AGUHON 2050

Quezon City Leadership and Human Capital 2050

ABOUT

AGUHON 2050 started in September 2021 as an initiative under the Quezon City Futures Lab which aims to craft scenarios for Quezon City 2050 with a particular focus on the leadership development sector. Aguhon—a Filipino word which literally means compass—seeks to infuse trailblazing ideas and spark meaningful discourse with the end in view of giving direction to the long-term development of leadership in Quezon City through a multi-sectoral approach engaging the government, the private sector, the academe, and the civil society, among others.

AGUHON 2050 began with a group of undergraduate students pursuing their Bachelor of Public Administration from the University of the Philippines National College of Public Administration and Governance (UP-NCPAG) who engaged numerous sectoral figures in a conversation about the future of leadership development in the City. Policy brown bag discussions will also be held to serve as a venue for a holistic discussion on what is our vision for the City’s leadership development sector by 2050 and what are the ways to fulfill it into a reality. Through these endeavors, various concepts and approaches of leadership in different contexts and sectors will be brought to the fore towards underscoring why leadership development should be everybody’s agenda.

VISION

The vision of Quezon City is “to be a model of effective governance and responsible leadership”. While the emphasis is on leadership, it is not distinct from but rather necessary for governance. And although the City has its fair share of leaders today, there is an impending urgency to develop a new set of leaders who will take on the cudgels not only of resolving contemporary problems but addressing future agenda. Further highlighted by the pandemic, the paradigms have changed—from VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) to TUNA (Turbulent, Uncertain, Novel, Ambiguous). The more complex dimensions of turbulence and novelty are exemplified by COVID-19 which, in turn, underscores the need for leaders whose foresight, innovativeness, and flexibility, among others, are not only innate but developed. As the most populous city in the Philippines, it is certain that among the more than two million citizens of Quezon City—many will answer the call of leadership and lead to serve if leadership development is to be instituted as a future agenda.

As of 2021, there are a handful of institutions, think tanks, and non-governmental organizations devoted to leadership development in Quezon City. On the other hand, there is no city office or even task force duty bound to pursue leadership development. It is in this decade of the 2020s, therefore, that the synergy among the local government unit (LGU) of Quezon City and these aforementioned leadership development organizations be forged and maximized. Since the current institutional set-up handicaps government in this pursuit, these organizations will collectively support the Quezon City Futures Lab. In the process, there should be a special legislative committee on leadership development whose primary purpose is to reach out to these stakeholders and craft a leadership development plan for the city and its constituents. It will identify the roles and challenges of the involved stakeholders as it acknowledges that leadership development of the City demands a multi-sectoral approach. The primary goal of this committee is to create a city office for leadership development by 2030.

By 2030, we envision a Quezon City with a stronger capacity-building program spearheaded by the City’s newly established leadership development office which shall focus on active citizenship in local government affairs and as well as participation in civil societies. Programs for strengthening leadership development must be present in every primary, secondary and tertiary education institution. These specialized leadership development programs will cater to the needs of all the sectors across the city—leadership in local bureaucracy, urban management, public health, education, peace building and security, environment, and economic empowerment. Futures thinking will also become a major part in the program to equip leaders not only with the vision but the motivation to achieve that vision such as through backcasting. The office must also start identifying the gaps that limit people from taking part in leadership opportunities and provide recommendations to relevant offices on how to bridge these gaps. The development of continuity plans of all organizations, institutions, and agencies shall be advocated for. It is projected that through this decade’s aggressive campaign in developing leaders that by 2040, a significant number of these newly trained leaders will comprise the leadership development office of Quezon City.

Beginning 2040, there will be a boom on the new generations of leaders and as well as a boom on volunteers for the many projects of the LGU. Cognizant of the looming climate crisis, many of this new breed of leaders are to be deployed in aiding in disaster risk reduction (DRR) planning and efforts. Speeding up this leadership development agenda is the adoption of digital learning platforms which enable all citizens, regardless of age, to partake in these leadership development programs. What will emerge then is a community of leaders, composed of the many leaders both trained and rekindled by this push of the Quezon City for leadership development. To facilitate better coordination and fruitful cooperation, a digital community platform for these leaders will be established. This will be a venue for the sharing of best practices, exchange of insights, and redress of grievances. Although we project that the demographics of this community is predominantly young, a significant portion will also be comprised of young adults and adult professionals who will volunteer their free time to support leadership endeavors. Sustaining this trend will be at the heart of Quezon City leadership development by 2050.

By 2050, Quezon City is not just the city of stars but also the city of leaders. We expect that there will be no more scarcity of those who are willing to lead in all levels—from the grassroots and youth up to the highest positions of power. These leaders are unlike any leaders before. They are remarkably flexible, futures-oriented, and faithful to their call of leadership and service. In this light, beyond leadership development training programs, there will be continuing leadership development programs that aim to annually retool current leaders of the contemporary competencies and refresh them on the prospective opportunities to seize and constraints to confront. It is in this manner that the 2050 vision of Quezon City is a vision of a city of leaders well-equipped for what tomorrow brings.

The Challenges to Achieving Our Vision

At present, leadership development is not a key priority of government further overshadowed by the more pressing demands of the pandemic recovery.
Bureaucratic inertia manifested through red tape is a seminal stumbling block in establishing new government offices such as the creation of a leadership development office in Quezon City.
Considering the current social, economic, and psychological impact of the pandemic, the motivation of the public to volunteer in and take on leadership roles is at low levels today.
Digital divide, primarily in access to internet and gadgets, remains prevalent.
There is a lack of facilities and capability for leadership training in the more specialized areas such as disaster risk reduction and futures thinking, among others.

THE CORE OF AGUHON 2050

Leadership Development

Institutions, think tanks, and non-governmental organizations devoted to leadership development in Quezon City.

Good Governance

To develop a new set of leaders who will take on the cudgels not only of resolving contemporary problems but addressing future agenda.

Active Citizenship

A stronger capacity-building program which shall focus on active citizenship in local government affairs and as well as participation in civil societies.

THE AGUHON PH INITIATIVES

Policy Brown Bag Discussion

The Policy Brown Bag Discussion is a relatively informal high-level discussion on the QC 2050 scenarios.

KabataApp-Civic Startup

The KabataApp will primarily benefit the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) of barangays by giving them an e-governance platform where they can make their services more accessible to the general public, especially the youth. Since most of the younger generation are already well-versed in using technology, this will be a preferred way for them to reach out and engage with their respective SKs.

Governance Collaboration Canvas

Partnership and collaboration will benefit not just the youth but the whole society in general. Capacitating our young leaders and molding them to become leaders of tomorrow that uphold integrity, efficiency, and effectiveness in service can make a great impact on how this nation could move forward in the coming years. Since we consider participation and collaboration as a key concept of the development of leadership programs not just in Quezon City but in the Philippines, we seek to enable, promote, and ensure the partner’s active, meaningful, and holistic participation in society in furtherance of our collective agenda.