The 2025 Nexus Summit Book of Abstracts: Futures Thinking in Actions: Integrating Science, Culture, and Innovation for Sustainable Development
Abstract
The 2025 Nexus Summit is a culminating moment—born from years of sustained engagement that
Cagayan State University has nurtured with its Foreign Higher Education Institution partners. Through virtual convocations, joint lectures, collaborative research, and cultural exchange programs, we have patiently built bridges rooted in trust, shared learning, and common purpose. This face-to-face gathering is a natural evolution of those efforts, offering us the opportunity to deepen long-standing relationships, strengthen our academic alliances and celebrate the meaningful journey that has united us in this
Summit.
More than a traditional conference, the Nexus Summit is a vibrant convergence of science, culture and community—an embodiment of CSU’s calling to bring internationalization to the countryside. Here in the heart of Cagayan, we welcome the world into our local spaces, inviting scholars and partners to experience firsthand the warmth, resilience, creativity and identity of the Cagayano spirit. This Summit becomes a meeting place where global perspectives engage with local wisdom, where cultural heritage enriches scientific inquiry, and where innovation is shaped by both technology and the lived experiences
of our people.
At the center of this gathering is Cagayano culture itself—our openness to collaboration, our generosity of spirit and our deep pride in our traditions and innovations. By weaving our cultural identity into the Nexus Summit, we affirm that development is not merely technical or academic, but profoundly human. Through the showcasing of our heritage and homegrown ingenuity, we offer our international and local partners a meaningful encounter with the communities that ground CSU’s instruction, research, extension and production work.
Anchored on this year’s theme, “Futures Thinking in Action: Integrating Science, Culture and Innovation for Sustainable Development,”, this gathering brings together scholars, educators, scientists, researchers and practitioners from Life Sciences, Applied Sciences, Teacher Education, Human Kinetics and Futures Thinking to explore pathways toward resilience, sustainability and inclusive progress. In alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals, the Summit underscores the transformative power of interdisciplinary collaboration in addressing challenges that affect both local communities and the global landscape.
This year’s Summit features a dynamic collection of scholarly contributions— six (6) plenary sessions and sixty-two (62) research papers across four thematic areas. I invite you to embrace the spirit of convergence, collaboration, and cultural appreciation that defines the Nexus Summit. May the ideas, conversations, and connections formed here ignite new partnerships, deepen existing networks and inspire innovations that honor both our global responsibilities and our cultural roots as Cagayanos.