In fulfilling the commitment to pairing academic brilliance and integrity with public service through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the UPLB delegation participated in the UP System’s first-ever Youth Summit on the SDGs, entitled “Champions of Change and Innovation: UP Youth Summit on Sustainable Development Goals” at the GT-Toyota Asian Center, UP Diliman, Quezon City, on March 12-13, 2026.

The event was organized by the UP Office of the President, through the Office of Student Development Services under the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs (UP OVPAA-OSDS), together with UP Centre International de Formation des Autorités/Acteurs Locaux (CIFAL) Philippines and the UP Asian Center.

The two-day summit convened over 300 student leaders across the UP system and equipped them with training and knowledge to advocate for, implement, and commit to youth-led initiatives anchored in the 17 SDGs.

To enrich the learning experience, resource persons from various professional fields were invited to help students develop actionable, SDG-aligned, grassroots-level-initiated capstone project proposals, which was the key objective of the summit. 

Groups with selected capstone project proposals will be UP’s partners in advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in their respective communities. The UP System sought to select a proposal from each participating constituent university to ensure meaningful representation.

The UPLB delegation was composed of selected student delegates from student organizations, namely: Association of Filipino Forestry Students-UPLB (AFFS-UPLB), Club for UNESCO-UPLB (C4U UPLB), Philippine Association of Nutrition-Alpha Omega (PAN-AO), UP Cell Biological Society (UP CELLS), UPLB Environmental Science Society (UPLB EnviSoc), and the UPLB University Student Council (USC).

A group of UPLB student delegates from UPLB EnviSoc, AFFS-UPLB, and the UPLB USC proposed “Project BAKHAW: Building Awareness, Knowledge, Holistic Action, and Welfare for Mangrove Sustainability,“ a capacity-building workshop on mangrove conservation in Malitam, Batangas, which was awarded a seed grant for its implementation. 

Their proposal considered how mangrove forests are a natural flood system that provides coastal protection for numerous provinces in the country, helping block or buffer storm surges and flash floods. However, socio-economic problems and low community awareness of mangrove conservation continue to present challenges.

The capstone project consists of two sub-programs: UP Little BakaJuans, a series of foundational discussions on mangrove systems and solid waste management for elementary students; and UP Leader BakaJuans, a set of livelihood workshops to build mangrove nurseries for household heads in the Malitam community.

“We would like to instill self-determination and economy in the community, especially given their experience of human rights violations, such as violent dispersals and displacement from their homes and communities,” explained UPLB USC Chair Geraldine “Wes” T. Balingit, one of the presenters for the group, during the session. 

“Creating a people’s organization in the area would be one of the objectives of this project, and that would help the community greatly, not just economically but also in the initiative of their human rights,” she stated.

The capstone project proposal awardees from each constituent university will receive a PhP 50,000 seed grant to implement and complete the projects within the prescribed one-year implementation timeline, in coordination with their respective student affairs office or unit.
With the two-day capacity-building event concluding on a profound note of commitment to advance the 2030 Agenda for the SDGs, the first-ever UP SDG Youth Summit is a monumental foothold of UP’s dedication to honor, excellence, and service through its Iskolar ng Bayan, Para sa Bayan.