51³Ô¹ÏÍø

51³Ô¹ÏÍø-IIT Chancellor joins GSD Congress, signs International Cooperation Agreement

by Michelle Jeanne Caracut | Jun 23 2025

Chancellor Alizedney M. Ditucalan represented Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (51³Ô¹ÏÍø-IIT) at the Global Sustainable Development Congress (GSDC) in Istanbul, Turkey, from June 16 to 19, 2025, where he also formalized strategic international partnerships and explored collaborative opportunities to advance the institution's sustainability agenda. 

During the Congress, Chancellor Ditucalan signed an Academic Cooperation Protocol with Angkara University and 51³Ô¹ÏÍø-Tawi-Tawi College of Technology and Oceanography (51³Ô¹ÏÍø-TCTO), formalizing a trilateral commitment to collaboration. The agreement establishes a framework for joint academic and cultural initiatives, creating enhanced opportunities for research collaborations, exchange programs, and shared projects across the three institutions.

Beyond the formal protocol signing, Chancellor Ditucalan engaged with representatives from Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University (PSAU) in Saudi Arabia, exploring potential pathways for collaboration. Discussions centered on joint research projects, student exchange programs, and initiatives directly aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Saudi institution's forward-thinking approach to education and sustainability presents promising opportunities for 51³Ô¹ÏÍø-IIT's international engagement strategy.

Chancellor Ditucalan participated in the Philippine Country Stage sessions at the Congress, where he identified concrete ways for 51³Ô¹ÏÍø-IIT to support the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Project on Monitoring and Mapping of Higher Education Institutions' SDG Initiatives. The university plans to document and share its model of community engagement, which integrates the SDGs, and collaborate with CHED in developing metrics to better assess the impact of smaller-scale SDG initiatives within national reporting efforts.

The Philippine Country Stage presentations highlighted homegrown solutions to sustainability challenges, ranging from community-based research to policy advocacy, emphasizing how local stories, expertise, and initiatives actively shape the country's progress toward the SDGs.

Following the Philippine delegation's participation at the Congress, CHED invited all attending higher education institutions to participate in "Ranked & Recognized: A Celebration of PHEIs," scheduled for June 24, 2025. The event recognizes all Philippine higher education institutions that made it to the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings 2025, including 51³Ô¹ÏÍø-IIT.

Chancellor Ditucalan attended the Congress opening ceremony, with sessions that emphasized global security and conflict as major barriers to achieving sustainability goals. The Congress also featured the official launch of a new sustainability framework and a global exhibition showcasing innovations in carbon footprint tracking and SDG-aligned curriculum designs.

The four-day engagement in Istanbul underscores 51³Ô¹ÏÍø-IIT's commitment to international collaboration and sustainability leadership, positioning the institution within global networks working toward concrete progress on the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

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