By Daniel P. Tapaoan, Jr. 

In another boost to its internationalization efforts, Mariano Marcos State University is the fourth tertiary school in the Philippines which became a member of the ProSPER.Net, an alliance of leading universities in the Asia-Pacific region. 

ProSPER.Net or the Promotion of Sustainability in Postgraduate Education and Research Network is committed to integrate sustainable development into postgraduate courses and curricula among its member-institutions. 

The membership of MMSU, together with the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology and the University of Toyama in Japan, was approved during the ProSPER.Net’s 16th General Assembly held on October 19. Other member-institutions from the Philippines are the University of the Philippines, Ateneo De Manila University, and De La Salle University. To date, there are 52 members of the network. 

MMSU President Shirley C. Agrupis expressed delight with the university’s membership to the international network, assuring that the university will contribute to the alliance’s goals through its active participation in ProSPER.Net’s activities and joint projects.  

“With the help of the consortium, we hope to establish MMSU as a model sustainability university in the Philippines, particularly in championing renewable energy development,” President Agrupis said. 

Dr. Arlene Gonzales, university’s chief for international programs, submitted the university application document, which highlighted MMSU’s strengths and expertise in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), to the ProSPER.Net Secretariat on July 12 this year. 

The university’s initiatives in line with ESD include the offering of the Professional Science Masters in Renewable Energy Engineering, and its research innovations on renewable energy, health, environment, agriculture, social entrepreneurship, gender and development, and material sciences. Moreover, MMSU was ranked second in the Philippines and 401st-600th in the world in the 2022 Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, a global ranking that is based on Sustainable Development Goals.   

ProSPER.Net was founded in 2008 within the framework of a broader international agenda that recognizes the importance of education and research to help build a more sustainable future. 

During the administration of President Agrupis, MMSU became a member of the International Consortium of Universities in South and Southeast Asia for the Doctoral Education in Agricultural Science and Biotechnology (IC-GU12) led by Gifu University in Japan, Conservation Agriculture for Organic Agriculture (CA4OA) consortium led by Kansas University in United States, and the Southeast Asian Technical and Vocational Education and Training (SEA-TVET) consortium. (HLY, StratCom)