Ateneo, Xavier University (XU) professors document stories of resilience

As floods and other disasters continue to disrupt communities across the Philippines, two professors from Ateneo de Manila University and Xavier University–Ateneo de Cagayan (XU) are making sure that stories of resilience are not forgotten.

Dr Emma Porio, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Ateneo de Manila's Dr Rosita G Leong School of Social Sciencess, Principal Investigator of Coastal Cities at Risk Philippines (CCARPH-Ateneo) and Lead Author for the IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Cities; and Engr Dexter Lo, Vice President for Social Development at XU and UNESCO Chair in Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience Engineering, have been documenting how communities rise, rebuild, and adapt in the face of recurring crises.

Both scholars serve on the Field Validation Committee of the Philippine Resilience Awards (PRA), an initiative of the Climate Change Commission that recognizes outstanding examples of resilience in action. In this role, they validate and highlight stories from the ground—narratives that too often go unheard yet carry powerful lessons for disaster risk governance.

Porio and Lo are also Science Resilience Fellows of the National Resilience Council, stress that resilience is not just a policy concept but a lived reality shaped by communities.

For more information, see Xavier University's website.