Faculty Fellowship for Flood-resilient Futures

Shaping a Flood-Resilient Philippines through River Basin Governance, 

AI, and University-City Co-creation

The DALOY 2100 Creative Inquiry Faculty Fellowship is an 11-month fellowship that mobilizes universities, faculty, students, governments, communities, and other stakeholders to align student action-research towards one of the Philippines' most urgent and recurring challenges: flooding.

Faculty from engineering, public administration, IT, social sciences, economics, natural sciences, health sciences, and other disciplines are invited to join the DALOY 2100 Faculty Fellowship program. 

DALOY 2100 approaches flooding not simply as a disaster to be managed after it occurs, but as a complex systems challenge that can be prevented, reduced, and better managed through sustained collaboration across entire river basins—from upland watersheds and tributaries to cities, drainage systems, floodplains, rivers, estuaries, coastal areas, and human settlements.

Through Creative Inquiry, Faculty Fellows mentor multidisciplinary teams of students who work alongside local governments, national government agencies, communities, civil society, and other stakeholders to understand the underlying causes of flooding and co-create practical solutions.

The Fellowship encourages a shift from responding to floods toward preventing and reducing them using universities as catalysts for research, innovation, experimentation, collaboration, and long-term systems change.

Fellowship Objectives

1. Advance Flood Prevention and Reduction through Integrated River Basin Governance by enabling universities, governments, communities, and other stakeholders to identify the systemic drivers of flooding and co-create coordinated solutions across watersheds, rivers, drainage systems, floodplains, and coastal areas.

2. Mobilize Faculty and Student Innovation for Flood-Resilient Communities by engaging multidisciplinary teams in Creative Inquiry, field research, participatory mapping, policy innovation, nature-based solutions, infrastructure planning, and Problem-Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA) to develop, test, and continuously improve practical, locally grounded solutions.

3. Harness AI, Data, and Futures Thinking for Long-Term Flood Resilience by applying AI, geospatial analytics, remote sensing, climate and hydrological data, and future scenarios to improve flood risk identification, planning, investment prioritization, and adaptive strategies toward 2030, 2050, and 2100.

4. Strengthen Academic Networks as Catalysts for Creative Inquiry by building and connecting discipline-based and interdisciplinary networks of faculty, researchers, and students that bring diverse expertise, perspectives, and methods to the co-creation of innovative solutions for flood prevention and river basin governance.

Why DALOY 2100?

Flooding is rarely caused by a single problem.

It can emerge from the interaction of watershed degradation, deforestation, rapid urbanization, changing land use, sedimentation, solid waste, inadequate drainage, river obstruction, floodplain development, infrastructure gaps, sea-level rise, extreme rainfall, and fragmented governance.

These challenges cross political and administrative boundaries. Decisions made upstream can affect communities many kilometers downstream. Drainage investments in one city may have limited impact if neighboring jurisdictions, waterways, watersheds, and river systems are not considered together.

DALOY 2100 therefore treats the river basin as a living system and a critical unit for collaborative governance, learning, and innovation.

The Fellowship brings universities into this challenge as long-term knowledge and innovation partners. Faculty and students can help governments and communities see problems differently, generate evidence, connect disciplines, explore emerging technologies, test new ideas, and sustain learning beyond individual projects and political cycles.

From Flood Response to Flood Prevention

DALOY 2100 seeks to accelerate several important shifts:

• From responding to floods to preventing and reducing flood risks.

• From isolated drainage and infrastructure projects to integrated river basin solutions.

• From individual LGU interventions to upstream-downstream and inter-LGU collaboration.

• From infrastructure alone to combinations of engineered, nature-based, governance, social, financial, and technological solutions.

• From static master plans to continuous learning, experimentation, and adaptation.

• From government acting alone to universities, students, communities, government, civil society, and the private sector co-creating solutions.

Creative Inquiry for Flood Prevention

At the heart of DALOY 2100 is Creative Inquiry—a process through which faculty and students investigate complex real-world problems, ask new questions, work across disciplinary boundaries, and co-create solutions with the people and institutions directly affected.

Faculty Fellows are encouraged to mobilize multidisciplinary student teams from undergraduate and graduate programs. These teams may work on challenges related to:

watershed rehabilitation and forest restoration; river and tributary management; urban drainage and stormwater systems; solid waste and waterway obstruction; floodplain and land-use management; nature-based solutions and green infrastructure; water retention and detention; river restoration; climate-resilient infrastructure; community-based flood prevention; institutional and inter-LGU coordination; flood financing and investment; and AI-enabled flood risk analysis.

Rather than prescribing a single solution, DALOY 2100 encourages teams to start with locally identified problems and progressively develop, test, learn from, and improve possible interventions.

Expectations

• Activate a Climate Action Labs International hub within their university and/or partner institution.

• C-Develop River Basin Governance scenarios with neighboring universities and city hall for the years 2030, 2050, and 2100. 

• Mentor multidisciplinary student innovation teams.

• Convene multi-sector stakeholders through the Climate Action Labs Hub.

• Prototype and iteratively improve solutions using Harvard University's Problem-Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA) methodology.

• Participate in monthly 90-minute online learning and peer-learning sessions.

• Collaborate with Fellows from other universities, including ASPAP and ALCU member schools.

• Share tools, lessons learned, and emerging innovations through an online community of practice.

Student Experience

Students are at the heart of the DALOY 2100 Creative Inquiry Faculty Fellowship.

Each Faculty Fellow is encouraged to mentor multidisciplinary teams of undergraduate and graduate students who become active contributors, not merely research assistants, in the co-design of flood prevention and river basin solutions.

Students may participate in fieldwork, policy dialogues, stakeholder consultations, data collection and analysis, AI-enabled mapping and visualization, systems mapping, design workshops, and prototype development.

Universities are encouraged to align these activities with existing courses, capstone projects, undergraduate and graduate research, internships, and the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) or similar university-based research and experiential learning programs.

Through this experience, students develop technical expertise alongside leadership, collaboration, design thinking, systems thinking, and public problem-solving skills while contributing directly to real-world challenges affecting communities.

Universities as River Basin Innovation Hubs

DALOY 2100 envisions universities as long-term anchors for flood prevention and river basin innovation.

Participating universities can convene local governments, national agencies, communities, researchers, professional associations, civil society organizations, and private-sector partners around shared river systems and flood challenges.

Universities are encouraged to mobilize 3–8 Faculty Fellows from diverse disciplines, creating interdisciplinary teams capable of approaching flooding from multiple perspectives.

These university-based hubs can provide continuity across political administrations, maintain institutional knowledge, engage successive generations of students, and sustain long-term relationships with communities and government partners.

Building Academic Networks for Creative Inquiry

DALOY 2100 also seeks to strengthen discipline-based and interdisciplinary academic networks as catalysts for Creative Inquiry.

Faculty in engineering, architecture, urban planning, environmental science, public administration, public health, economics, social sciences, law, data science, agriculture, forestry, and other fields can enter the challenge through the perspectives and methods of their respective disciplines.

These discipline-based networks create multiple entry points into the complex challenge of flooding while connecting with other fields through interdisciplinary collaboration.

Over time, DALOY 2100 aims to create a growing community of faculty, researchers, students, and universities that learn from one another, share methods and innovations, collaborate across river basins, and accelerate the development of locally grounded solutions.

Toward a Flood-Resilient Philippines

The long-term ambition of DALOY 2100 is to build a nationwide network of universities working alongside governments and communities to progressively prevent and reduce flooding.

By connecting Creative Inquiry, AI, river basin governance, Futures Thinking, PDIA, and the energy of faculty and student innovation, DALOY 2100 seeks to transform universities into active partners in building a more flood-resilient Philippines—one community, one river system, and one river basin at a time.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Who can apply?

The fellowship is open to faculty members from accredited higher education institutions in the Philippines and selected international partner universities. Faculty from public administration, engineering, environmental science, urban planning, geography, agriculture, public health, economics, law, architecture, computer science, and other related disciplines are encouraged to apply.

2. Do I need to be an expert in Artificial Intelligence (AI) to participate?

No. You do not need to be an AI expert to become a Fellow. Basic familiarity with conversational AI tools such as ChatGPT is an excellent starting point.

The fellowship is designed for educators and practitioners who are passionate about solving real-world governance and climate challenges—not for AI specialists alone. Throughout the program, Fellows will be gradually introduced to practical AI tools and workflows that can support research, teaching, stakeholder engagement, policy analysis, systems mapping, data visualization, scenario development, and collaborative problem-solving.

The emphasis is not on learning AI for its own sake, but on using AI responsibly to enhance Creative Inquiry and public problem-solving. Fellows will discover how AI can amplify human expertise, student creativity, interdisciplinary collaboration, and evidence-informed decision-making while working alongside government counterparts and communities.

3. Can universities send more than one Fellow?

Yes. Universities are strongly encouraged to mobilize between three and eight Faculty Fellows from diverse disciplines. Working as an interdisciplinary cohort enables faculty to combine technical, environmental, governance, social, and policy perspectives while mentoring larger groups of students and engaging multiple government partners.

4. Is this an individual or team fellowship?

Both. Faculty may participate individually or as part of a university cohort. However, interdisciplinary teams are encouraged because they create stronger learning experiences, broader institutional engagement, and more integrated solutions to complex river basin challenges.

5. What kinds of projects are suitable?

Projects may focus on:

• River basin governance

• Watershed restoration

• Flood resilience

• Water quality

• Urban drainage

• Nature-based solutions

• AI-enabled environmental monitoring

• Climate adaptation

• Inter-LGU collaboration

• Water resource management

• Environmental policy

• Community engagement

• Disaster risk reduction

Projects should respond to real challenges identified jointly with government counterparts.

6. Do Fellows need a government partner?

Yes. Every fellowship project is co-designed with a government counterpart, such as a local government unit, river basin organization, national government agency, water district, or other public institution. You may start without a government partner initially. Creating partnerships with government is part of the learning experience. 

7. What role do students play?

Students are central to the fellowship. Faculty Fellows mentor undergraduate and graduate students who actively contribute through fieldwork, stakeholder engagement, research, data analysis, policy studies, AI-assisted mapping, design workshops, prototype development, and community collaboration.

Students are encouraged to become co-designers and problem-solvers rather than research assistants. Fellowship activities may also support capstone projects, theses, internships, Creative Inquiry initiatives, and scholarly publications.

8. What is the Climate Action Labs Hub?

Each participating university establishes or activates a Climate Action Labs Hub, which serves as a multi-sector platform for collaboration throughout the fellowship.

Universities are encouraged to continue operating their Hub beyond the fellowship as a permanent platform for climate resilience, public innovation, and community engagement.

9. How much time should Fellows expect to commit?

The fellowship is designed to complement a faculty member's existing teaching, research, and extension responsibilities.

Faculty are encouraged to align classroom activities with the fellowship by integrating real-world river basin challenges into their courses. Students can undertake class projects, capstones, theses, fieldwork, and community-based learning focused on a river, watershed, or drainage system in the city or municipality where the university campus is located.

Rather than adding substantially to a faculty member's workload, the fellowship helps align teaching, research, extension, and community engagement around a shared public problem.

10. Is there a research grant associated with the fellowship?

No. The fellowship does not provide research grants.

Instead, it encourages faculty to harness one of the university's greatest assets: the energy of student curiosity, lived experiences, academic inquiry, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

By aligning existing courses, research projects, capstone projects, theses, extension programs, and student organizations around real-world river basin challenges, universities can generate meaningful public innovation without requiring large external grants.

As projects mature, Fellows are encouraged to pursue external research grants, government funding, philanthropy, climate finance, and other opportunities to scale successful innovations.

11. What learning approach does the fellowship use?

The fellowship integrates Creative Inquiry, Adaptive Leadership, Futures Thinking, Problem-Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA), Systems Thinking, and Responsible AI.

Participants work with government counterparts through continuous cycles of experimentation, learning, reflection, and adaptation.

12. What are the expected outputs?

Each university cohort is expected to produce:

• River Basin Innovation Portfolio

• Climate Action Labs Hub

• Governance, policy, or technology prototype

• Policy briefs

• Student-led innovation project videos

• PDIA learning journal

• Academic publications or case studies

• Open educational resources

• Presentation at the DALOY 2100 Creative Inquiry Summit

13. Will Fellows collaborate with other universities?

Yes. The fellowship actively promotes collaboration among universities, particularly member institutions of the Association of Schools of Public Administration in the Philippines (ASPAP) through joint Creative Inquiry projects, comparative research, peer learning, faculty exchanges, student collaboration, and co-authored publications.

14. Is the fellowship conducted online or in person?

The fellowship is primarily delivered online through monthly 90-minute learning dialogues, mentoring sessions, and an asynchronous collaboration platform.

Most project work—including stakeholder engagement, student mentoring, Climate Action Labs Hub activities, fieldwork, and government collaboration—takes place locally within each university and partner community.

15. What happens after the fellowship ends?

Graduates become members of the DALOY 2100 Faculty Network, an ongoing community of practice connecting faculty, students, government practitioners, and partner universities.

Universities are encouraged to continue operating their Climate Action Labs Hubs beyond the fellowship, creating a lasting platform for interdisciplinary collaboration, student engagement, applied research, and public innovation. Fellows are also encouraged to continue collaborating with ASPAP member schools, pursue external funding, mentor future cohorts, and scale successful innovations, extending the fellowship's impact well beyond the initial 11 months.