17/06/2021

Overwhelming – UPLB’s “2nd International Conference On Governance And Development”

UPLB’s College of Public Affairs & Development (CPAf) sponsored last March 21-25 “The 2nd International Conference on Governance Development (ICGD2)” held via Zoom and Facebook Live. “Overwhelming” is my one word for it. Watch now!

Trisha Jasmin DM Cañeda has written about it – “DOST-PCAARRD Supports The 2nd International Conference On Governance And Development[1]” (15 June 2021, PCAARRD.dost.gov.ph). Ms Trisha writes that PCAARRD supported the governance and development (GaD) conference that was co-sponsored by the Philippine Extension and Advisory Services Network. The GaD conference was for “addressing the challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic to governance actors and… society through identifying innovative teaching technologies in the ‘new normal.’”

Great! I’m an old blogger (since 2005) and an ancient teacher (UPLB ‘65), so I appreciate the new aim of “identifying innovative teaching technologies in the ‘new normal.’”

“Innovative teaching technologies.” So, Ms Trisha tells us PCAARRD and UPLB worked together in holding the GaD conference with the theme “Governance For Development In Post-Pandemic Communities: Innovations For The New Future” and 3 sub-themes: “Emergent Governance Issues And Innovations,” 2) “Innovation Systems In The New Future,” and 3) “Development Dilemmas For Communities, Lessons Learned, And Promising Insights And Perspectives For The New Future.”

“Perspectives For The New Future.” Very ambitious. There is more where all that comes from – Ms Trisha says more than 100 papers were presented in those 5 days in March. On one hand, UPLB Chancellor Jose V Camacho opened the event and “highlighted the importance of translating the lessons learned from the pandemic into sustainable policies.” On the other hand. PCAARRD Executive Director Reynaldo V Ebora  “emphasized the essence of practicing governance foresight in preparing for future opportunities and threats.” The keynote speaker was Claudia Nancy Avellaneda of Paul H O’ Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs of Indiana University; USA, and she “shared her expertise in governance and public management in developing countries.”

Ms Trisha says:

The virtual conference served as a venue for exchanging perspectives and insights on governance as a development input and (an) outcome in an envisioned post-pandemic future.

And that, my dear, is the problem. From 100 papers, how is anyone going to distill the presentations and write some consolidated recommendations?

Even I, with a minimum of 30 years actual experience in all-digital writing, editing and desktop publishing, will have a hell of a time!

As convenor, CPAf could have asked for advanced copies of individual summaries of those 100 papers – even at 1 page summary each, that would mean 100 pages to work on. But it would have been workable.

But the deed is done, and what is left is a lesson:

For a digital conference, among other people, you need the services of a Versatile All-Around Digital Writer and Editor from Beginning to End.

Then you could have your Digital Conference come out in a combined, condensed digital file that could be distributed in a portable document format (Adobe) andcommercially printed (on paper). All I can tell CPAf and PCAARRD right now is:

Experience is the best teacher!@517



[1]http://www.pcaarrd.dost.gov.ph/home/portal/index.php/quick-information-dispatch/3768-dost-pcaarrd-supports-the-2nd-international-conference-on-governance-and-development?fbclid=IwAR1_ZwHplgV6SU16dbb77SPJ-AdnU9bBw2UYrNuC043E7okoXuVhP1Chgpw

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