Locationsby Ar. Donna Rillera–Tabangin, Baguio City Planning, Development, and Sustainability Officer; and Marjorie Balay-as and Earl Paulo Diaz, UNDP Philippines
Re-embracing Indigenous Values with Baguio City’s Transition Towards Circularity
June 5, 2025
Baguio’s busy mountainscape against the city sunset
Baguio City Planning, Development, and Sustainability Office (CPDSO)
Before Baguio City became the Summer Capital of the Philippines, it was Kafagway: a mountain clearing nurtured by the Indigenous Ibaloi community as communal pastureland. Kafagway’s cultural value was inscribed not just in its value for consumption but as a living system that needs to be stewarded. Communal grazing, agroforestry, and community rituals ensured a harmonious balance between people and nature. The interaction of conservation and development continues to shape the city’s core initiative: the shift to a circular economy.
Today, Baguio is home to a vibrant multicultural population — a city shaped not only by heritage but also by decades of cultural diversity through migration, education, trade, and art. It is home to more than 380,000 residents. In 2024, the city welcomed over 1.3 million tourists, a source of both economic opportunity and ecological strain.
Like many cities in the Philippines, Baguio has long been grappling with the challenge of managing solid waste. As of 2023, daily waste generation exceeded 593 tons, with volumes projected to rise. Yet, analysis reveals a crucial opportunity: over 65% of this waste is either biodegradable or recyclable. Seeing this opportunity, the City Government of Baguio recognized that building a better future means addressing these challenges while drawing from the wisdom of the land’s stewards and inviting everyone, Indigenous or not, to be part of this shared responsibility.
Pansa-nopen tayo, re-embracing the cultural values: “Let us gather, conserve, and renew.”
“Haya ‘circular economy’ ya nginaranan sha niman ket siged da pandag-a ni too nuntan da inggato niman, naisaksakey ni shaka panbiag shiya Des-ok Balatan ja Happy Hallow niman. Emin ira iya shontog, bu’day, shanom, keyew tan shagem ket ebanol tan sagrado, ya sigato e gabol ya entafi ra e bu’day ja kawad an sha. Hajay e mangipa un-an ni ka pesing shan mangi-kajo ni kawad-an inges to e pandag-i ni pan aa’sek.”
— Vicky Mackay, Ibaloi Elder
“Circular economy has long been practiced by the Indigenous Ibaloi people, though it wasn’t called that way in the past. Nature is sacred to us, and respect for nature translates to environmentally responsible and sustainable practices. This is reflected in our natural resource management practices, such as crop rotation in traditional farming practices.”
— English translation by Aladina Diano, Ibaloi Teacher
Ibaloi Elder Vicky Mackay from Barangay Happy Hallow together with Ibaloi Councilors Atty. Jose Molintas and Engr. Isabelo Cosalan
Office of Councilor Molintas
On 31 January 2025, Baguio City officially launched the Pansa-nopen Tayo, a comprehensive label for the city’s circular economy portfolio, emphasizing its fervent commitment to a transition rooted in Baguio's cultural heritage. Pansa-nopen Tayo’s philosophy comes to life in Barangay Happy Hallow, an Indigenous Ibaloi-majority community. During seasons of surplus, crops like Arabica coffee, taro, and legumes were often left unsold and discarded by the residents. Rather than approaching this challenge as inevitable, the community worked with city planners through a participatory design thinking process to ideate a solution, like a food upcycling facility that affirms that Indigenous lifeways are not only compatible with the circular economy but essential to it. For many Baguio residents, the work of Happy Hallow offers an invitation: to understand and uphold the value systems that have long sustained these lands. In doing so, the city nurtures not only ecological stewardship but also a deeper sense of shared belonging.
“Pansa-Nopen Tayo: Let’s Gather, Conserve, and Renew” conveys a call to action for communities to come together, embrace circular practices, and ensure a sustainable future for both people and nature. It encapsulates Baguio City's commitment to sustainability, cultural heritage, and a regenerative economy.
At its core, Pansa-nopen Tayo is guided by three interlinked circular economy portfolios that embody the city’s commitment to inclusion, regeneration, and cultural relevance.
The first portfolio, Bida Barangay for Circularity, focuses on empowering communities to co-design and manage their own Materials Recovery Systems, with strong involvement from the informal sector, women, Indigenous Peoples, and other marginalized groups. The second component, Circular Tourism, encourages establishments and artisans to adopt waste-reduction operations and elevate upcycled products. The third, Green Education, integrates circular economy principles and Indigenous knowledge into the city’s school curricula and public awareness efforts.
From Happy Hallow’s food upcycling to the city’s education reforms, Baguio demonstrates that Indigenous systems are not relics of the past, but are blueprints for the future. They offer a path forward for other cities seeking to build circular, equitable systems of their own.
Opening ceremony of the Pansa-nopen Tayo Launch in Baguio in January 2025
UNDP Philippines
For long-time residents and new settlers alike, Pansa-nopen Tayo offers a unifying frame — one that calls on everyone to conserve what we share and re-embrace their cultural roots. It is a reminder that circularity, at its core, is not just a method of managing waste. It is a way of living with care, reciprocity, and rootedness.
Encouragingly, recent efforts to reuse and reduce waste have led to a significant breakthrough: Baguio’s daily trash output dropped for the year, thanks to coordinated waste diversion measures, community awareness campaigns, and improved solid waste systems.
Enabling the Transition through the Green LGUs Project
Baguio’s directional shift towards circularity was supported by the Green Local Government Units (LGUs) Project, jointly led by the Department of the Interior and Local Government and UNDP Philippines under the European Union-funded Green Economy Partnership with the Philippines, spearheaded by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). This partnership has been instrumental in enabling the local actors to translate policies into action.
The project aims to support 60 LGUs in the Philippines to accelerate their transition to inclusive, climate-smart circular economies. These efforts are part of UNDP’s broader portfolio approach to supporting local governments. Rather than focusing on isolated interventions, the Green LGUs Project weaves together multiple, interconnected multi-stakeholder initiatives — from avoiding and diverting waste to creating sustainable livelihoods — under one strategy for circular economy transition. This approach has enabled cities like Caloocan, Del Carmen, Davao, Iloilo, Ormoc, Pasig, Puerto Princesa, Samal, and Quezon to work towards connecting their climate, social, and economic ambitions in practical and locally meaningful ways.
"Pansa-nopen Tayo (promoting a circular economy) is more than just an environmental initiative —it is a major and conscious shift in the way we manage our resources, minimize waste, and promote economic opportunities that are both innovative and responsible,” said Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong during the inception workshop. “This is not just policy. It’s a cultural movement.”
As Baguio continues its journey, it cultivates a future that is circular, collective, and culturally rooted — where sustainability and solidarity go hand in hand. The broader aim is for this strong leadership in circular transition to be shared among connecting cities and municipalities.
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About the EU Green Economy Partnership with the Philippines (EU-GEPP):
Funded by a €60 million (₱3.67 billion) grant from the European Union, the EU-GEPP will run from 2023–2028 with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) as lead implementing agency, in collaboration with the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Energy, and the Department of the Interior and Local Government. The programme supports circular economy, renewable energy, waste reduction, and climate resilience. Co-funded by Germany’s development agency GIZ, it is implemented by UNDP Philippines, Expertise France with the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), and the International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group). EU-GEPP is part of the European Union’s Global Gateway initiative, which fosters green transition and sustainable investments through trusted, inclusive partnerships.
About the Green LGUs Project:
The Green LGUs Project is a key component of the EU–Philippines Green Economy Programme that supports cities and municipalities in advancing inclusive, locally led circular economy (CE) transitions. Co-led by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and implemented by UNDP Philippines, the project empowers local actors to co-create circular solutions that reduce waste, regenerate ecosystems, and improve everyday systems through sustainable, community-rooted practices. It works to strengthen capacities, develop enabling policies, and unlock support across sectors—including local governments, civil society, the private sector, and marginalized groups—ensuring that circularity becomes not only practical, but part of the norm.
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