The Institute of Philippine Culture (IPC) seeks to build on its accomplishments while charting unexplored paths in celebration of its 60th year. As it continues to study the causes and repercussions of entrenched disparities and divisions through cutting edge research, the IPC likewise aims to understand how the ongoing global pandemic perpetuates prevailing inequalities and provides opportunities to address them all at once. As it nurtures longstanding partnerships, the IPC endeavors to convene new collaborative engagements with local, national and international actors and organizations dedicated to crafting innovative, culturally nuanced, and responsive development approaches. Cognizant of the importance of honing individual and organizational capabilities in social science research, it remains steadfast in its mission to provide accessible platforms and programs for learning, applying, and sharing research experiences and practices to diverse publics.

In line with these commitments, the IPC offers an Anniversary Series of Webinar conversations on topics that constitute its research and capacity building agenda. The series will commence on 4 September with a Webinar conversation on Filipino households’ access to medicines and other health commodities, particularly during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The launching of the Livable Cities Training Program, a comprehensive capacity building project with public health and cultural heritage implications, will follow on 11 September, while a discussion of technology-driven COVID-19 interventions in the ASEAN featuring local and international practitioners and partners will happen on 15 September. On 18 September, four former IPC directors and distinguished researchers from the Research Institute for Mindanao Culture (Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan) and the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies (Kyoto University) will convene a Zoomustahan to discuss how local and regional research institutions navigate and innovate in response to everyday precarities. This month-long undertaking will culminate with a Kumustahan and Kwentuhan session that features stories by and of the youth in a time of continuous uncertainty on 25 September and a Webinar engagement on Mindanao political economy and culture on the week of 28 September – 2 October.  

Through these engagements, the IPC intends to remain a pioneering research and capacity building institution committed to creating and cultivating inclusive and collaborative spaces for transformative development initiatives to take root and eventually make a difference. As it moves forward, it aims to expand and deepen its engagements as one of the Ateneo de Manila University’s active partners in engendering change that genuinely uplifts and empowers.