to ensure continuity of its operations amidst disaster occurrence in any of its offices, CARe-UPOU has divided its efforts into two components: the "Green UPOU" which focuses on the University's sustainability efforts, and the "Disaster Risk and Reduction Management" (DRRM) which focuses on the University's climate adaptation and disaster resilience. For Green UPOU, Dr. Bagarinao said the committee was able to identify four goals for the years 2016 to 2019 to strengthen climate change mitigation efforts in the University:

  1. Resource Conservation,
  2. Environmental Education,
  3. Ecological Waste Management, and
  4. Renewable Energy Use.

For DRRM, on the other hand, four areas of concern were laid out to attain climate change adaptation and resilience by the year 2019:

  1. Disaster Prevention and Mitigation,
  2. Disaster Preparedness,
  3. Disaster Response, and
  4. Disaster Rehabilitation and Recovery.

The following are some of the possible researchable areas that arose from the conversation:

  • baseline condition
  • criteria and indicators
  • modelling
  • behaviour and response.

Some of the potential studies identified were:

  • UPOU Disaster Preparedness: A Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Survey
  • Institutional Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction Efforts among UPOU Offices
  • Developing Sustainability Criteria and Indicators for an ODeL Institution
  • Risk Reduction Initiatives: Balancing Costs with Benefits
  • Modeling Behavioural Responses to Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Initiatives

Watch the recording of the conversation at YouTube