EVENT (RESOURCES): International Migrants Day, Bangkok, Thailand [15th December 2023]

On 15 December 2023, CSDS and MAIDS-GRID joined the International Migrants Day. The presentation title was “Climate change, agrarian change and conflict: A scoping study on recent migration between Myanmar and Thailand”.

Further details on the program of the launch can be found here.

A recording of the full program can be viewed here.

EVENT [RESOURCES] : Report on the UN climate change conference and the impact of climate change on migration in Southeast Asia [Online 25 November, 2021]

Carl Middleton from CSDS was one of the speakers for the online webinar organized by Metropolis Asia-Pacific titled “Report on the UN Climate Change Conference and the Impact of Climate Change on Migration in South East Asia”.

The full panelist for the event are:

Opening remarks: Imelda M. Nicolas, Former Cabinet Secretary, Commission on Filipinos Overseas, Co- convener, Metropolis- Asia

Moderator:                                                                                                                            Tasneen Sidiqui, University of Dhaka, Banglades

Closing Remarks:                                                Binod Khadria, Former Professor, Jwaharlal Nehru Univ, Indida, Co- convener, Metropolis- Aisa

Speakers:                                                                                                                          Ouvais Samad, Deputy Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), Bonn, Germany                                               Kristin Marie Dadey, Chief of Mission, International Organization for Migration (IOM), Manila, Philippines                                                         Carl Middleton, Director, Center for Social Development Studies (CSDS), Chulalaongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

A recording of the event can be found here

PUBLIC SEMINAR: "Water Scarcity and Disaster Recovery in Hakha Town, Chin State, Myanmar: Technical Problem or Governance Challenge?"

In recent years, the population of Hakha town, Chin State has faced growing water insecurity. This has created great hardships for the local population, especially in the dry season. For those who cannot access water from private springs, or afford to buy water, they must queue sometimes for hours to collect relatively small amounts of water. Compounding the difficulties faced by Hakha’s population, in June 2015, Hakha town suffered a major landslide. As a result, over 4000 people living in at-risk places were moved, many permanently to a new settlement. In the settlement, the government has provided land or houses, yet basic services including water and schools were lagging behind.

Two presentations reflected on the production of water insecurity, and increasing resilience to landslide risks:

  • “Water insecurity in Hakha Town, Chin State, Myanmar” by Asst. Prof. Dr. Carl Middleton (Director of CSDS) and Orapan Pratomlek (CSDS project coordinator) [Download PPT]
  • “Lessons learned from landslide disaster recovery in Hakha town, and how to strengthen resilience” by Hlawn Tin Cuai (Master Student of Architecture (IMARCH), Faculty of Architecture, Chulalongkorn University; and ex- Operation Manager of Hakha Rescue Committee, September 2015 to February 2016) [Download PPT]

Discussant comments were offered by Pastor Lai Cung (Hakhathar Baptist Church) and Van Bawi Lian (CSDS researcher).

The seminar can be watched on Facebook live here.

More details on our research project on water insecurity in Hakha town can be found here.

EVENT: "KNOTS Project Launch"

09:00 - 12:00

Alumni Association Conference Room, 12th floor, Building 3,

Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

Organized by MAIDS Program and CSDS

Background

The KNOTS project will focus on contemporary development challenges in Southeast Asia, where transdisciplinary research methods could offer novel insights and innovative solutions. The particular focus is on: environmental degradation; migration; and social inequality.

The KNOTS project will prepare curriculum and teaching/ learning materials on transdisciplinary methods to be integrated into each universities’ teaching programs. Three summer schools and fieldtrips will be organized in Vietnam and Thailand over the duration of the project to pilot and refine these materials. There will also be a Stakeholders Workshop in June 2017 and a final conference in 2019, to be hosted at Chulalongkorn University.

The three-year project was initiated in October 2016, and is a collaboration between seven universities in Europe, Thailand and Vietnam: the University of Vienna, Austria, which is also the project coordinator; Charles University, Czechia; University of Bonn, Germany; Chulalongkorn University and Chiang Mai University, Thailand; and Ho Chi Minh City Open University, Southern Institute of Social Sciences, and Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, Vietnam.

The project is funded by the European Commission’s ERASMUS+ programme. At Chulalongkorn University, the MA in International Development Studies program is the project partner, alongside a network of academics and practitioners interested in teaching and practicing transdisciplinary research approaches.

Event objectives

This event will launch the KNOTS project at Chulalongkorn University. The objectives of the event are:

  • To formally launch the KNOTS project at Chulalongkorn University
  • To introduce the Chulalongkorn University team to the KNOTS project partners, and share about each team member’s institute/ department programs