Alumni Internship Programme Gets Underway in the Philippines

Phase II of the Junior Professional Internship Programme run by the DPU in association with ACHR (the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights) and CAN (the Community Architects Network) has just got underway in the Philippines.

Born out of a long-standing partnership between the three institutions, the programme sees DPU alumni Laura Hirst, Jessica Mamo and Mariangela Veronesi participate in a six month internship in three different locations in order to support and learn from community-driven processes across the country.

They each have varied academic and professional backgrounds, which include architecture, participatory design, environmental and social planning. During the internships they will be involved in developing methodologies and tools to support local planning. But this goes far beyond just a research assignment: Laura, Jessica and Mariangela will be living within the communities with whom they are working. This forms a crucial part of the mutual learning experience that is central to the programme. It is hoped that by working together the interns and local partner groups can enhance their collective know-how and find sustainable and practical solutions to local issues.

The work will concentrate in Metro Manila, Davao and Mandaue. The participants will be experimenting with different community planning techniques, such as mapping, developing plans and sustainability strategies, assessing feasibility, and developing design options to name but a few. The interns will be sharing their experiences on the DPU blog during the coming months, so look out for these!

The programme will draw from the learning of interns from the first phase of the programme which took place in 2013, and will aim to increase the overall body of knowledge and shared experience of community-driven planning and upgrading.

To learn more about the programme you can download Grounding Knowledge: reflections on community-driven development in South-East Asia, the booklet documenting the learning of the first phase, or contact Barbara Lipietz at b.lipietz [at] ucl.ac.uk.