Coordinators of UP Mindanao academic programs drafted 30-day, 60-day, and 90-day plans to create learning environments conducive to future-ready graduates, in a workshop that culminated Day 2 of the Amuma Summit, held at the UP Mindanao Center for the Advancement of Research in Mindanao (CARIM) on April 21, 2026.
Dr. Shepherd Urenje, a Zimbabwe-born international consultant and specialist in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Transformative Learning, disclosed the current core shift in education, being from the traditional ‘information delivery’ function to one of ‘transformative learning.’ “Universities are moving towards becoming learning-centered environments for both their students and faculty members for their future social transformations,” he said.
Towards this end, he named the desired ESD competencies for learners as systems thinking, alongside futures thinking, values thinking, strategic thinking, and critical thinking, matched with collaborative competencies, personal competencies, and integrated problem-solving competencies.
He adopted the Visayan word and idea of ‘amuma’ as perfectly aligned with ESD and Transformative Learning, through its characteristics of ‘kadasig,’ ‘kinaadman,’ ‘kasing-kasing,’ and ‘kinaiyahan.’
To try these in practice, he guided the participants through a series of workshops aimed at redesigning university education to cultivate capabilities for student agency, ecological responsibility, and cultural wisdom, to transform their personal and social future.
The April 21, 2026, seminar-workshop comprised Day 2 of Amuma Summit, which was preceded by the Faculty Conference on April 20, 2026 [view it here].
#SDG4_QualityEducation
