University of Santo Tomas Graduate School Center for Conservation of Cultural Property and Environment in the Tropics

Dr Eric Zerrudo with artisans from the third district of Leyte ©
Beverly Bautisa

Project title: Uswag artesano: advancing the creativity and adaptability of weaving artisans in the third district of Leyte

Focal landscape: Artisans in the third district of Leyte

Recipient: University of Santo Tomas Graduate School - CCCPET (In-charge: Dr Eric Zerrudo, PhD)

Dr Eric Babar Zerrudo, PhD is currently the director of the University of Santo Tomas Graduate School - Centre for Conservation of Cultural Property of Environment

i n the Tropics (USTGS-CCCPET). He is also an Associate Professor at the University of Santo Tomas Graduate School for Cultural Heritage Studies and National Coordinator of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference (CBCP) Episcopal Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church. Currently, he serves as the Philippine resource person for the development of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) competency framework for heritage professionals in Asia. He is a founding member of the World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for the Asia Pacific China (WHITRAP-AP), Asian Academy for Heritage Management, China (AAHM) network and the Asia-Pacific Higher Education Network for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage, South Korea (APHEN-ICH). He was the former United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Philippines Commissioner for the World Heritage Convention and the Focal Person for the Intangible Cultural Heritage Convention of the Philippines.

About the project

The scoping project intends to focus and deepen our understanding of the weaving heritage and potencies of the artisans in the third district of Leyte. Anent to these objectives are questions to guide the attainment of the objectives.

To define the weaving traditions of the artisans of the third district of Leyte through the customized heritage online mapping experience (HOME) template
to add value to the tradition and creativity of artisans through design, skill, knowledge and collaborative lectures from the academe and the industry both from national and international levels
to evolve climate change protocols to safeguard the tradition and encourage the adaptability of the artisans through case study discussions with representatives from resilient artisanal communities
to propose support mechanism and reinforcement towards sustainability through integration in the formal basic education system, particularly in the livelihood education subject/course.