During the 8th Regional Workshop on Urban Nexus held in November 2018, the King Mongkutt's University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT) of Thailand, and BISCAST signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) announcing their student exchange program within the framework of the Urban Nexus, integrating the application of the Urban Nexus approach in energy efficient, low cost housing design through “Micro-architecture”, focusing on resource efficiency amidst the dwindling natural resources.

The “first half” of the exchange program was hosted by School of Architecture and Design (SoA+D), KMUTT. Sponsored by GIZ Nexus project, six BISCAST students and two professors travelled to Bangkok and were accommodated at the KMUTT Bang Khun Tien University Campus. The “second half” of the exchange program was hosted by BISCAST last 6-15 May 2019. Twelve students and two professors from KMUTT with the BISCAST students went through design activities in the Philippine context, gaining insights from the experiences and best practices of BISCAST relative to the innovative technology developed and implemented through the CCRPH built by BISCAST with the support of GIZ. Moreover, the students worked in conformity with the Sustainable Development Plan for Naga City utilizing the proposals from the Design Thinking outputs of the Housing and DRRM conducted during the sectoral workshops for the preparation of the 30-year SUDP of Naga City. Workshop outputs on multi-family dwelling during the Micro-Architecture workshops in KMUTT were also utilized for the proposed master plan, as one of the workshop deliverables. Looking forward, the KMUTT invites BISCAST and Naga City Planning and Development Office to be its local partners for the “Designing Resilience in Asia” symposium and design competition in 2020.

BANGKOK, THAILAND - During the first day of the 8th Regional Workshop on Integrated Resource Management in Asian Cities held in Bangkok, Dr. Richard H. Cordial and Dr. Martin Schoch of Thailand’s King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote strategic partnerships in the context of SDG 17, with the objective of establishing a sustainable university network that will continue to disseminate the nexus approach and solutions, particularly after the end of the project. The MoU ceremony reinforced the importance of universities, training institutes and colleges collaborating as living laboratories.

As part of the signing ceremony, Dr. Cordial presented the BISCAST plan for the Nexus International Academic Collaboration by establishing Nexus Academic Networks comprising of BISCAST,KMUTT, Chulalongkorn University IN Bangkok, Mongolian University of Science and Technology (MUST), and Loise-Schroeder-Schule IN Germany.

The president also presented his efforts of instituting the Nexus Bicol Region Academic Network with the different State Universities and Colleges (SUC’s) in Bicol through its collaboration area, the Urban Nexus technologies. At the local level, BISCAST has been providing advisory services for the 30-Year Sustainable Urban Development Plan (SUDP) of Naga City. It also provides training on CCRPH and Training of Trainers (ToT) on the Urban Nexus Training. At the institutional level, BISCAST is gearing up for its establishment of an “Urban Nexus Center” which will serve as support structure to all Nexus endeavors; ToT for the faculty; and application for an International Green Building Certificate (EDGE).

Moreover, BISCAST and KMUTT’s international linkage will focus on the following areas of collaboration: experience sharing; exchange of faculty, staff and students; joint research activities and publications; networking and curriculum development.