Project RURBANISE consortium partners convened for the Quarterly Workshop in March 2025 Quarterly workshops serve as the vital engine of Project RURBANISE—a venue where multi-sector consortium partners convene, align research outputs, and co-design actionable pathways for community climate resilience. On March 21, 2025, the Q1 2025 workshop held at ISO Walter Hogan Conference Center, Ateneo de Manila University showcased how joint work package (WP) efforts convert field ins

While technical data forms a crucial pillar of disaster resilience and climate adaptation, it represents only part of the equation. The remainder lies in the lived experiences and local insights of community members—those who possess firsthand knowledge of flood levels on their streets and subtle environmental shifts following heavy rainfall. In Work Package 4 (WP4) of Project RURBANISE, the team at the University of the Philippines Resilience Institute (UPRI) set out to ans

Following the initial hazard orientations and climate risk dialogues conducted during the early phases of Project RURBANISE narrated in Kumustahan sa Komunidad, the Homeless People’s Federation Philippines, Inc. (HPFPI) and the Philippine Action for Community-led Shelter Initiatives, Inc. (PACSII) have advanced the engagement to focus on long-term institutional sustainability. Through systematic Homeowners’ Association (HOA) Assessments and Community Sensing in CASIDHAI (Bar

In the pursuit of sustainable, climate-resilient housing for rurban poor communities, structural alignment and strong grassroots leadership are utterly significant. Moving from localized success to systemic, scalable impact requires intentional self-reflection, strategic planning, and a clear, shared vision. To chart this path forward, the Homeless People’s Federation Philippines, Inc. (HPFPI), with the invaluable support of the Philippine Alliance (PACSII), convened a pivota

While proposals, monitoring logs, and financial reports are necessary tools for accountability, they only tell a fraction of the story. To truly comprehend the lived experiences, vulnerabilities, and inherent adaptive capacities of grassroots communities, funding partners must walk the ground. Throughout mid-2024, representatives from International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and the British and Canadian Embassies d

When we think of climate action, we envision massive global summits, high-level policy frameworks, and expansive international agreements. Our minds naturally focus on the sheer enormity of the challenge. What we often overlook, however, is that the real, life-saving solutions are being built on the ground, designed hand-in-hand with the very communities facing the immediate impacts of a changing planet. This was the precise reality brought to light at the UNFCCC Asia-Pacific

Grassroot federations become so consumed by immediate fieldwork that they lose the space to pause and reflect. Between balancing urgent project deadlines, managing community relationships, and advocating for vulnerable rurban residents, the pace is relentless. Yet, true long-term impact and climate resilience demands to look beyond daily project management, and focus on building a robust, self-sustaining organizational foundation. From November 2023 to March 2024, the Homele

How can the communities' powerful stories turn into actionable data? Project RURBANISE spent months building the next phase: the Household (HH) Survey. The household survey was designed to investigate and characterize the different conditions and factors (intersectionality) that drive how vulnerability differs (differential vulnerability) within informal households exposed to climate-related hazards.

Hazard and exposure mapping offer the structural 'skeleton' of risk assessment. The validation process is where data meets dialogue—allowing residents to refine technical assessments with their first-hand knowledge of recent events. This collaborative approach transforms gathered information into a robust, community-owned roadmap for disaster resilience.

Effective solutions start with a shift in perspective: recognizing that vulnerability isn’t a blanket issue, but a shifting landscape of unique hazards that must be mapped community by community.

According to the World Risk Report 2025 by Bündnis Entwicklung Hilft, the Philippines ranks as the world’s most at-risk country recording a high risk score of 46.56. It indicates that the nation continues to face significant environmental vulnerabilities for over a decade. While the risks are high, Project RURBANISE is shifting the narrative from vulnerability to readiness through localized data.

Community-led climate action is the cornerstone of Project RURBANISE. To ensure local perspectives shape the resilience strategies, Technical Assistance Movement for People and Environment, Inc. (TAMPEI), in partnership with Homeless People’s Federation Philippines, Inc. (HPFPI), conducted the “Kumustahan sa Komunidad,” a series of orientation and engagement activities from July to August 2023. This initiative spanned eight (8) different communities across the Philippines —

How Six Organizations Unite to Safeguard the Philippines’ Most Vulnerable Citizens Urbanization is a double-edged sword. This is more than a statistic in the Philippine context; it is a daily reality for almost 25% of the population living in informal urban spaces. Urbanization Defined UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) defined urbanization as “the process by which an increasing proportion of a population moves from rural areas to urban