By Genevieve B. Kupang and Korsiney N. Cabasis
Taiwan, May 6, 2026. This is the sixth installment in our dedicated series covering the 6th HLU Annual Conference.
Turning Waste into Purpose through St. Michael’s College of Iligan, Inc. Sustainable Efforts. Presenter: Dr. Korsiney Cabasis
St. Michael’s College of Iligan, Inc. has institutionalized a living culture of sustainability, proving that when we look through the lens of ecological stewardship, waste ceases to be a problem and instead becomes an opportunity for socio-economic renewal. At the heart of this journey is the Eco-Bricks (Laudato Si’) Program. Initiated in 2018 through Mr. Franklin Clitar’s leadership, this initiative has been woven into both the college curriculum and the CEAP JEEPGY Framework under the banner of Ecological Integrity.
What began as a local campus effort, manifesting in an initial harvest of 9,196 eco-brick bottles, soon rippled outward into local parishes, culminating in a collective offering of 11,092 bottles by 2025. In tandem with this green milestone, the community took a stand against ecological degradation in 2023 by enacting a campus-wide ban on single-use plastics, working hand-in-hand with local suppliers to co-create a plastic-waste-free sanctuary for learning.
Dr. Korsiney N. Cabasis presents the Laudato Si’ Eco-Bricks Program at the 6th HLU Annual Conference, highlighting St. Michael College’s leadership in the net-zero transition.
Parallel to these ecological triumphs is a narrative of community empowerment: the Rag Making project, branded as Basahang Maaasahan. This initiative demonstrates how upcycling can become an engine for economic justice. From a humble gathering of just three members in 2009, the program has flourished into a cooperative of 541 passionate producers by 2025, fortified by a providential USD 50,000.00 development grant in 2016 that expanded its reach across 11 municipalities in Lanao del Norte. By 2024, the sale of over 378,049 rags generated USD 270,000.00 in revenue that turned into sacred gift of free education through institutional scholarship grants for marginalized learners.
Despite behavioral resistance and logistical hurdles, the institution persists by starting small, channeling youth energy, and nurturing community-driven solutions rooted in love for our common home.
KIM Jae-Eun’s Presentation: Improving ESG Reporting Guidelines for Korean Universities: A Double Materiality Perspective with Leading University Cases
The Central Axis of Innovation. Dr. Kim Jae-Eun (aSSIST University, South Korea) discusses how universities are encouraged to structurally transform rather than simply scale down corporate ESG models. Her insights into double-materiality reporting offer a new framework for higher education leadership.
When KIM Jae-Eun of aSSIST University took the floor on May 6 at National Chi Nan University, what she presented was far more than a policy paper. It was, in many ways, a portrait of a higher education system under pressure, searching for a language honest enough to describe what it is actually doing and what it is actually facing. Korea’s universities have been navigating a difficult terrain: around 85% are privately operated, tuition revenue accounts for 54.9% of their income, the student population is shrinking, and more than 80% of regional universities are considered at risk.
Against this backdrop, ESG reporting is no longer a branding exercise. It is a question of survival, accountability, and institutional soul. KIM traced how Korea moved from the 2021 national K-ESG Guidelines, designed with listed corporations in mind, through the first university-specific guidelines in 2023 and the more globally oriented V2.0 in 2024, each version attempting to close the gap between what universities are and what corporate sustainability frameworks assume them to be.
What stayed with me most was the Double Materiality framework she proposed as the way forward, borrowed from the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and applied with fresh eyes to the university context. The question it asks is deceptively simple: not only how does the university affect the world, but how does the world’s shifting reality affect the university itself? Her case analysis of four Korean universities revealed three uncomfortable truths.
First, all of them report systematically on environmental metrics such as energy and emissions, precisely because those numbers are easiest to measure. At the same time, the deeper educational and social commitments remain unsystematically documented. Second, the indicators that matter most for universities, things like ESG integration in the curriculum, regional community engagement, and transparency in private governance, are scattered and under-weighted in the current guidelines. Third, there is a significant gap between what a nationally funded university like Seoul National University can achieve and what resource-constrained private institutions can realistically sustain. Kim’s proposed solution is a modular reporting system, tailored by institution type, that places education and research at the very center of what ESG means for a university. It is a reframing that feels right, because a university that cannot account for what it teaches and who it serves has missed the point entirely.
Dr. Chia-Yu Yeh’s Presentation: NCNU Sustainability Strategies: A Comprehensive Sustainability Program Integrating Solar Energy, Local Community Engagement, and Global Thinking
WURI Historian’s Verdict: Sana all!” (hoping that all universities can replicate this). Incredibly impressed by Dr. Chia-Yu Yeh as she breaks down National Chi Nan University’s holistic net-zero transition. Their synergy between campus solar grids and local grassroots partnerships sets a standard for real global innovation.
There is something extraordinary about National Chi Nan University, the place where we gathered for the 6th HLU Annual Conference. NCNU does not sit in a bustling metropolitan center. It is rooted in Nantou County, in the highlands of central Taiwan, surrounded by the ecological beauty of Sun Moon Lake and Hehuan Mountain, and by communities that have known real hardship. The Bunun and Atayal peoples call this region home. The 921 earthquake of 1999 left wounds here that took years to heal, and it was NCNU that stood alongside the people during the long work of reconstruction. That history matters because it explains something that no ranking system fully captures: why this university’s sustainability program feels like an expression of who they are. When Dr. Chia-Yu Yeh presented NCNU’s sustainability strategies, the numbers were impressive, and the spirit behind them was what deserved attention. The guiding principle, “Global Thinking, Local Implementation,” is declared and lived. Faculty promotion, student graduation requirements, and administrative performance indicators are all tied to sustainability goals. The president directly oversees the Sustainable Development Committee. This is governance as commitment, not governance as formality.
The concrete achievements are worth naming clearly, because they demonstrate that sustainability done with integrity can also be financially self-sustaining. NCNU’s solar installations, acquired at zero cost to the university, generate over 14,738 GJ of electricity annually, covering roughly 33.8% of campus consumption and bringing in NT$3 million in feed-in revenue that cycles back into green initiatives.
Water conservation programs save an average of 127,259 metric tons annually, and LED retrofitting has reduced electricity use by 327,000 kWh while cutting carbon emissions by 165.8 tons. Over 1,000 students a year participate in 36 local implementation courses, carrying the university’s presence into rural villages and Indigenous communities. NCNU has ranked first among Taiwan’s national comprehensive universities in UI GreenMetric for eight consecutive years, and the target of full campus carbon neutrality by 2043 is backed by a phased, funded plan.
What I found most telling, though, was the honesty with which Dr. Yeh named the one significant gap: without a unified Sustainability Development Center, data collection across departments remains fragmented. That gap is already in the future planning agenda. A university willing to put its own unfinished business on the conference table, in front of peers from around the world, is a university serious about the work.
Synergy: My deepest gratitude goes to Dr. Virmari S. Tan, the International Relations Director of John B. Lacson Foundation Maritime University. His selfless generosity became the eyes and ears of our HLU shared journey, recording the presentation proceedings and capturing moments that would have otherwise flown by. As a WURI Historian, I am touched by his beautiful spirit of collaboration; he freely shared his precious documentation and sat with many of us to weave the historical segments for our conference images and videos. Thank you, Dr. Virmari, for your selfless synergy and for ensuring that these milestones of institutional innovation are preserved for posterity. You are a true blessing! #AcademicSynergy #WURI #HLU2026 #DeepGratitude.
This is the 6th in a series of 9 articles. Here are the links to the preceding articles:
The 6th HLU Conference and WURI 2026 Global Rankings Ceremony at National Chi Nan University
Where the Stones Speak, the Flowers Delight and the Trees Protect
The 6th Hanseatic League of Universities Annual Conference Opens at National Chi Nan University (3rd of 9 Series)
Future Transformation of Universities in the AI Era: 6th Hanseatic League of Universities Annual Conference (4th of 9 Series)
https://www.pressenza.com/2026/05/6th-hlu-annual-conference-wuni-l-assembly-on-collaboration-innovation-and-shared-futures-5th-of-9-series/
Stand by for the 7th through 9th articles in the series.
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Photo credits: NCNU and Dr. Virmari S. Tan
About the Authors:
Dr. Korsiney Cabasis: Co-writer and contributor to this article, he is the Vice President of St. Michael’s College of Iligan (Philippines)
Dr. Genevieve Balance Kupang is Dean of the Graduate School and International Relations Officer of Baguio Central University, Baguio City, Philippines. She also serves as WURI Historian, Secretary of the World University Network for Innovation Leaders (WUNI-L), and Board Director of the Cordillera Association of International Relations Officers (CAIRO). A peace educator, applied cosmic anthropologist, and humanist activist, she is a co-author of a finalist book at the 43rd National Book Awards administered by the National Book Development Board of the Philippines, and a contributing writer for Pressenza International Press Agency.
