Prof. Dator-Bercilla worked on biodiversity conservation with the Southeast Asia Regional Initiatives on Community Empowerment and on governance concerns surrounding environmental resource use and conflict issues as a peace and development advocate, as a program officer and subsequently an advocacy officer of an international development NGO, Christian Aid, as a faculty of the Ateneo School of Government, and now as a faculty member of the University of the Philippines in the Visayas.
She works as an enabler of practitioners towards active participation in local, national, regional, and global governance, in development work and policy advocacy, particularly on mainstreaming co-beneficial climate action supportive of sustainable development in local and national development plans and regional and global frameworks for resilience to avert losses and damages. Specific technical support was given in the crafting of Philippine policies on Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change (e.g. RA 9729, RA 10121, National Disaster Preparedness Plan, Listo Manuals, Nationally Determine Contributions, review of National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plan) and local development and derivative plans. At the same time, technical support have been provided in the implementation of the National Resilience Scorecard, climate and disaster risk assessment (CDRA), DRR CCA options, and deepening systems thinking in the local and national governance processes.
Prof. Dator-Bercilla trained and worked on inter-disciplinary approaches on Island Sustainability Livelihood Equity work between IDRC-Dalhousie University, University of the Philippines in the Visayas, University of West Indies, and Hassanudin University. Worked towards applied transdisciplinary approaches in the learning circles of Christian Aid’s community-based partners and in the Coastal Cities at Risk Work with Manila Observatory, Ateneo de Manila University in partnership with IDRC and the National Resilience Council. Work with various stakeholders range from pre and post disaster risk prevention, preparedness, recovery, rehabilitation work, climate smart disaster risk-management approaches, and evidence-based risk communication in pursuit of climate action and resilience at various layers of governance — including during the period of the pandemic.
