PHL Ambassador to Vienna, Austria Pushes for Science Diplomacy
Philippine Ambassador to Austria Maria Cleofe R. Natividad (3rd from right) joins Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano (center), DOST Secretary Fortunato dela Peña, DOST Undersecretary Rowena Guevara, DepEd Undersecretary Tonisito Umali, and IAEA officials.
22 February 2018 VIENNA — Philippine Ambassador to Vienna Maria Cleofe R. Natividad pushed for ‘science diplomacy’ during a roundtable discussion with deans and professors of colleges and universities which capped the three-day visit to Manila of Director General Yukiya Amano, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), from 7-10 February 2018.
“As the newly-accredited Philippine Ambassador to Austria and resident representative-designate of the Philippines to the International Atomic Energy Agency, I take inspiration from this afternoon’s productive discussions which, I believe, has given me further inputs to refine and consolidate my organization’s plans to establish itself as the ‘science diplomacy’ center among the Philippines diplomatic posts in Europe,” Ambassador Natividad said during her remarks at the roundtable – which brought together deans and representatives of colleges and universities from different regions of the Philippines.
The roundtable was convened by the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI), in cooperation with the Philippine Mission in Vienna, on the occasion of Director General Amano’s visit and aimed to identify needs and generate ideas on building national capacities
It followed the successful signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Science and Technology and the Department of Education on the use of nuclear science and technology curriculum exemplars for high school students which was developed through a regional technical cooperation project of the IAEA.
Ambassador Natividad, who, along with PNRI Director Carlo Arcilla, accompanied DG Amano and his delegation to meetings with the secretaries and undersecretaries of the Department of Energy, Department of Science and Technology, and Department of Foreign Affairs, also noted that, “There is a clear mandate from our executive department as regards how to maximize our IAEA membership.” She also informed the academe about the priority areas of cooperation with the IAEA – food security, health, and energy, emphasizing the need to develop a new generation of nuclear scientists and engineers.
“I believe we all have a humble role to play as ‘science communicators’ and help the country maximize our demographic dividend by vigorously advancing science, technology and innovation, including, especially, in the nuclear field, to improve the lives of Filipinos,” she concluded.
Around forty participants from the following universities and colleges attended the roundtable, namely: the Philippine Normal University, Lyceum of the Philippines University, University of the Philippines (Diliman and Manila campuses), De La Salle University, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, MAPUA University, Polytechnical University of the Philippines, Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, Western Mindanao State University, University of San Carlos-Cebu, Leyte Normal University, Bulacan State University, Bicol University, Holy Angel University, and the University of Southern Philippines. END
For more information, visit www.viennape.dfa.gov.ph/ www.philippine-embassy.at.
Over thirty deans and professors from science and engineering faculties of universities and colleges from different regions of the Philippines joined the roundtable discussion with Director General Yukiya Amano.