Toward THE 4th RASSEA BIENNIAL MEETING
This year’s Rural Advisory Services for Southeast Asia (RASSEA) Forum and Fourth Biennial Meeting, happening on September 26, 2025 via Zoom Meeting, centers around the compelling theme: “Rural Advisory Services and Lifelong Learning for Agricultural Innovations in the Digital Era.” The event seeks to explore how digital technologies and data analytics are reshaping the agricultural landscape—bringing opportunities for efficiency and innovation, while also raising critical questions about equity and access. As digitalization offers timely, accurate data that empowers decision-making, concerns are growing about how these advancements may unintentionally leave small and medium-sized farmers behind, especially those in remote rural communities. As we move forward in this exciting yet uncertain digital age, we invite experts, country members, and stakeholder representatives to share their real-world experiences and insights on leveraging digital tools while ensuring inclusivity and sustainability in rural advisory services.
As we know, Rural Advisory Services for Southeast Asia (RASSEA) is a forum designed to enable multiple stakeholders in extension education and rural advisory services (RAS) to collaborate and improve the quality of RAS in pursuit of sustainable agri-food systems. It acts as a subregional network of Asia Pacific Islands Rural Advisory Services (APIRAS) and is a member of the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS). RASSEA has a strategic plan for 2021-2030 that serves as a platform for developing activities both internally and fostering synergy and collaboration with various stakeholders. RASSEA has implemented programs that facilitate the exchange of knowledge and experiences among country forums (CFs).
Currently, there are three CFs in RASSEA: the Philippines Extension and Advisory Services (PhilEASNet) forum, the Indonesia Forum for Rural Advisory Services (IFRAS), and the Malaysia Forum for Rural Advisory Services (MAFRAS) Network. According to the latest update, Timor Leste is interested in establishing a country forum, and this initiative is still under discussion among colleagues in Timor Leste. Since its establishment, RASSEA has organized three biennial meetings, in 2019 (co-organized with Faculty of Human Ecology (FEMA) IPB University), in 2021 (co-organized with Indonesia Forum for Rural Advisory Services (IFRAS) & Indonesia Association for Development Extension (PAPPI)), and in 2023 (co-organized with Malaysia Forum for Rural Advisory Services (MAFRAS)). In the fourth RASSEA Biennial Meeting, The PhilEASNet and RASSEA have been in close co-operation to organize the event. We met together with representative of CFs to prepare the biennial meeting.
The objective of the fourth Biennial RASSEA Meeting is to share members’ experiences and develop recommendations for enhancing extension and advisory services (EAS). We will manage the event in two sessions. The first session will be the internal business for the CFs and RASSEA, and the second will be opened for public where we invite speakers to inspire transformative changes and innovations towards the future. Let’s stay in touch for the next update regarding the event.
