This article was accepted into the corpus but its outbound wikilinks were never NER-processed — typical at the deepest BFS hop or when the run's entity cap was reached. No expansion funnel to show.
| College of Development Communication | |
|---|---|
| Name | College of Development Communication |
| Established | 1974 |
| Type | Academic unit |
| City | Los Baños |
| Province | Laguna |
| Country | Philippines |
| Parent | University of the Philippines Los Baños |
College of Development Communication The College of Development Communication is an academic unit at the University of the Philippines Los Baños with a mandate to integrate communication into agriculture, rural development, public policy, environmental management, and community organizing. Founded amid debates on participatory praxis during the 1970s, the college has engaged with institutions and personalities across Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, and Latin America to advance participatory communication, information dissemination, and media for development.
The origins of the college trace back to international conversations involving figures and entities such as Paolo Freire, UNESCO, Food and Agriculture Organization, International Rice Research Institute, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, United Nations Development Programme, Ford Foundation, and Rockefeller Foundation regarding community-centered approaches in the 1960s and 1970s. Early institutional links involved collaborations with University of the Philippines Diliman, Silliman University, Ateneo de Manila University, University of the Philippines Visayas, and regional partners like Bangladesh Agricultural University, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, University of the Philippines Mindanao, and SEAMEO INNOTECH. Influential scholars and practitioners associated with the college era include references to work by Everett Rogers, Marshall McLuhan, Augusto Boal, Jean Piaget, Noam Chomsky, Arun Agrawal, Amartya Sen, and Elinor Ostrom in shaping curricula and research priorities. The college evolved through policy shifts involving the Philippine Commission on Higher Education, national development plans under the administrations of Ferdinand Marcos, Corazon Aquino, Fidel V. Ramos, Joseph Estrada, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Benigno Aquino III, Rodrigo Duterte, and Ferdinand Marcos Jr., while engaging with civil society organizations, rural movements, and international NGOs such as Oxfam, CARE International, Greenpeace International, World Wildlife Fund, and Habitat for Humanity. Partnerships and exchanges brought connections with universities including Cornell University, University of California, Berkeley, Michigan State University, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University of Toronto, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Australian National University, University of Melbourne, Aarhus University, and University of the Philippines Los Baños itself.
The college offers undergraduate and graduate programs influenced by interdisciplinary frameworks and anchored to field praxis. Core degree offerings connect with curricula informed by scholars and institutions such as Paolo Freire, Everett Rogers, Norbert Wiener, Clay Shirky, Manuel Castells, and Sherry Turkle, and reflect competencies aligned with agencies like Department of Agriculture (Philippines), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (Philippines), Department of Science and Technology (Philippines), Commission on Population and Development, and international frameworks from United Nations Environment Programme, UNESCO, FAO, WHO, and UNICEF. Graduate programs foster linkages with research centers including International Rice Research Institute, Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development, SEARCA, ICAR, and think tanks such as Philippine Institute for Development Studies and Brookings Institution. Coursework and practica draw on methodologies from laboratories and projects with USAID, European Union, JICA, GIZ, and other bilateral agencies.
Research agendas emphasize participatory action research, knowledge management, and technological adoption studies with networks spanning International Service for National Agricultural Research, World Agroforestry Centre, CIRAD, CGIAR, Bioversity International, CABI, and regional research nodes like SEARCA and APCAEM. Extension initiatives have collaborated with provincial governments of Laguna, Batangas, Cavite, Quezon (province), and municipal partners, as well as sector organizations including Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Asian Development Bank, and ASEAN Secretariat for policy dialogues, capacity building, and community media. The college’s projects intersect with global issues and programs associated with Sustainable Development Goals, climate initiatives in partnership with Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, disaster risk reduction networks such as UNDRR, and biodiversity programs linked to Convention on Biological Diversity.
Facilities include laboratories, audiovisual studios, community radio setups, and field stations integrated with university assets like Philippine Carabao Center, College of Agriculture and Food Science, Institute of Plant Breeding, National Crop Protection Center, and nearby research institutions such as International Rice Research Institute and Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development. Archive and library holdings coordinate with collections at University of the Philippines System Main Library, Ateneo de Manila University Rizal Library, University of Santo Tomas Miguel de Benavides Library, and digital repositories promoted by HathiTrust, JSTOR, and DOAJ. Information technology infrastructure supports collaborations with Google, Microsoft Research, IBM Research, and regional data partners.
Student organizations link academic, cultural, and advocacy activities through groups and networks that have engaged with national student movements and civic bodies such as UP Student Regent, National Union of Students of the Philippines, Kabataan Partylist, Anakbayan, League of Filipino Students, and youth wings of political parties and NGOs. Extracurricular engagement involves media production societies, community engagement clubs, and participation in competitions and conferences including ASEAN University Network, International Association for Media and Communication Research, Global Media Forum, World Social Forum, and national events sponsored by Commission on Higher Education (Philippines), Department of Labor and Employment (Philippines), and cultural exchanges with institutions like Cultural Center of the Philippines.
Alumni and faculty associated with the college have gone on to roles in academia, government, media, and civil society, including connections with individuals and offices such as Antonio Oposa, Gelia Castillo, Ramon Magsaysay Award, National Scientist of the Philippines, Secretary of Agriculture (Philippines), Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources (Philippines), journalists at ABS-CBN, GMA Network, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Rappler, and positions in international organizations like UNICEF, FAO, IFAD, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and International Labour Organization. Faculty collaborations and visiting scholars have included exchanges with names linked to Stockholm Resilience Centre, International Institute for Environment and Development, Center for International Forestry Research, Oxford University Press authors, and fellows from Fulbright Program, Rhodes Scholarship, Eisenhower Fellowships, and Commonwealth Scholarship Commission.