With the double whammy of a pandemic and climate change risks swallowing up the world, Vivant Corp. is among many companies that are increasing efforts to innovate and instigate a ripple effect to create a positive change.

Vivant, which has businesses in energy and water, has been pursuing corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs that will not only help the country achieve its sustainability goals but to reinforce the young Filipinos’ skill as part of the energy workforce of today and the future.

Through its Vivant Foundation, the Garcia-led firm which traces its corporate roots in Cebu, had sealed a partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd) for the solar electrification of off-grid schools. It has introduced a tech-vocational (tech-voc) course on Electrical Installation and Maintenance (IEM) with photovoltaic (PV) installation that had been integrated into the senior high school curriculum across its host-communities in Cebu, Bohol and Palawan.

According to Shem Jose Garcia, executive director of Vivant Foundation, their “social contract” with their host communities in pursuing these undertakings will not just be about creating change, but also a conscious choice and well-calculated decision to help create jobs and breed further innovation across industries.

“In Vivant, we define this as adaptability in our goal to provide solutions for a changing world. It means enabling our communities with projects that meet their different needs, but also enable them to find their own solutions by providing education in science and technology, which are essential tools in adapting to change,” he stressed.

Garcia expounded that the company’s projects -- “both in CSR and the work of the corporation, touch on several of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, through the core of our businesses – particularly help communities with two of them – the access to energy and water.”

Small steps catalyzing major changes

The Vivant Foundation executive conveyed that when they started with their CSR projects around 2013-2014, they’ve decided to delve into comprehensively-studied programs, but still, there were hurdles that they’ve encountered through the implementation processes.

“The very first projects we did, this was when we just opened our plants in Coron and Busuanga in Palawan – and we did science laboratories in line with the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) curriculum of DepEd for senior high school. And what we discovered was that: the schools didn’t have full STEM labs – and that was a learning process to us. So what we did: first, was to set up the science labs according to DepEd requirements, then we provided equipment to the labs – even the one we did in Puerto Princesa, because it will be useless to have a nice lab if there are no equipment,” Garcia narrated.

Garcia similarly shared what confronted them next was when the equipment had been provided, the teachers had to be trained in using them. “Because for years, the teachers have been making do without the laboratories, so most of them are not aware how to use equipment, like for example, a digital microscope. So we had to implement the project as a package - to make sure that the school labs have equipment, and to make sure also that they have the space and the teachers’ training,” he said.

Via the STEM lab projects concretized by the company, Garcia noted that they’ve eventually noticed higher interest of students in courses like engineering, science and technology; as well as in tech-voc courses through the IEM module.

Vivant Foundation currently has seven STEM labs, of which two are in Palawan and five are in its host-communities in Cebu. These are now favorably aiding Filipino students to be in-step with STEM education comparable to international peers.

Primarily for the IEM module, Garcia emphasized that their host-communities in Palawan now have pool of talents/skilled workers that they can tap within the community and these IEM graduates would often cater to the needs of establishments, including hotels and other business entities in the province that are in need of electricians.

Garcia enthused these could be considered “small steps” at this stage, but these are the kind of “skill set” and workforce that will pace the country into its quest for sustainable energy future. The next core program they will be targeting for tech-voc would be training for students on plumbing to help address the skills needed for the water sector.

Scaling up ‘Project RELY’

From trailblazing the integration of tech-voc offering in the K-12 educational system of the Philippines, Vivant Foundation was able to expand its program when it secured support from the European Union-funded Project RELY (Project Renewable Energy for Livelihood and Youth) which is its partnership with Germany’s Sequa. Onward, the company is eyeing that the partnerships will grow so benefits of RE-underpinned electrification could be scaled in various parts of the country.

With Project RELY, the pioneering solar electrification of Vivant that kicked off in 2018, was at the off-grid school of Hilotongan, which is a small island at its host-community in Bantayan, Cebu.

But since face-to-face classes have been suspended because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Garcia stated the students weren’t able to enjoy the full benefit of having electricity in their school yet.

He qualified though that the obvious advantage had been on the teachers, “because before electrification, teachers in these islet communities had to travel hours to the mainland just to have access to computers in creating their modules, as well as in having access to printers and photocopiers.”

“Once they’ve been electrified, teachers have been able to create and produce the modules without leaving their school – ensuring then the continued education of their students even as the pandemic lingers,” he added.

Still, Garcia admitted that energizing all off-grid schools on their own will be impossible, therefore, the target is to inspire other groups/corporates, so they too, will initiate parallel initiatives in providing electricity access to other schools in various parts of the country.

“We recognize that we can’t be in every community and that these projects would be continued by other groups, which is why part of the EU-funded Project RELY included the School Electrification Guide, which we’ve made free and available -- that DepEd and other foundations and companies with CSR, can use to improve their own projects,” he said.

He further acknowledged that the reach of the solar electrification program “will largely depend on the availability of the grants, as Vivant alone is not of the size where we could do this on our own. However, with provisions in the Paris Agreement wherein developed nations provide financial and technical assistance to developing nations to help us mitigate climate change, we anticipate that more of these grants will be available.”

Garcia asserted that the wisdom behind their undertakings is that it "remains true that if you give man a fish, you feed him for a day, but if you teach man to fish, you feed his family for a lifetime – so we wanted to apply this principle to energy and water.”

He also said that “inspiring innovation in an entire organization cannot be done by one company or foundation alone, even those that are considerably larger."

"Our hope is that DepEd is able to approve the omnibus program combining IEM with solar on a national level so that this becomes a standard for all senior high schools to offer it," said Garcia.