Tag: Covid19

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Synthesizing the ICOMOS Webinar – Place-making and Food Security

INTRODUCTION

ICOMOS Philippines members came together online last June 20, 2020 for the webinar, “Place-Making and Food Security: Thinking of Heritage Conservation and Food Production”. This is part of the project, ‘Heritage Practice Amidst Covid 19’. Members and specialists provided some perspectives connecting food security and cultural heritage amidst the challenges of the global pandemic.

CONCEPT

Three key terms were re-examined namely: food security, food sovereignty, and their relationship to cultural heritage:

A. Food security defined as the supply, the availability, and the stability of price of basic foodstuff in the international and domestic market (World Food Conference, 1974). While Food Sovereignty emerged more than three decades later as the reaction to grass roots movements around the world, and uncovered more clearly the mediators, interactions, and instruments of food production, distribution, and consumption.

Food sovereignty prioritises local and national economies and markets and empowers peasant and family farmer-driven agriculture, artisanal – fishing, pastoralist-led grazing, and food production, distribution and consumption based on environmental, social and economic sustainability. Food sovereignty promotes transparent trade that guarantees just incomes to all peoples as well as the rights of consumers to control their food and nutrition.

– Nyéléni Declaration on Food Sovereignty (February 2007) at Sélingué, Mali

B. Cultural heritage acknowledges the central role of change and human culture in shaping food production. The Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras, the Agave Landscape and Ancient Industrial Facilities of Tequila, the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia are just few of the sites representing agricultural practices passed on for generations, later on caters the global market, thus, highlighting the deep connections between food, people, places, and culture in various parts of the world.

Responding to queries – Pursuing a Public Discourse

A healthy public interest in the topic was well-received with questions coming from universities, professional organizations, and national institutions that exposes a need for public discourse in the Philippines on the politics of food.

An example is the Sagada in Northern Philippines which indicates the need for this platform in the public domain, to discuss our changing relationship with nature through food, cultural practices, and tourism.

Photos of a Dap-ay, a traditional place of gathering in Sagada. On the left shows the removal of more modern materials of corrugated metal which was replaced by more traditional roofing materials (right) during the pandemic. Photo from Patricia Santiago.

Responses by the esteemed speakers from the webinar’s questions are shown in the ‘Annex A’ of this report. The questions have been grouped into two broad themes: the first, brings globalization to bear on the Philippine context of food chain; the second focuses on local issues of food, tourism, economic development and intangible heritage.

CONCLUSION

ICOMOS Philippines hopes that this webinar provides new ideas that can contribute to improving the appreciation for Filipino farmers, and artisans, and improve their commercial prospects. The lack of interest and of involvement in traditional agricultural practices especially by the youth, will lead to a loss of traditional knowledge, and risks destruction of cultural landscapes that are shaped by the dying farming traditions. This holds true for fishing villages, sugar plantations, salt-making regions, and other places where food production is central to these cultural landscapes’ cultural significance

In summary the webinar illustrates that humanity’s food resources can be secured, while conserving its most important cultural heritage, based on these three basic principles:

  • Respect for the environment.
  • Build an equitable relationship with the primary producers of our food.
  • Recognise indigenous knowledge systems and practices for the benefit of these communities.

Download the file below to read more.

Food-Security-and-Placemaking-Webinar-Report-ICOMOS-PhilippinesDownload

If you would like to know more about this initiative, please get in touch with Gabriel Caballero, ICOMOS Philippines Communications Officer at communications[at]icomosphilippines[dot]com and Estela Duque, Founder of Moulinet Chocolat Limited at http://www.moulinetchocolat.com/

https://www.facebook.com/235191679972291/videos/1130550310643727
To watch the recorded webinar, see Facebook video.
https://www.facebook.com/AsiaFeatured/videos/1208506099515015
“PHILIPPINES: Farm to Manila” – Sustainable Sagada Initiative by Ms. Patricia Maria Santiago
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A View Towards Recovery: Focus Group Discussions on Heritage During the Pandemic by Tina Paterno | Conversatorio ICOMOS México

ICOMOS México, through its Scientific Committee of Theory and Philosophy, together with its Secretariat of Academic Development and Youth and Heritage Group, organized last Tuesday, June 23, 2020 an online discussion entitled, “Los Retos de la Conservación del Patrimonio Cultural y Natural Frente a Condiciones de Riesgo”. It discussed on the present challenges of cultural and natural heritage conservation as it faces risky conditions in its continued practice amidst the global pandemic.

The panel in the online discussion included ICOMOS Philippines President Tina Paterno, who shared the current situation of heritage specialists and practitioners in the country on her presentation entitled, “A View Towards Recovery: Focus Group Discussions on Heritage During the Pandemic”.

Ms Paterno  shared findings from several local discussions on how ICOMOS Philippines members are seeing the changes in the heritage practice in their fields of expertise. A common emerging theme was the necessity to explore how heritage can be part of recovery, perhaps by linking it to new national priorities. Generally, many ICOMOS Philippines members saw ideas for continuing a heritage practice amidst Covid 19, during in the mandated pause we are all going through, to re-evaluate where the Philippines is in the practice, and identify where structural improvements are necessary. She also shared two success stories from the past discussions.

“We have a chance to do things differently,” Paterno concluded, “and the accessibility of discussions and knowledge moving online is a great ‘democratizer’ for learning. Our hope is that one day, heritage becomes a more mainstream issue and it happened from a time that there was this major pause and painful time from COVID but it was able to give birth to something truly positive.”

WEBINARS & FOCUSED GROUP DISCUSSIONS

Starting June 2020, ICOMOS Philippines held free public webinars to think about heritage in a differently because of the current global situation. The first webinar was  entitled, “Place-Making and Food Security: Thinking of Heritage Conservation and Food Production,” which explored the mechanisms that shape rural and urban spaces, private and public, facilitating food production and place-making grounded in community-based participation. It provided various perspectives that link food and the understanding of historic significance of particular places.

The online discussion can be viewed on the official Facebook page of ICOMOS México. ICOMOS Philippines would like to thank Mr. Yoloxochitl Lucio of the Grupo Jóvenes y Patrimonio del ICOMOS Mexicano A.C. and Dr. Saúl Alcántara Onofre, ICOMOS México President for the invitation.

https://www.facebook.com/ICOMOSMex/videos/304571427597022/
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ICOMOS Webinar Series Episode 2: When Communities Engage – Tools for Community Participation in Heritage

This webinar discusses community engagement that is applicable to built heritage and landscapes, using perhaps the most abstract form of heritage that seems most removed from our lives – archaeology. 

To communities, the site is invisible until digging begins, and relics unearthed are from so long ago that few can relate to it. Explore these archaeologists’ stories in their journeys to empower local communities to own their archaeological heritage. Work includes public consultations, community discussions, collaborative research and interpretation, and on-ground educational activities as methods that lead to better public learning and heritage protection. 

ICOMOS Webinar Series Episode 2: When Communities Engage – Tools for Community Participation in Heritage
7 July 2020 (Tuesday) | 10AM Philippine Standard Time

The webinar will focus on providing answers to two main questions:  

  • How does archaeology improve the lives of communities that live in and around these precious cultural sites?  
  • What are the tools and approaches in archaeology that are used for learning and public engagement and are these tools still valid given the pandemic?   

SPEAKERS

Dr. Stephen Acabado is an ICOMOS Philippines member and Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles. His archaeological investigations in Ifugao, Northern Philippines dispute the commonly held theory that the Cordillera Rice Terraces are at least 2,000 years old. Dr. Acabado directs the Bicol and Ifugao Archaeological Projects and co-directs the Taiwan Indigenous Landscape and History Project at UCLA. He is a strong advocate of an engaged archaeology where descendant communities are involved in the research process.

Mr. Marlon Martin was born and raised among the Ifugao community. He heads SITMo, the Save Ifugao Terraces Movement,  non-profit heritage conservation organization. He works with local and international academic and conservation organizations   in the pursuit of indigenous studies integration and inclusion in the formal school curricula. Along with Acabado, he established the first community-led Ifugao Indigenous Peoples Education Center, the first in the region. 

Dr. Rasmi Shoocongdej  is a Professor of Archaeology and a director of the graduate program at the Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Archaeology, Silpakorn University, Bangkok, Thailand, and with an MA-Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Michigan. Rasmi’s areas of interest include  the collaborative approach between archaeology and ethnic communities, archaeological heritage management, World War II archaeology and decolonizing archaeology.  She has been working intensively on public outreach to the general public and academic communities  on cultural heritages and the role of archaeology in contemporary society.

REACTORS

There will also be 2 reactors who will be providing their perspectives on the topic:

  • Malaya Ragragio, faculty member of the Department of Social Sciences at the University of the Philippines, Mindanao  
  • Angelus Maria Sales, Core Operations Head – External from TAO-Pilipinas, Inc.

MODERATOR

Ms. Kate Lim is an ICOMOS Philippines member who is a Ph.D. student at the Institute of Geographical Sciences, Freie Universitat Berlin. She is also an archaeologist and a development worker who sits as a board member in the Artists’ Welfare Project, Inc., Kapisanan ng mga Arkeologist sa Pilipinas, and Tuklas Pilipinas Society. Her current research involves risk assessment and conservation of maritime and underwater heritage sites in the Philippines given various human activities and coastal hazards. 

DETAILS

The webinar, “When Communities Engage – Tools for Community Participation in Heritage”, is scheduled this Tuesday, July 7, 2020 – 10 am (Philippine Standard Time).  

This forms part of the project, “Heritage Practice amidst the Pandemic“, which is a series of online discussions that delves with opportunities to explore new ideas for the Philippine heritage practice.

ICOMOS Philippines would like to thank ICOMOS Thailand, Tuklas Pilipinas, Tao Pilipinas Inc., University of the Philippines Archaeological Studies Program, and Intramuros Administration for co-organizing the event with us.

Please register to the event here: forms.gle/G75UaVWSdbrzZvDy7

The webinar will be streamed on Facebook Live where the speakers will be able to get your questions and respond: www.facebook.com/icomosph

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ICOMOS Webinar Series Episode 1: Place-Making and Food Security – Thinking of Heritage Conservation and Food Production

ICOMOS Philippines recognises that the heritage practice in the country has been affected by the global pandemic. Now, more than ever, practitioners need to see the work of conserving heritage in a different light.

ICOMOS Philippines believes that heritage needs to connect to national priorities and be part of a shifting focus on food security, health, well-being, and peace and order, while a viable vaccine is being created. 

As part of the project, “Heritage Practice amidst the Pandemic“, ICOMOS Philippines is launching a series of online discussions that will delve with opportunities to explore new ideas for the Philippine heritage practice.

The first webinar is entitled, “Place-Making and Food Security – Thinking of Heritage Conservation and Food Production”, which will explore mechanisms that shape rural and urban spaces, private and public, that facilitate food production and place-making grounded in community-based participation. It will also provide various perspectives that link food and the understanding of historic significance of particular places. 

ICOMOS Webinar Series Episode 1: Place-Making and Food Security – Thinking of Heritage Conservation and Food Production
20 June 2020 (Saturday) | 6PM Philippine Standard Time

The webinar will focus on providing answers to two main questions: 

  • How can the heritage practitioners improve a community’s cultural, economic, social circumstances while preserving the environment?  
  • How do you facilitate food production and place making grounded in community-based participation?

SPEAKERS

A dynamic group of heritage professionals, all of whom are members of ICOMOS Philippines, will be sharing their points of view on the integration of food production and heritage conservation:  

Dr. Fernando Nakpil-Zialcita is Professor Emeritus, teaching at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the  Ateneo de Manila University. He has done field research among farming communities in the Ilocos, Northern Luzon, and has done studies on urban heritage and regeneration of Manila. He writes about the interface between the Southeast Asian and the Hispanic worlds in domains of Filipino culture such as traditional architecture, cookery, and popular Christianity.     

Ms. Patricia Maria Santiago is a cultural manager with 25 years of experience who sits on the Board of Nayong Pilipino Foundation. She is part of  “Sustainable Sagada,” an online support market for local produce of farmers from Sagada which aims to help bring local produce to reach consumers in Manila, to support their sustainability not only during times of economic crisis but even beyond.  

Ms. Estela Duque is an architect, historian, social entrepreneur, certified chocolate taster, and chocolate competition judge in Europe. A practitioner based in the United Kingdom, she founded Moulinet Chocolat Limited (UK) in 2015 in order to introduce Philippine specialty cocoa to the world, and since 2017 she has been an adviser to the only craft chocolate event of the Philippines now called Intramuros Chocolate Festival.

Mr. Gabriel Caballero is the Communications Officer of ICOMOS Philippines. He is a Singapore-based landscape architect and independent world heritage specialist whose expertise ranges from sensitive landscape design interventions, cultural landscape research, and world heritage evaluations particularly in rapidly urbanizing areas in Asia. He will serve as the moderator for this webinar. 

DETAILS

The webinar, “Place-Making and Food Security: Thinking of Heritage Conservation and Food Production”,  is scheduled this Saturday, June 20, 2020 – 6pm (Philippine Standard Time).

This forms part of the project, “Heritage Practice amidst the Pandemic“, which is a series of online discussions that delves with opportunities to explore new ideas for the Philippine heritage practice.

ICOMOS Philippines would like to thank the Intramuros Administration for co-organizing the event with us. 

For those who would like to be part of the conversation, please watch the webinar via our Facebook Live where the speakers will be able to get your questions and respond: www.facebook.com/icomosph

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Ideas for Continuing a Heritage Practice amidst Covid 19

ICOMOS Philippines members came together online last April 25 to discuss the topic entitled, “Heritage Practice Amidst Covid 19”. This discussion is seen as the first step in exploring collective strategies to adapt to new challenges amidst the global pandemic for Filipino heritage practitioners. Members living in different parts of the Philippines, United States, Singapore, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, Germany and Egypt shared their current situation, challenges and prognosis of Covid-19 in their heritage practice during the 2-hour discussion.

INITIAL FINDINGS

While the pandemic has threatened the heritage practice, many still viewed the resulting changes in the new heritage landscape as opportunities. Following were common experiences:

A. Stalled projects due to site inaccessibility and  suspension of government-funded projects or work with local government projects;              
B. The recent memo from Department of Budgets to keep ‘non-essential’ industries alive results in diminished spending for heritage and mass layoffs for the creative industry; 
C. Difficulty in engaging students with online learning 

Continue reading “Ideas for Continuing a Heritage Practice amidst Covid 19”
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Heritage Practice Amidst Covid-19: ICOMOS Philippines Discussion

As part of the International Day of Monuments and Sites 2020 theme of “Shared Heritage, Shared Responsibility, and Shared Culture”, ICOMOS Philippines is organising a zoom discussion entitled, “Heritage Practice Amidst Covid 19”. The goal of the discussion is to check in with its members and understand how Covid-19 has affected their practice. It will explore collective strategies for heritage professionals in the Philippines to adapt to new challenges amidst the global pandemic.

Continue reading “Heritage Practice Amidst Covid-19: ICOMOS Philippines Discussion”