By: Delaila Irma T. Calindas, Project Technical Staff II

CHED-UniFAST CAR capped off its 2025 SEEDLING Project Series with a dynamic and interactive session on Design Thinking held on December 12, 2025, via Zoom and Facebook Live, bringing together 229 student-grantees for an enriching online learning experience.

The session featured Ms. Avereen Tibalao, Network and Linkages Officer of the University of the Philippines Baguio – Social Innovation Laboratory and Business Inclusion (UPB SILBI), as the resource person. She led an engaging and interactive discussion on Design Thinking, highlighting its relevance in addressing real-world challenges through a human-centered and innovative approach.

During the session, Ms. Tibalao explained the design thinking process by categorizing its steps into three core components: Puso (Empathy), Utak (Ideation and Definition), and Gawa (Prototype, Testing, and Implementation). This framework enabled participants to better appreciate how empathy, critical thinking, and decisive action work together in developing practical and impactful solutions.

The activity concluded with an interactive discussion and knowledge-sharing among participants, marking a meaningful and reflective conclusion to this year’s SEEDLING Project Series.

The SEEDLING Project—Skills Enhancement, Engagement, and Development: A Learning Intervention to Nurture Grantees—is CHED-UniFAST CAR’s flagship initiative that provides free learning and development opportunities to student-grantees under the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act (UAQTEA), reinforcing the agency’s commitment to empowering learners beyond financial assistance.