TRACE PhD Researcher Altan I. Ismael recently presented his project at the inaugural Filipino Scholars in the Netherlands forum.

This event was hosted by The Filipino Scholars in the Netherlands (FiSch NL) network, in collaboration with the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS), Leiden University, and the Embassy of the Philippines in The Hague, and co-supported by LeidenGlobal and the Rijksmuseum van Oudeden.

The event brought together Filipino scholars, researchers, institutional actors, and knowledge partners to highlight the global reach of Philippine Studies and explore pathways for transregional and transdisciplinary collaboration. Across two panel sessions, speakers shared their insights on international knowledge production and academic ties between the Philippines, the Netherlands, and beyond.

In the first session, Altan I. Ismael presented his research on grassroots climate governance and Sama-Bajau sea nomads. Utilizing an autoethnographic approach rooted in his experiences as part of the Sama-Bajau community in Tawi-Tawi, he raised critical questions surrounding environmental knowledge shifts, summarized through the perspective: “When the sea changes, knowledge changes.”

Read more about the event on the Leiden University.