Sustainable development opportunities

Following their participation into the seminar on sustainable development, the City engineers and Virlanie-Bacolod team have been discussing the opportunity of developing technologies using renewable energies to address the requirements of the future Youth Home. Last week, they conducted a visit of a designer and manufacturer of pumping solutions, Eco Agri, located in Bacolod City. This was a major opportunity for the participants to discover the equipment and its features. As an example, the windmill pictured below, allows to pump ground water and it could be used as a community-based water system.

Seminar on green empowerment in Bacolod City

Amélie, volunteer trainer, is receiving the appreciation certificate from
Bacolod City Mayor Evelio R. Leonardia.

Throughout the month of June, several workshops have been held on sustainable development at the National Government Center (NGC) in Bacolod City. Mainly designed for the team of managers and engineers of the City Engineering Office, the training focused on the major urban and environmental challenges happening in the Philippines: climate change, global strategy of dealing with environmental, social and economic factors, water management, waste water treatment, energy management and production of renewable energies.
Study classes and practical workshops have been proposed to allow a better application of these concepts to the Youth Home project, which is programming the creation of a rehabilitation center for the children in conflict with the law (CICL) aged 15 to 18 years old. In particular, it has been planned to develop a natural waste water treatment plants system (irrigation purposes), to recover rainwater to limit pumping of ground water, to design architecture adapted to the climate in order to guarantee comfortable facilities while reducing energy consumption, and to produce solar energy to prevent increasing energy costs. These technical choices are expected to help reducing the operating costs of the facilities. 
It has also been planned that the Social Development Center (SDC) will benefit from these sustainable technologies, which are to become actual standards for all the future projects managed by the City.
The Youth Home project is a pilot project initiated within the frame of the People-Private-Public-Partnership (PPPP) concept. The assessment phase should lead to the construction of the center in September. The Virlanie-Bacolod team is currently providing organisational and technical support, and helping the City to find partners to financially contribute to the development of the project.

Updates on People-Private-Public-Partnership program in Bacolod City

PPPP workshop with Bacolod City Vice Mayor Jude Thaddeus A. Sayson.

On June 11th, two representatives from DELGOSEA (Partnership for Democratic Local Governance in Southeast Asia) came to Bacolod to assess the implementation progress of the People-Private-Public-Partnership program conducted by the City with the support from Virlanie Foundation. Bacolod City was indeed elected in 2010 to become a pilot city for the implementation of the PPPP concept. This model of best practices, originating from Cambodian example, is aiming at enhancing the cooperation between the public and private sectors and the participation of the civil society in local governance.

The DELGOSEA national representative and the consultant deployed in South East Asia, take advantage of this visit to meet with the City's team, as well as Virlanie Foundation's volunteers. Significant topics related to the sound management of the program were addressed over this one-day seminar.

The first workshop was dedicated to specific issues related to the implementation of the Youth Home project (rehabilitation center for children in conflict with the law aged 15 to 18 years old): budget planning, operational specifications, financial tools, etc. The official launching of the construction of the rehabilitation center is expected to start in September and Virlanie-Bacolod team is currenlty calling for potential partners and donors. Bacolod City Mayor has already committed to partly fund the construction and operational costs. The remaining expenses are to be covered by private partners approached by Virlanie Foundation (corporate foundations, local non-profit organizations, professional groups, NGOs, institutional funding, etc.).

Following a working lunch, the participants visited the Social Development Center (SDC) and the construction site of the future Youth Home. The seminar ended with a friendly dinner dedicated to highlight the achievements and congratulate all stakeholders involved in the management of Bacolod City Community Development program, including Vice Mayor Jude Thaddeus A. Sayson, and Hon. Counselor Em L. Ang.