YP Internship Program is accepting applicants!

We are accepting applications for architecture and environmental planning undergraduate students looking for an OJT venue. Applicants must be at least 4th year architecture student or 3rd year environmental planning student. Priority is given to those fulfilling OJT requirement for their school. For those interested in applying to our OJT-Internship Program, please submit the following requirements:

  • your most updated CV or resume
  • 2 recommendation letters from professors properly signed and written in official university or company letterhead
  • one-page statement essay telling us your objective for the internship, why you chose our organization as your OJT venue, and how will this internship help you achieve your career goals
  • sample written essay (ex. academic paper, journal articles, blog entry, etc.)
  • portfolio of sample works (for architecture students only)

Please email all requirements to yp@tao-pilipinas.org addressed to Angelus Maria P. Sales, Deputy Program Director for the Young Professionals Program. Emails with no proper subject heading and body will not be entertained. Only those who have submitted all requirements will be scheduled for an interview. Internship slots are limited so apply as soon as you can.

If you want to experience working with technical professionals doing community development work, we encourage you to apply. You can read here experiences of our past interns as they share their own internship experience at TAO-Pilipinas.

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2017 YP Workshop on Social Housing Final Report

The Final Report on the 2017 YP Workshop on Social Housing is available for download. Workshop proceedings and outputs of the community consultation workshop with Brgy. Tandang Sora, Quezon City are part of the documentation report. Reflections of the YP Participants are also included in the report. To download the report, please click 2017 YPWS Final Documentation Report

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2017 YP Workshop heads to Brgy. Tandang Sora

2017 YP Workshop_Logo_Colored_lowresTAO-Pilipinas carried out this year’s Young Professionals (YP) Workshop on Social Housing from May 24 to 29 in Quezon City. Under the theme: “Planning for Climate and Disaster-resilient Urban Poor Communities”, the 2017 YP Workshop featured a series of lecture sessions and community immersion activities. TAO-Pilipinas collaborated with Foundation for Development Alternatives, Inc. (FDA) and Santuario de San Vicente de Paul Parish to execute the project in the urban poor areas of the parish in Barangay Tandang Sora, Quezon City.

The workshop had a total of 34 participants composed of 19 young professionals (YPs) and 15 community representatives. Among the YP participants were seven undergraduate architecture students, three architecture graduates, four licensed architects, one landscape architect, one community organizer, and three representatives from the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP). Architecture students, graduates, and licensed architects were from University of Santo Tomas (UST), University of the Philippines (UP), Far Eastern University (FEU), and Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP). Community representatives were from the three kawan areas of Santuario de San Vicente de Paul Parish.

The six-day workshop on social housing aimed to build the capacity of YPs in providing technical design support to poor communities working toward shelter security and sustainable settlements. The program of activities combined two levels of training – theory (lecture sessions) and practicum (community immersion).

Lecture sessions

The YP Workshop kicked off with a series of lecture sessions that were held on May 24 and 25 at Felipa Hall, Max’s Restaurant, Quezon City Circle. Various resource speakers were invited to discuss topics that would equip the participants with fundamental knowledge for the community immersion stage. Participatory activities were also integrated during the first two days to make the participants actively involved in the workshop.

The keynote lecture was delivered by Ms. Ana Dizon, a Board of Trustees Member of TAO-Pilipinas. Her presentation, entitled “Making a Difference: The Challenge of Housing the Urban Poor and the Role of Young Design Professionals”, addressed the gap between conventional architecture and urban poor housing. She also talked about the emergence and evolution of a new role in the design profession – the “architecture of empowerment”. The practice involved designing “for” and “with” the urban poor communities.

speakers01Four sessions followed the keynote speech. The first one featured two lectures that gave an overview on social housing: “Philippine Housing Situationer” by Atty. Junefe Payot of Social Housing Finance Corporation (SHFC) and “BP 220: Planning and Design Standards for Social Housing” by Engr. Lorena Hernandez of TAO-Pilipinas.

speakers02The second session comprised three lectures that tackled climate and disaster risks: “Key Concepts in DRRM” by Arch. Angelus Sales of TAO-Pilipinas; “Implications of Climate Change-related Risks to Human Settlements Development” by Arch./EnP. Arlene Lusterio of TAO-Pilipinas; and “Vulnerabilities and Adaptive Capacities of the Urban Poor in Metro Manila” by Mr. Benedict Balderrama of Partnership of Philippine Support Service Agencies (PHILSSA).

The third lecture session focused on building sustainable and resilient communities. The three lectures discussed were “Disaster-resilient Design Concept in Settlements Planning and Development” by Arch. Verna Sarraga of TAO-Pilipinas; “Creating Urban Resilience Through Retrofitting” by Ms. Maribel Larracochea and Engr. Clint Gabilo of Build Change; and “Low Carbon Communities” by Mr. Francis Dela Cruz of Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC).

The final session oriented the participants on the community consultation workshop that they would facilitate later in the community immersion stage. The session included: “Communicating Technical Knowledge to Communities” by Arch./EnP. Geraldine Matabang; “Presentation of FEP Survey Results” by Ms. Dominga Damian of FDA; “Profiles of the Community Immersion Areas” by Ms. Marissa Tinao, Ms. Rosemarie Pascual, and Ms. Lucia Singew, BEC leaders of Santuario Parish; and “The Community Workshop Process and Guidance to Facilitation” by Arch. Sales. Continue reading

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Provisional program for the 2017 YP Workshop on Social Housing

Day 1 Lecture sessions (May 24, 2017) 

SESSION 1: SOCIAL HOUSING OVERVIEW

Learning objectives for this session: To appreciate the poverty and housing situation at the national and local levels (urban context); To be familiar with the legal mandates, institutional mechanisms and stakeholders in social housing delivery; To know the standards and technical requirements for social housing design and provision

Lecture topics:

  • National and Local (Metro Manila) Housing Situationer
  • BP 220: Planning and design standards for social housing

 SESSION 2: UNDERSTANDING CLIMATE AND DISASTER RISKS

Learning objectives for this session: To comprehend the basic concepts about disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) and climate change adaptation (CCA); To recognize the implications of climate and disaster risks in planning urban settlements; To understand the vulnerabilities and shelter and settlements-related needs of the urban poor in Metro Manila

Lecture topics:

  • Key concepts in Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM)
  • Implications of climate change-related risks to human settlements development
  • Vulnerabilities and adaptive capacities of the urban poor population in Metro Manila

Continue reading

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TAO collaborates with FDA and Santuario de San Vicente de Paul Parish for 2017 YP Workshop

YPs to immerse in Tandang Sora communities

facade of Santuario de San Vicente de PaulTAO-Pilipinas is partnering with Foundation for Development Alternatives (FDA) and Santuario de San Vincente de Paul Parish for the Young Professionals Workshop on Social Housing slated on May 24-29, 2017. A network partner of TAO-Pilipinas, FDA is an NGO with a long track record in community organizing. They have been working with St. Vincent de Paul Parish, through its Basic Ecclesial Communities (BEC), to provide awareness and capability building for poor communities in Barangay Tandang Sora under its pastoral ministry.

Santuario de San Vincente de Paul Parish will serve as venue host for the workshop. The lecture sessions of the workshop on May 24-25 and the plenary session on May 29 will be held at the Verandas de San Vicente within the St. Vincent de Paul Seminary Complex in Tandang Sora, Quezon City.

creek that runs in some part of Brgy. Tandang SoraThe parish area is divided into three smaller sub-areas called “kawan”. The YP participants will be divided into three teams and will immerse in the three kawans of the parish during the fieldwork part of the workshop on May 26-28. The YP teams will conduct community consultation-workshops and will stay in the community for two nights with host families. FDA and the parish BEC leaders are helping make the logistical arrangements for the community-based activities and are coordinating with host families to facilitate the YPs’ stay in the community.

Moreover, fifteen BEC leaders will be the YPs’ co-participants throughout the 6-day program. The BEC leaders will join the YPs teams as they conduct simultaneous consultation-workshops in the three kawans. These workshops will focus on the theme, “Planning for Climate and Disaster-resilient Urban Poor Communities”, to come up with community-led strategies and action plans.

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