How can Filipino environmental planners complete mandated local plans effectively?
Here are top websites where local government planners can download and access references and resources for completing and updating mandated local plans.
Designing Resilience
An output of the Building Climate Resiliency Through Urban Plans and Designs project, designingresilience.ph contains knowledge resources for Filipino environmental planners.
Publications include:
- Comprehensive Land Use Planning Guidebook
- Manuals on Climate Change Expenditure Tagging
- Comprehensive Development Planning
Geoanalytics PH
“Risk Analysis Made Easy”
This platform hosted by DOST-PHIVOLCS allows local government planners to generate rapid exposure assessments for seismic, volcanic and hydro-meteorologic hazards.
With data on the exposure of populations (2015 census), schools and health facilities, LGU planners can proceed to validation and vulnerability assessments instead of starting from scratch.
How to become a Filipino Environmental Planner?
Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)
Urban planning (and consequently comprehensive land use planning) is both a technical and a political exercise. DILG resources cover topics including:
- local corporate planning,
- disaster risk reduction and management,
- gender and development,
- infrastructure management.
Climate Change Commission (CCC)
The integration of climate change into land use planning is mandated by the Climate Change Act of 2009.
The Climate Change Commission hosts a hub of knowledge products, covering topics on greenhouse gas emission inventory, climate budgeting, and climate risk assessment.
Training modules on climate budgeting and natural resources accounting are also downloadable.
Read: Follow these sites to increase your urban planning knowledge!
National Color-Coded Agricultural Guide Map
Local government planners can build the capacity of their local farmers against climate change through publishing offline maps from the web map platform.
Project NOAH
Still one of the most important accomplishments in Philippine disaster risk reduction, the Project Noah website enables assessments of exposure to all hazards, except sea level rise.
Awesome Data Philippines
A collection of open data sources in the Philippines, hosted by Ben Hur Pintor. What I’ve used:
- Links to download hazard data from Project NOAH
- Downloader for Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) tiles
- Humanitarian data for the Philippines at data.humdata.org/group/phl
Coastal Risk Screening Tool (Climate Central)
Shows probable coastal risks based on global estimates of sea level rise and annual flood levels. Local government planners should use the tool to “identify places that may require deeper investigation of risk.”
Read: Techniques in Comprehensive Land Use Planning
Climate Risk Analysis for Projected Temperature and Rainfall Changes (PAGASA)
Provincial-scale projections for rainfall and temperature are available from two publications of PAGASA:
- Philippine Climate Extremes Report 2020
- Observed Climate Trends and Projected Climate Change in the Philippines (2018)
What other tools and resources do you use in local government planning in the Philippines?
Here are my past projects in local government planning…