YLDA Program Officer Concludes Strategic Planning Course in Germany
2007-09-03

YLDA Program Officer Pey CAnlas with IAF participants Aminta Chavez Nuila of Honduras, Songphon Potisophon of Thailand and Yankoba Seydi of Senegal at Hamburg Germany.

"In addressing the complex web of problems and issues posed by the ever-changing environment they are in, organizations, whether big or small, local or international, public or private have adopted strategic planning as the primary component in ensuring their success;" so declared by Young Liberals and Democrats of Asia (YLDA) Program Officer Felipe C. Canlas III (Pey) in his report evaluating the gains from his three-month Strategic Planning course organized by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF).

After completing the online-phase from April to June 2007, the YLDA Program Officer returns from a month-long stay in Europe as a result of being one of the twenty-four successful students chosen by the FNF Headquarters to participate in the face-to-face phase of the Strategic Planning course from July 8 to July 22 at Theodore Heuss Akademie in Gummersbach, Germany.

Together with three other Filipinos, the YLDA Program Officer met with the other twenty participants representing fifteen countries in Europe, Asia, Latin and North America, and Africa for two weeks in Germany to complement and enhance the analytical knowledge gained from the six-week intensive on-line phase with practical and hands-on activities like group works, site visits, and role-playing. The module for the two-week seminar calls for the delegates to master by practice the steps and methods on how to do Strategic Planning with the use of specific planning instruments and guideposts such as SWOT Analysis, PEST, Road Mapping, Environmental Scan, and Comparative Strategy Evaluation.

IAF Participants at the Plenary

The trip also brought the participants to Cologne and Hamburg, Germany where they had the opportunity to hear experts from the German Command and General Staff College, Hamburg Planning Office, and advertising firm Springer and Jacoby talk about Strategic Planning in their respective field and industry.

"These visits to institutions with actual experience on Strategic Planning," says fellow Filipino delegate Dante Perez "have led us to challenge traditional notions of planning by looking at issues with new perspectives and with fresh insights culled from the experiences of these institutions that have implemented strategies over the years."

After the seminar in Germany, Pey stayed for two more weeks in Europe visiting historical sights in Belgium, Luxembourg, France, and Italy as he tried to compare the political development paths of these countries with that of the Philippines. In evaluating his month-long voyage in Europe, Pey declares with a sense of avowed learning, "just like every country in the world, every man who wishes to succeed must know that plan needs to be explored, studied, and analyzed. The world is a big place and every plan while serving its purpose as a map for success is also in itself, a challenge waiting to be hurdled, a dream waiting to be fulfilled. "

Group Picture of 2007 IAF Strategic Planning Seminar.

Pey then closes that, "just as it is said that the world always make room for those whose actions show they know where they are going; one must always plan and strategize so as not to be lost in the puzzles and labyrinth of choices and alternatives presented to us everyday by a world getting smaller yet definitely getting more complicated as well."

Garda Bangsa Garda Bangsa was formed in 1998 following the successful political reform spearheaded by students and other campus activists to depose the tyrannical regime of President Suharto. The organization was founded by Abdurram Wahid, a former adviser of President Suharto who resigned following an escalation in government corruption and political management by the administration. He championed "Responsible Openness" within the government system and proposed the establishment of a Reform Committee in order to mitigate poor governance within the administration. His calls were left unheeded and so he eventually withdrew support for the government and joined the efforts advocating for reform in the government. Read more...