The 12th edition of the Annual Conference on Architectural Research and Education (ACARE 12) was held last February 7-8, 2013 at the College of Arts and Letters Amphitheater of the host university, Bicol University, in Legazpi City, Albay. The 2-day conference was attended by deans, heads, faculty and students from various architecture schools and universities in the country.

There were 5 conference session topics, namely: Urban Design, Heritage, Disaster-Resilient Design, Energy, and Landscape Architecture. ARCHCARE Chairman Prof. Christopher Espina, UPCA Dean Mary Ann Espina, UPCA faculty members Dr. Grace Ramos and Dr. Luis Ma. Bo-ot, together with Dean Lorelei De Viana of FEU-CAFA and Prof. Rino Domingo Fernandez of UST College of Architecture, served as panel evaluators.

Tropical Landscape Architecture graduate student Paulo Tuazon presented, in behalf of his members, their paper “Environment Sustainability Assessment System for Local Communities"  for the Urban Design session. UPCA Professor Emmanuel Litonjua presented his paper entitled, "The Design and Planning of the New UP Integrated School Grades 7-12 Complex”  for the Disaster-Resilient Design session, while Professor Cathe Desiree Nadal presented her paper, “Tracing the Urban Cultural Landscape Structures of Manila Sacred Spaces: A Case Study of Malate Church Grounds”  for the Landscape Architecture Session.