Mariano Marcos
State University

MMSU envi sci prof talks on carbon-neutral campuses in Thailand

By Wimbledon Bosque
 

Following her lecture in last year’s international carbon neutrality expert course, Dr. Arlene Gonzales, an environmental science professor at MMSU, facilitated a discourse on “Education-Led Institutional Coordination and Financing Pathways for Tourism Decarbonization in ASEAN: The CNC 2026 Experience” at Bangkok, Thailand, on February 9. 
 

The event was organized by the Carbon Neutrality Campus (CNC) Network, an international group of academic institutions where MMSU actively participates as a member. Part of its mission is to achieve net-zero carbon operations on campuses. 
 

Dr. Gonzales, who also leads the MMSU Sustainability and Futures Thinking unit, steered the panel discussion on a sustainability-driven framework in universities. She considered students an important stakeholder who must be informed on conceptualizing feasible solutions to reduce carbon emissions in their schools. 
 

Vice President for Resource Generation and Management Bjorn Santos and Director of Research Dionisio Bucao also shared their expertise during a roundtable discussion. The said forum outlined the CNC’s roadmap for the year and discussed the expansion of its open online course, which will be co-designed by the participating institutions. 
 

Co-organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and Thailand’s National Higher Education, Science, Research, and Innovation Policy Council Office (NXPO), the seminar called for action among higher education institutions toward net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and carbon neutrality. 
 

Themed “Carbon Neutrality in Action: Regional Insights, Local Innovations – From Campus to City: Shaping a Sustainable Future Together,” the program also featured dialogue sessions on CNC vision and the global-to-local transitions, university leadership, and regional exchange. 
 

📸 𝘍𝘢𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘔𝘢𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘰𝘭 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺