UPCOMING EVENT: The Future of Sustainability: The Bio-Cultural Diversity Imperative [22 March 2024]

Indigenous-led Research Advancing Solutions to Climate Change

22-23 March 2024

We are living in a time that many academics and scientists refer to as the Anthropocene. As a controversial buzzword, the term Anthropocene implies unfolding anthropogenic impacts on the planet at an unprecedented rate and scale causing the accelerated global warming, unstable climate, changes to ecosystems and biodiversity, and extinction of species. Across the world, extreme weather event is becoming the new normal. Fuelled by human activity and carbon pollution, climate change is contributing to extreme weather events.

Indigenous communities across the world are disproportionally affected by the direct consequences of climate change. They inhabit ecologically sensitive areas that are becoming increasingly vulnerable to climate impacts. Their vulnerability is compounded by their dependence upon, and close relationship with the environment and its resources. Climate change exacerbates the difficulties and challenges already faced by indigenous communities, including political and economic marginalisation, loss of land and resources, human rights violations, discrimination and unemployment.

In the past, indigenous communities were often viewed as victims of the effects of climate change. However, indigenous communities are inextricably linked with their lands and possess a unique collective knowledge of their environments. With their traditional knowledge, indigenous communities have a key role to play in combating climate change, cutting across both climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. Therefore, indigenous peoples must be viewed as powerful change agents in contributing to effective climate action and sustainable development.

Indigenous communities represent a wealth of traditional practices, adaptive strategies, and a profound understanding of their ecosystems. Thus, placing indigenous knowledge at the centre of climate policy making is a strategic imperative. On one hand, it is a matter of urgency to increase the understanding and addressing the unique climate challenges faced by indigenous communities. On the other hand, enhancing the role played by indigenous groups in driving climate policy and action is equally critical. Indigenous led research and knowledge co-production provide opportunities for social learning and intersectional approaches to improve policies and plans.

To tackle complex development and climate challenges, there is a pressing need to improve understanding and share knowledge on science policies and best practices to address social inequality, poverty, and vulnerabilities, assess and identify technology needs and facilitating technology transfer for adaptation and mitigation, and integrate climate change into national and sectoral policies and development plans.

New forms of knowledge production are necessary to respond to the complexity of social, environmental, and economic concerns for sustainable development. Knowledges that are context-driven and problem-focused require the engagement of diverse social groups and multiple disciplines. Ecological, social and economic challenges have led to a growing recognition that transformative approaches are required that will require new ways of knowing, valuing and acting in the world.  In this context, the knowledge, values and actions of indigenous peoples and others who aspire through local practices for sustainability and social and ecological justice have a key role to play in this transformation.

Crucial to transformation is a clear vision for the future to be attained, yet grassroots-up deliberations on the future is less common. While the future is yet to exist, visions and expectations towards the future are conditioned by the past and impact on the possibilities of the present. The ‘Summit of the Future’ will take place at the United Nations in New York City on September 22-23, 2024.  It aspires to deliver a ‘Pact for the Future’ outcome document, intended to guide “a world – and an international system – that is better prepared to manage the challenges we face now and in the future, for the sake of all humanity and for future generations.”

International workshop on Indigenous led research advancing solutions to climate change

The 22-23 March 2024 event, co-hosted by the University of Michigan and Chulalongkorn University, will bring together multi-disciplinary scholars and special guests from Bangladesh, China, Nepal, the Philippines, USA and Thailand to share and discuss bio-cultural diversity, ecological crisis, environmental justice, and sustainability futures. With an aim to strengthen the science-policy interface in driving the role of indigenous communities in climate change, the event will enhance academic networks and serve as a co-learning platform for indigenous led research.

On the 22nd of March 2024, discussion panels on ‘No Sustainable Development without Environmental Justice: The Indigenous People and Local Communities Platform’ and ‘Indigenous-led Research and Policy Engagement for Human and Planetary Futures’ will be held at the Social Innovation Hub from 8.30am to 12pm.

On the 23rd of March 2024, a workshop will undertake a ‘Futures Lab’ process to collectively explore alternative futures, and to connect the local to the global and the international systems that structure it. Participants include experienced and academics and civic society leaders working at the global, regional and local level, as well as graduate students. The workshop will suggest actions that may inform an agenda towards the ‘Summit of the Future.’

Here is the agenda;

UPCOMING EVENT: Towards a Green and Just Recovery in Southeast Asia [28 November 2022]

Towards a green and just recovery in Southeast Asia: Climate futures, sustainable transformations, and the role of China

28 November 2022, (broadcast on CSDS Facebook page; participate via Zoom with registration) and in-person at Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand 

Co-organized by Center for Social Development Studies (CSDS), Chulalongkorn University; Chulalongkorn University UNESCO Chair in Resource Governance and Futures Literacy; and China Dialogue Trust.

Please download the final agenda with speakers here.

Please register to join the event here.

In-person event: Alumni meeting room, 12th Floor, Faculty of Political Science Building 1 (Kasem Utthayanin Building), Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

Mainland southeast Asia faces a ‘polycrisis’, as climate change, conflict and Covid intersect with rising economic and geopolitical headwinds. Meanwhile, an environmentally unsustainable model of development has degraded ecosystems and biodiversity. The unequal social consequences of these crisis mirror broader socio-economic and political inequalities in the region.

In response, calls for a ‘green and just recovery’ policy agenda have grown, although its formulation is not clear or agreed upon. For example, how does it intersect with agendas at UN-led processes such as the COP27 climate talks, or the ‘UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights’? Or with China’s vision for a ‘green Belt and Road’? How does it reflect civil society-led agendas, such ‘the commons’ and ‘Rights of Nature’? These questions are important as competing calls for a ‘sustainable transformation’ also imply future visions of society, international relations, and nature-society relations.

In this public seminar, we bring together journalists, scholars and civil society to ask what a ‘green and just recovery could look like in the region and how it can be achieved. As COP27 closes in Sharm el-Sheikh, we take climate change, rivers, and energy as entry points to explore the wider socio-political opportunities and challenges towards achieving ‘sustainable transformations’.

For enquiries, please contact Dr. Carl Middleton.

UPCOMING EVENT: “Land into Capital” book launch and discussion [6 December 2022]

Book launch and discussion on “Turning Land into Capital: Development and Dispossession in the Mekong Region”

6 December 2022, Chulalongkorn University Social Innovation Hub, Bangkok, and via Facebook Live 

Hosted by the Center for Social Development Studies (CSDS), Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

The issue of land falling into the hands of those with economic might has never been more topical than at present, reflected in the current debate over foreign land ownership in Thailand. Expanding the issue to the wider regional context, Turning Land into Capital: Development and Dispossession in the Mekong Region addresses ways in which reversals of earlier agrarian reforms have rolled back "land-to-the-tiller" policies created in the wake of Cold War–era revolutions. This trend, marked by increased land concentration and the promotion of export-oriented agribusiness at the expense of smallholder farmers, exposes the convergence of capitalist relations and state agendas that expand territorial control within and across national borders. The book examines the contradictions produced by superimposing twenty-first-century neoliberal projects onto diverse landscapes etched by decades of war and state socialism.

Chapters in the book explore geopolitics, legacies of colonialism, ideologies of development, and strategies to achieve land justice in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. The resulting picture reveals the place-specific interactions of state and market ideologies, regional geopolitics, and local elites in concentrating control over land.

A commentary will first be provided by Emeritus Professor Pasuk Phongpaichit, followed by responses and reflections from the editors/ authors of the book, and then open floor discussion.

Commentator:

  • Dr. Pasuk Phongpaichit is an Emeritus Professor in Political Economy with the Faculty of Economics, Chulalongkorn University, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Thailand, and co-laureate of the Fukuoka Grand Prize, 2017. Professor Pasuk’s publications include: Unequal Thailand (2016); We the People Revolutionize Tax for Equality (2020) and Land Governance in Thailand (forthcoming in 2023).

Moderator:

  • Dr. Naruemon Thabchumpon is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, and Director of the Asian Research Center for Migration

Book editors/ chapter authors

  • Dr. Philip Hirsch is an Emeritus Professor in human geography at the University of Sydney and coauthor of Powers of Exclusion: Land Dilemmas in Southeast Asia

  • Dr. Kevin Woods is a Fellow at the East-West Center in Honolulu. 

  • Natalia Scurrah is an independent researcher based in Thailand and coauthor of The Mekong: A Sociolegal Approach to River Basin Development

Chapter author

  • Dr. Carl Middleton is Director of the Center for Social Development Studies and Deputy Director on the MA and PhD graduate program in International Development Studies in the Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University.

Venue: First floor, Visid Prachuabmoh Building, Chulalongkorn University

Further details on the book are on the publishers website here.

For enquiries, please contact Dr. Carl Middleton.

Please register to join the event here.

UPCOMING EVENT: Towards a green and just recovery in Southeast Asia [28 November 2022]

Towards a green and just recovery in Southeast Asia: Climate futures, sustainable transformations, and the role of China

28 November 2022, Online and in-person at Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand 

Co-organized by China Dialogue Trust and Center for Social Development Studies, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

[SAVE THE DATE]: Please join us and China Dialogue to discuss on climate futures, sustainable transformations, and the role of China in Southeast Asia.

The seminar will address the following themes:

  • After #COP27, what next for Southeast Asia?

  • What might a green and just recovery look like, & who gets to define that vision?

  • What do sustainable transformations mean for water, energy, & climate?

  • What role has China played to date? What might come next?

Further details will be announced shortly.

For enquiries, please contact Dr. Carl Middleton.

UPCOMING EVENT: Commoning water(s): Resources, Services and Ecological Justice in Asia [26 October 2022]

Commoning water(s): Resources, Services and Ecological Justice in Asia

26 October 2022 from 6.30 to 8pm, Alliance Française Media Library, 179 Thanon Witthayu, Lumphini, Pathum Wan 

Co-organizers: Center for Social Development Studies (CSDS), Chulalongkorn University; Chulalongkorn University UNESCO Chair in Resource Governance and Futures Literacy; SustainAsia; Research Institute on Contemporary Southeast Asia (IRASEC); Institute of Political Sciences (Sciences Po) Toulouse; and Heinrich Böll Foundation

Free admission with registration.

Inclusive and just water security is widely recognized as principal challenge in the era of the Anthropocene. Water insecurity affects the livelihoods of both rural and urban populations in Southeast Asia, and the wider the Global South.

This public event brings together academics and practitioners working on the frontiers of addressing the complex challenges and tensions surrounding water security and ecological justice. The roundtable panelists will explore how commoning approaches are emerging in Asian contexts to address these issues, which are being further exacerbated by climate change and increased urbanization. Panelists will explore the role of citizens, governments, and other actors in shaping the commons, the approaches that they have been working with both to secure water for basic human needs in the short term and to manage long-term ecological impact.

Our panelists include:

  • Dr. Apisom Intralawan, Institute for the Study of Natural Resource Management and Environmental Management, Mae Fah Luang University

  • Prof. Dr. Catherine Baron, Sciences Po Toulouse

  • Karen Delfau, PhD candidate at Sciences Po Toulouse

  • Dr. Anindrya Nastiti, Institut Teknologi Bandung

  • Phong Huynh, Deputy Project Manager, GRET (Laos)

The panel will be moderated by Gabriel Facal, IRASEC Deputy Director.

Panelists will explore dilemmas related to groundwater sustainability and increasing human basic needs requirements; commoning ponds to support human and ecological needs in Laos; urban commoning in the Global South; gender considerations for commons and commoning; and wetlands and rivers as commons.

We welcome participants to support the development of an interdisciplinary dialogue to explore how these approaches can be applied to emerging water challenges across the region.

This public event is associated with the Deep Dive “Governing water(s) as a common: Innovative experiences of coproduction in Southeast Asia and Beyond” held on 26 and 27 October at Chulalongkorn University. Further details are here.

UPCOMING EVENT: Governing water(s) as a common [26 and 27 October 2022]

Governing water(s) as a common: Innovative experiences of coproduction in Southeast Asia and Beyond 

A deep dive exploring empirical and theoretical perspectives

26 – 27 October 2022, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand 

Co-organizers: Center for Social Development Studies (CSDS), Chulalongkorn University; Chulalongkorn University UNESCO Chair in Resource Governance and Futures Literacy; SustainAsia; Research Institute on Contemporary Southeast Asia (IRASEC);

Institute of Political Sciences (Sciences Po) Toulouse; and Heinrich Böll Foundation

Inclusive and just water security is widely recognized as a principal challenge in the era of the Anthropocene. This deep dive aims to share experience and analysis on innovative practices of knowledge-governance coproduction for water commoning in rural and urban contexts, as well as at the local, national and transnational scales, and - importantly - the interconnections between them. It intends to explore how water as a commons and processes of commoning enrich both political ecology theoretical frameworks and public policy in water(s) governance.  Particular attention will be paid to the role of civil society and social movements in the coproduction process based on their innovative water governance experiences. The implications of multiple ‘water worlds’ will also be explored, namely that water itself is always embedded in ecological socio-political and cultural contexts that produce diverse meanings and values of water between different societal groups who may then contest these values when translated into policy and practice. Two main deep dive themes will address the multiplicity of commons and commoning practices: 1) within the Mekong River basin; and 2) in relation to urban issues.

A limited number of remaining spaces are available to join the deep dive. Please contact Dr. Carl Middleton for further details. A full program can be downloaded here.

UPCOMING EVENT: Water politics and policy in Thailand and beyond [Hybrid, 22 July 2022]

Date and time: 13:30 – 15:00, Friday 22nd July 2022 [ICT]

Panel at the 7th International Conference on International Relations and Development (ICIRD), Chiang Mai, Thailand

 This panel will be hybrid

Panel description: In Thailand, contested access, use and control of water underpins many broader issues in visions, policies and plans for ‘development’. Tension has emerged between centralized management at the national level, the associated partial implimentation of state-led river basin organizations, and local level governance practices, as well as the role and authority of government and non-state actors such as community-based organizations, civil society and other stakeholders. Overall, accelerating processes of economic modernization have shifted Thailand’s ‘waterscape’ via the construction and operation of large-scale water infrastructures such as irrigation schemes and hydropower dams as human demand for water for agriculture, industry, hydroelectricity and domestic consumption has grown. This has also transformed pre-existing local water management practices and cultures.

This panel presents four papers on water policy and its politics in Thailand. We situate the panel within recent academic and civil society research in Thailand and globally that draws attention to how multiple worldviews underpin contrasting visions for rivers and related resources. The papers detail a range of key issues at stake in contemporary water governance in Thailand, emphasizing the social, economic, political, and cultural specificities associated with their case studies. This includes how competing demands for water have emerged in recent decades, the formal and informal decision-making processes that have occurred and its politics, the outcomes including in terms of those who have benefited most and those who have lost out, and approaches that could make water governance in Thailand more inclusive, sustainable, and just.

Further details on ICIRD7 can be found here, including for registration: https://icird7.soc.cmu.ac.th/?page_id=30

Papers on the panel are as follows:

“The Politics of Water Governance in Community Water Distribution/Management: Implications from Local Communities’ Practices in Surin and Chiang Rai Provinces, Thailand” by Yuppayao Tokeeree and Chuanpit Jarat (Program of Environmental Science, Faculty of Science and Technology, Surindra Rajabhat University), Suebsakun Kidnukornand (Area-based Social Innovation Research Center (Ab-SIRC), The School of Social Innovation, Mae Fah Luang University), and Jitraporn Somyanontanakul (College of Politics and Governance, Mahasarakham University).

“Human Rights in Accessing Water Resource for Livelihoods: A Case Study in the Eastern Area of Thailand” by Jakkaphun Nanuam (Burapha University) and Somnuck Jongmeewasin (EEC Watch)

“Unheard Voices in Thailand's Water Policy and Practices” by Malee Sitthikriengkrai (Center for Ethnic Studies and Development, Chiang Mai University)

“Dealing with the Unpredictable River and Ontological Differences of the Ing River” by Thianchai Surimas (Graduate Research in International Development (GRID), Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University)

Moderator: Carl Middleton, Center for Social Development Studies, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Moving beyond ‘sustainable hydropower’ in the Mekong basin [15-30 June 2022]

What role should large hydropower dams play in future electricity systems? At the UNFCCC COP 26 in November 2021, the International Hydropower Association (IHA) sought to further the industry's role – and access to climate financing – by advocating 'sustainable hydropower' as vital to achieving net zero emissions targets. Civil society groups, meanwhile, countered that hydropower should be excluded from UN climate finance mechanisms, citing the industry's human rights and environmental impacts.

This policy analysis contends that the claimed benefits of 'sustainable hydropower' are rarely seen in practice, especially in the global south where most new large dams have been built, and that this low-carbon argument glosses over the industry's associated ecological and social costs while better electricity alternatives exist. It argues that healthy rivers are a foundation of climate change resilience, and highlights new and existing principles towards this goal.

Please read the full policy analysis at “The Water Dissensus – A Water Alternatives Forum” and post your responses and analysis in the online forum that is open from 15-30 June.

The policy analysis is written by Dr. Carl Middleton, Director of the Center for Social Development Studies (CSDS) in the Faculty of Political Science of Chulalongkorn University, Thailand.

UPCOMING EVENT: Embracing Multiple Water Worlds: Policy and Practice of Water Governance in Thailand and Beyond [Online, 31 May 2022]

Date and time: 9:00 – 116:45, Tuesday 31st May 2022 [ICT]

Co-hosted by The Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development, Chiang Mai University (RCSD); Chulalongkorn University Social Research Institute (CUSRI); Center for Peace and Conflict Studies, Chulalongkorn University; Center for Social Development Studies, Chulalongkorn University (CSDS); College of Politics and Governance , Mahasarakham University; Faculty of Science and Social Sciences, Burapha University Sakaeo Campus

Simultaneous Thai-English translation will be available

This event will be hosted online via Zoom. Join here:

Historically until the present day, rivers are central features in rural and urban community culture and livelihoods in Thailand, including for agricultural practices, fishing and harvesting other aquatic and wetland resources, and transportation. In recent decades, rivers in Thailand have been transformed by accelerating processes of economic modernization, including by the construction and operation of large-scale water infrastructures such as irrigation schemes and hydropower dams as human demand for water for agriculture, industry, hydroelectricity and domestic consumption has grown.  Large-scale water infrastructure has progressively transformed river basins at the local to basin-wide scale, bringing benefits to some and harm to others. Transformations have also occurred in terms of how water is governed, with earlier community governance practices being replaced by more centralized management in river basin organizations and at the national level. 

The difficulty of reconciling healthy rivers and sustainable development is not unique to Thailand. Globally, the challenges for rivers are profound, which range from the declining biodiversity of increasingly modified river systems, to declining water quality due to polluting human activity, to the impacts of climate change. Recent academic and civil society research conducted in Thailand has drawn attention to how multiple worldviews underpin contrasting visions for rivers and their role in ‘development.’ This mirrors a comparable recognition in some other regions of the world where the diverse meanings and values of rivers have been viewed as important to governing water and creating policies towards achieving just and inclusive development. These approaches have ranged from revitalizing the commons, to critical reflections on the ‘nexus’ between water, food and energy, to recognizing the ‘rights of rivers.’

The purpose of this seminar is to share recent research on the water policy and practices and its impacts especially on community livelihoods and culture in Thailand, and to contextualize the findings by engaging in discussion with innovative approaches beyond Thailand.

Agenda

UPCOMING EVENT: Pathways to a Sustainable and Just Transformation of the Mekong Region’s Electricity Sector [Bangkok, 2 June 2022]

Date and time: 9:00 – 12:00, Thursday 2nd June 2022 [ICT]

Co-hosted by Center for Social Development Studies (CSDS), Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University and the Australia – Mekong Partnership for Environmental Resources and Energy Systems (AMPERES)

Please see the Facebook Live broadcasting here.

How electricity is generated, and how it is accessed, is of central importance to sustainable development in the Mekong Region, including in terms of environmental impacts, social wellbeing, and economic growth. As electricity demand continues to rise across the Mekong Region, the dominant approach to meeting this demand has been predominantly new supply generated by large-scale coal-fired and gas-fired power stations, or large hydropower dams. Yet, there are a growing number of reasons to suggest that the current technologies and practices of the electricity sector in the region could be on the cusp of transformation, that in general result in less risk of environmental and social harm, and are gaining momentum even as their full potential has not been realized.

Until recently, electricity planning was largely perceived to be the domain of technical experts, although some projects proposed would attract controversy, public protest and debate. Yet, given the complexity and range of environmental and societal issues, the provision of safe, reliable and affordable electricity is clearly more than a technical planning challenge – although it can certainly be this. Furthermore, there is now growing recognition that electricity policy planning – and the principles and processes by which it is conducted – is an important dimension of attaining sustainable development.

About the report

From mid-2021 to early-2022, CSDS and AMPERES collaborated with 24 researchers from academic institutions, think tanks and civil society organizations to prepare thirteen ‘thinkpieces’ that explore the opportunities and challenges to sustainable and just electricity transformation in the Mekong Region. Each think piece contributes a layer of evidence and insight to understanding the dynamics of electricity in practice in the Mekong Region, ranging from analysis on the regional scaled plans for electricity trade, to examination of the national level processes on power development planning and its outcomes, to local level opportunities and challenges for decentralized off-grid electricity solutions. The aspiration of this collaborative initiative was not to assemble a consensus report, but rather to gather diverse viewpoints on the opportunities and challenges in attaining ‘sustainable and just electricity transformation’ in the Mekong Region. To this end, the report aims to set out some new terrains for the electricity debate at scales that range from the local to the regional, and is intended to stimulate public debate on the wide-ranging social, ecological and economic implications of electricity planning.

The report is available for download from 2 June 2022 from the CSDS here and AMPERES here websites.

About the report launch

This event is aimed towards interdisciplinary researchers, civil society groups, opinion formers, and electricity planners and decision makers with an interest in exploring a sustainable and just energy transition in the Mekong.

The launch event will be joined by many of the thinkpiece authors who will share their analysis and recommendations in a panel discussion format. Three overarching themes are covered:

  • Rethinking electricity narratives: How are different electricity options narrated and justified? How do they reflect visions for the electricity transformation? What are the implications for a just electricity transformation in the region?

  • Rethinking electricity planning: Beyond changes in generation technology, in what ways could/should electricity systems in the region change in the near future? What are the challenges and opportunities to do so? What are the economic, social and environmental implications?

  • Rethinking scale and design: Why does scale matter in electricity planning and practice? Are different scaled technologies and practices mutually exclusive options? What are the trends and the region and what are the consequences?

Join the discussion

This event will be hosted online via Zoom and in-person (limited seats available) at the Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University.

Please register to join the event here.

 Contact us

For all enquiries, please contact Carl Middleton (CSDS; Carl.M@chula.ac.th) or Tarek Ketelsen (AMPERES; Tarek.Ketelsen@amperes.com.au).

Agenda

IN THE NEWS: Book review of Knowing the Salween River

A book review has been written by Stew Motta in Water Alternatives journal on “Knowing the Salween River: Resource Politics of a Contested Transboundary River” edited by Carl Middleton and Vanessa Lamb. The book was the result of a research project co-organized by CSDS and the York Center for Asian Research (see here). The book is published as open access and is available for download here.

The review identifies the book as “the first book of its type on the Salween River and represents a landmark contribution in understanding the diverse knowledge types and complex governance issues at play in that region.”

Read the full review in Water Alternatives here.

UPCOMING EVENT: Southeast Asia's challenges to sustainable and inclusive development [Online, 1 October 2021]

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Round table 3 - Mekong: how to ensure biodiversity preservation in the context of a river in permanent transformation?

14.00 BKK Time, Friday, 1 October 2021 via Livestorm

Carl Middleton from CSDS will be one of the speakers

Millions of people from Myanmar, China, Lao PDR, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam depend on Mekong River water resources for agriculture and fisheries. However, the Mekong Basin and especially its biomass is impacted by many dam-building projects, overfishing, intensive aquaculture, pollution from growing cities, excessive groundwater extraction and sand mining. This environmental degradation is compounded by climate change, which makes the region even more fragile.

This session will attempt to discuss how biodiversity in the Mekong Basin can be protected, despite its constant evolution, notably through integrated management and community-based approaches.

Speakers :

  • Anoulak Kittikhoun, Chief Strategy and Partnership Officer, Mekong River Commission

  • Carl Middleton, Director at the Center for Social Development Studies, Chulalungkorn University (TH)

  • Jake Brunner, Head of IndoBurma Group, IUCN

To join this online conference, you can register on the organizer’s webpage here.

UPCOMING EVENT: The Belt and Road Initiative, hydropolitics, and hydropower [Online, 7 June 2021]]

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16.00-17.30 am BKK Time, Monday, 7 June 2021 via Zoom

Carl Middleton from CSDS will be one of the speakers

Carl Middleton from CSDS will be one of the speakers for the webinar "Contrasting China's Relationship with South and Southeast Asia: the Belt and Road Initiative, Hydropolitics, and Hydropower."

Carl will speak on ‘Reworking the Mekong River Regime: The Geopolitics and Hydropolitics of Competing Regionalisms’.

About the webinar:

"In this webinar we examine the role of new and planned hydropower projects financed by China in shifting geopolitics between China and South and Southeast Asia. We ask how hydropolitics and dams are enabling new forms of economic, social and political regional institutionalisation through the Belt and Road Initiative, how these play out differently in South and Southeast Asia and what these mean for local communities and nature in particular locales across South and Southeast Asia."

To join this webiner, you can register on the organizer’s webpage here, or register via Zoom on this link https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vBmdcT0nRXCLne0iWFlD8A.

IN THE NEWS: Between the Lines Podcast S03 Ep08: The Water–Food–Energy-Nexus

Carl Middleton from CSDS was featured in Institute of Development Studies’ Podcast Series “Between the Lines”. Carl was featured on the 8th episode for the Season 3, talking about “The Water–Food–Energy-Nexus”.

Please visit the link here to listen to the podcast.

UPCOMING EVENT: The Mekong, China, & SE Asian Transitions Series-Mekong Dams: Debates and the Politics of Evidence [Online, 29 April 2021]

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07.00-08.30 am BKK Time, Thursday, 29 April 2021 via Zoom

Carl Middleton from CSDS will be one of the panelists

In recent decades, people living in the Lower Mekong Region have witnessed major shifts from predominantly subsistence agriculture to industrializing economies, with attendant changes in migration, crop production systems, and major infrastructure (roads, dams, industrial estates). This series of four webinars will explore how communities in the region are experiencing the economic, social, and cultural dislocations of these transformations.

Full webinar series schedule:

  • Panel 1 : Jan 27 - Markets for Mekong Commodities

  • Panel 2 : Feb 24 - Migration, Mobility, and the Mekong

  • Panel 3 : Apr 7 - The Spirits and Spiritual Life of the Mekong

  • Panel 4: Apr 28 - Mekong Dams: Debates and the Politics of Evidence

Carl will be one of the panelists on Panel 4.

To register for this event, please visit the Zoom link here. For more information about this event, please visit the organizer’s website here.

This event is organized by Asian Studies Center at Michigan State University.

UPCOMING EVENT: Low Flows, Drought, Data and Geopolitics on the Mekong-Lancang River [Online, 28 April 2021]

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10.00 pm BKK Time/ 05.00 pm CEST, Wednesday, 28 April 2021 via Facebook Live from UPF Lund

Public Lecture with Carl Middleton from CSDS

The Mekong-Lancang River flows from the Tibetan Plateau through Yunnan Province of China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Since the early 1990s, the river has been increasingly engineered by large hydropower dams. In this seminar, Carl Middleton assesses conflict and cooperation in transboundary water governance, with a focus on the Mekong River Commission established between the four lower basin States, and the China-led Lancang Mekong Cooperation. Heavily influenced by geopolitical tensions between the US and China, Carl Middleton analyzes the heated regional debates over China’s dam cascade and low river flows downstream since 2019, and the impact on peoples’ lives.

Dr. Carl Middleton is an Assistant Professor and Deputy Director on the Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy in International Development Studies (MAIDS-GRID) Program, and Director of the Center for Social Development Studies (CSDS) in the Faculty of Political Science of Chulalongkorn University. Dr. Middleton’s research interests orientate around the politics and policy of the environment in Southeast Asia, with a particular focus on nature-society relations, the political ecology of water and energy, and environmental justice. He has lived in Southeast Asia for fifteen years, with much of his work focused onto the Mekong River.

For more information, please visit the event page here.

UPCOMING EVENT: Water Governance in Southeast Asia: A Roundtable Discussion on the Mekong River Basin [Online, 19 March 2021]

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06.30 - 08.00 am BKK Time, Friday, 19 March 2021 via Zoom.

Carl Middleton from CSDS will be one of the speakers for the panel.


This Roundtable focuses on the water governance and water management challenges in Southeast Asia, particularly in the Mekong River basin. It will examine questions of environmental justice with a panel of experts on the region, whose interests include—specifically in relation to the Mekong—issues of political ecology, energy and water security, the protection and restoration of river ecosystems, and the rights of local communities and migrant workers.

Speakers:

  • Pianporn Deetes, Regional Campaigns and Communications Director, Southeast Asia Program, International Rivers

  • Brian Eyler, Senior Fellow and Director, Southeast Asia program, Stimson Centre, Washington DC

  • Melissa Marschke, Associate Professor, International Development and Global Studies, University of Ottawa, Canada

  • Carl Middleton, Director of the Center for Social Development Studies, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand

Chairs:

  • Phil Calvert, Former Canadian Ambassador to Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos; CAPI Senior Research Fellow

  • Victor V. Ramraj, CAPI Director and Chair in Asia-Pacific Legal Relations; Professor, UVic Faculty of Law

Opening Remarks:

  • Kevin Hall, President, University of Victoria

Please click here for the link to register for the Zoom Webinar, and for more information about the event, please visit the organizer’s website here.

UPCOMING EVENT: Opening Talk for the Photo Exhibition “The Mekong is Blue and Dried” [Bangkok, 16 March 2021]

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17.30 - 19.00, Monday, 16 March 2021 at the Corner Space, 1st Floor, Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC)

Carl Middleton from CSDS will be one of the speakers for the talk.

A selection of photographs and artworks will be showcased in SEA Junction’s “Mekong is Blue and Dried” exhibition on 16 – 28 March 2021 at Corner Space, 1st Floor, Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC). The exhibition is born out of concern for the environmental degradation of the Mekong River.

The exhibition will be launched with an opening talk (in English) on the issue by the speakers listed below, on 16 March 2021, 5:30 – 7:00 pm at Corner Space, 1st Floor, BACC where the exhibition is held.

Speakers

  • Anthony Zola, Independent Researcher

  • Carl Middleton, Center for Social Development Studies, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

  • Premrudee Daoroung, Lao Dam Investment Monitor

  • Laure Siegel, Freelance Journalist

Moderator

  • Rosalia Sciortino, SEA Junction

For more information about the event, as well as on how to register, please visit the organizer’s website here.

UPCOMING EVENT: 3rd International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies [Online, 5-7 March 2021]

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12:30-14:00 Myanmar / 13:00-14:30 Thailand on 5 March, 2021, Online and at Chiang Mai University, Thailand

Carl Middleton (CSDS) and Vanessa Lamb (University of Melbourne) will convene a roundtable session titled: “Knowing the Salween River: Reflections on activism, resource politics and peace” for the 3rd International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies. The session will be held on 12:30-14:00 Myanmar / 13:00-14:30 Thailand on 5 March, 2021.

The Salween River basin, shared by Myanmar/Burma, Thailand and China, is dynamic system and a site of long-standing contests over territories, resources, and governance. More recently, it is also increasingly recognised as a site for peace and collaborative water governance. This panel will provide inter-disciplinary perspectives by civil society and academic researchers on the unfolding dynamics on the Salween River in and from Myanmar and in a regional context. We will discuss the politics, activism, and policies linked to intensifying resource extraction, hydropower dam construction as well as conservation and development schemes, and how this is unfolding within a complex terrain of local, national and transnational governance and activist networks. Panellists were all contributors and researchers linked to the 2019 collaborative book, “Knowing the Salween River: Resource Politics of a Contested Transboundary River”, which was also the first book dedicated to understanding this complex river system.

Panelists

 Speakers:

  • April Kyu Kyu, Researcher, SaNaR (Save the Natural Resource)

  • Saw John Bright

  • Pianporn Deetes, Thailand and Myanmar Campaigns Director, International River

  • Alec Scott, Independent Researcher

Discussant:

  • Professor Saw Win, Senior Research Associate, Center for Social Development Studies, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University 

Co-Chairs:

  • Vanessa Lamb, Senior Lecturer, School of Geography, University of Melbourne

  • Carl Middleton, Director, Center for Social Development Studies, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

The conference will be hybrid: 80% online and 20% onsite. As most sessions will be organized online, the registration fee is waived for all conference participants. All participants, please register here to participate in the conference.

For more information about this conference, please visit the organizer’s website here.

The International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies was first organized in July 2015 at Chiang Mai University in collaboration with the University of Mandalay. ICBMS was attended by 543 participants from 29 countries, with 48 sessions of paper presentation and 7 roundtables. The conference brought together scholars, researchers, journalists, NGO workers and observers from Burma/Myanmar, as well as from around the world to engage in discussion on Myanmar’s transition.

ICBMS is organized every two years, with Chiang Mai University and the University of Mandalay taking turns as conference host, and with the possibility of extending collaboration with other universities in both Myanmar and Thailand.

ICBMS3 will happen onsite, in person, at Green Nimman CMU (Uniserv), in Chiang Mai, from 5-7 March 2021.

IN THE NEWS: Mekong's falling water level riles China's downstream neighbors

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China's water relations with Southeast Asian neighbors are under strain after Beijing held up the Mekong River's flow at one of its large dams upstream, precipitating a sudden drop in volume for downstream countries that share the region's longest body of water.

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"There is still a need to deepen cooperation on transboundary water governance," said Carl Middleton, director of the Center for Social Development Studies at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. "The appropriate goal is [for the] accountable operation of hydropower projects that avoid social and environmental impacts to the extent possible, while acknowledging and compensating for harms created."

China, which refers to the Mekong as the Lancang River, has been in the crosshairs of local and international environmentalists for the power it wields to reduce the water flow. Critics say Beijing uses the river as a tap to be turned on or off to meet domestic water requirements.

For the full article, please click the link here.