15/09/2026
CWVS University Research Associate participates in GAIA Trainers’ Training in Bangkok
Center for West Visayan Studies (CWVS) University Research Associate Darlene Joy D. Calsado participated in the GAIA Project: Training of Trainers on Transdisciplinary Approaches, held on September 7–10, 2026, in Bangkok, Thailand.
With the theme “Gearing up and applying Inter- and Transdisciplinary Skills in Asia: Building the Transdisciplinarity Capacity of Early Career Professionals,” the training brought together early-career professionals from across Asia to strengthen their capacities in applying transdisciplinary approaches to complex sustainability challenges.
The four-day training explored key dimensions of transdisciplinary practice, including problem framing, systems thinking, power and positionality, trust-building, plurality, co-design, knowledge integration, monitoring, evaluation and learning, facilitation, and science communication. Through interactive exercises, simulations, peer learning, and collaborative activities, participants examined how diverse knowledge systems, perspectives, and societal actors can be meaningfully engaged in understanding and addressing complex real-world issues.
The training highlighted the importance of recognizing diverse ways of knowing, making power and positionality visible, creating space for different voices, and embracing disagreement as part of co-learning and co-creation. It also emphasized the need for adaptive, context-sensitive approaches when working across disciplines, institutions, communities, and knowledge systems.
As part of the GAIA initiative, participants are expected to contribute to strengthening transdisciplinary capacity within their respective countries and sub-regions by developing and implementing training programs responsive to local and regional sustainability priorities.
Calsado’s participation contributes to CWVS’s continuing efforts to strengthen inter-and transdisciplinary and community-engaged research, knowledge exchange, and capacity-building in addressing complex issues affecting communities and environments in Western Visayas and beyond.
The GAIA Project is supported by the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN), in partnership with the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN), Future Earth, and Asia Science Mission for Sustainability.
Written by Sashah Dioso
Photos by Darlene Joy Calsado
