Council Inner Conditioning Workshop: An Entry for the Network’s Membership 

The two (2) days Inner Conditioning Workshop was held last December 22 to 23, 2018 at the Center for Bayanihan Economics, Angat, Bulacan and was attended by ten (10) participants.  To name were Digna Ruth Daliva, In Charge of CBE extension; Berna Halonghong,  Social Entrepreneurship Program (SEP) Coordinator in CBE; Esperanza Oebanda, CBE staff; Ricardo Sanchez, Agri-preneur in Angat, Bulacan; Venancio Garde, National Traning Coordinator for Systems of Rice Intensification (SRI) Philippines; Christopher Enate, President of Dao SRI Farmers Association; Ariel Lastica, Executive Assistant of the Mayor in Lambunao, Iloilo; Enrico Mora, President of CANAMA Farmers Association in Sta. Barbara, Iloilo; and  Nida Salazar, TLE Coordinator in Culasi National High School.

The training aims to establish the initiatives on the basis of innerconditioning or deepening of discipline and ethics of the members.From these participants, the ESSA council shall be selected.  As a result of the Strategic Planning Workshop, that the member of the ESSA should undergo an Inner Conditioning Workshop.  Considering the network objective: “To harness the synergistic effects of converging diverse stakeholders at multi-dimensional realities (earthly and spiritually) and disciplinary levels including the latest findings of the second and more spiritual scientific revolution – all towards advancing sustainable agriculture for societal good”, to strengthen the Inner condition of the members is necessary.  So it was agreed that to be an official member of the network, one must undergo this workshop.

As a result of this workshop, the new council officers were the following: Digna Ruth Daliva as Chairperson; Enrico Mora, Vice Chair; Christopher Enate, Venencio Garde, and Ariel Lastica as members of the new ESSA council officers.

The network agrees with the Asian SA definition consensus (circa 1991) that there are 7 dimensions to sustainable agriculture as follows: 1. ecologically sound and appropriate technologies; 2. economically viable (based on bayanihan or solidarity economics); 3. embodies good governance; 4. culturally sensitive (to IP and peasant farmer practices) and advances post-materialist sciences and relevant conventional science; 5. societally just and equitable achieved through societal threefolding or the principled collaboration between civil society, government and socially responsible businesses; 6. develops the full humanity potential; and 7 acknowledges the importance of the spiritual processes in nature, humans and society. The  inner conditioning workshop of ESSA is an initiative that advances the 6th dimension of sustainable agriculture.