Thirty-five youth leaders from Southeast Asia and Europe participated in the hybrid ASEAN-EU Summer School on disaster preparedness and resilience held from 28 July to 2 August 2025. On-site sessions took place at the UPTC Leyte Samar Heritage Center.

 

Organized by UP Tacloban College and the Student Think Tank for Europe-Asia Relations (STEAR), the program featured two days of online lectures and three days of in-person workshops. Sessions on community rebuilding, protection of vulnerable groups, engagement with the green economy, political collaboration, and sustainable technology provided the foundation for participants’ social action “dream projects,” which they presented on the final day.

 

On 31 July, on-site participants went on a guided visit to heritage churches, a mangrove eco-park, and Yolanda memorial sites including the Surge of Hope monument in Tanauan, the Holy Cross Memorial Garden, and the M/V Eva Jocelyn shrine in Anibong.