De La Salle Lipa in the Philippines has won the International Green Gown Award for its community outreach to the Mangyans, a cultural group of Mindoro province.
The Lasallian university in Batangas was named Small Institution Winner in the Benefitting Society category for its work in helping the Mangyans understand and protect their rights and well-being as indigenous people through teacher-mentoring and livelihood projects.
De La Salle Lipa was among the 2022 International Green Gown Awards winners announced on July 6, 2022, as part of the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.
The Philippine higher education institution was selected from 56 finalists from 19 countries from across the world who entered their respective sustainability projects for the prestigious awards to promote exceptional sustainability initiatives at the world’s universities and colleges, encouraging the next generation to take action on sustainability.
De La Salle Lipa, through its Community Involvement Office, established the Hanunuo Mangyan Livelihood & Consumers Cooperative (HAMALICON) at Sitio Bailan and Sitio Umabang of Brgy. Benli, Bulalacao, Oriental Mindoro where 110 members and other households gained access to basic goods and necessities and provided partial employment to its members.
The Paaralang Mangyan na Angkop sa Kulturang Aalagaan (PAMANA KA) – DLSL IPEd Partnership organized an educational program that had 13 local public elementary school teachers mentored by 11 Lasallian volunteer teacher for Science, Mathematics, Social Science, English and Computer subjects.
De La Salle Lipa’s work with its adopted community earned the judges’ nods for “an excellent project that connects and supports staff, students and local indigenous people. Clear aims, outputs, and links to the SDGs evidenced a high and beneficial level of impact.”
The university highlighted three key insights from its work with the Mangyan community:
- The IPs safeguard our environment, natural resources, and the culture in which we are all rooted.
- We should see the ‘strong’ in our community and not the wrong to become sustainable.
- We need constant cooperation, communication, and collaboration to make each one of us a champion.
“Sustainability is a long-term approach. It is the attitude that we have from the very beginning. If we are all committed to sustainability, begin with the end in mind, and plan for that. The International Green Gown Award is the standard for a long-term approach and solution to sustainability and that, along with many others who have been recognized with this award, we are cognizant that we are part of this greater world, and, our mission is not apart from the rest of the world, from the rest of humanity, from the rest of the planet,” said Br. Dante Jose R. Amisola FSC, DLSL President of the value of its winning the award.
The United Kingdom-based International Green Gown Awards was presented in association with Allianz Global Investors and endorsed by the United Nations Environment Programme with the support of The Association of Commonwealth Universities, L’Agence universitaire de la Francophonie, and International Association of Universities.
De La Salle Lipa was previously named a finalist in the same category of Benefitting Society in 2020, along with finalist recognition for Student Engagement and Sustainability Institution of the Year. In 2021, De La Salle University Dasmarinas received the Highly Commended recognition for Sustainability Institution of the Year.
De La Salle Lipa is the first Philippine university to earn Sustainability Silver STARS from the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, Assessment & Rating System.
WATCH this video about De La Salle Lipa’s work with the Mangyans of Mindoro and SEND CONGRATULATIONS in the comments below for the university’s winning the International Green Gown Awards!
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