Last September 13, 2016, Institute of Philippine Culture (IPC) staff members participated in the first session of National Taiwan University’s (NTU) online course on International Perspectives in Environmental and Occupational Health Issues (IEOH). The IEOH course would run for 17 weeks, ending in January 2017.

The online course is a collaboration between various universities in Asia, namely: Universiti Brunei Darussalam, National University of Singapore, University of Occupational and Environmental Health (Japan), Seoul National University, United Nations University – International Institute of Global Health, and the National Taiwan University. Participants from Taiwan, Japan, Brunei, Thailand, and the Philippines are participating in the 2016 run of the IEOH course.

IPC Research Associate Dr. Dennis Batangan and IPC research assistants Jacob Carpio, Patria Garcia, Jann Quinto, Vincent Santiago, and Bianca Vinoya are all enrolled in the online course. The IPC became part of the IEOH course through the Asia Pacific Advanced Network (APAN), where one of its project teams, eHATID LGU, is a liaison member. APAN facilitated the collaboration between IPC and the National Taiwan University (also an APAN member).

IPC’s involvement in the IEOH online seminar is also part of their preparations for their newest project COMPETEN-SEA. COMPETEN-SEA, a European Union-funded project, is an inter-university initiative for the creation of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in the ASEAN region with University partners in Europe.