UPCOMING INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE: "Mekong, Salween and Red Rivers: Sharing Knowledge and Perspectives Across Borders" [12 November 2016]

Co-organized by:

MA in International Development Studies (MAIDS) and the Center for Social Development Studies (CSDS), Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

Mekong Sub-region Social Research Centre (MSSRC), Ubon Ratchathani University;

Vietnam Academy of Water Resources (VAWR)

Supported by:

Australian Aid

CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems: Greater Mekong

Introduction

Water resources are inextricably linked to local livelihoods and wellbeing, agricultural production and food security, and local and national economies across the Mekong region. The Mekong, Red and Salween Rivers are all transboundary rivers that are subject to the dynamics of rapid change as the region increasingly integrates economically and socially. Whether development is inclusive, informed and accountable, and the rights and entitlements of marginalized communities recognized, remains a key challenge.

To strengthen governance and increase the likelihood of sustainable and fair decisions, over the past fifteen years a number of research fellowship programs have been implemented, including the M-POWER fellowship programs, and the MRC Junior Riparian Professionals program. Most recently, since April 2015, CSDS, MSSRC and VAWR have been running three WLE Greater Mekong’s fellowship programs in the Salween, Mekong and Red River basins respectively for a total of 38 fellows. Meanwhile similar program ongoing programs include: a fellowship program by the Center for Khmer Studies on the Food-Water-Energy Nexus in the Mekong Region; the Myanmar Young Water Professionals Program; and a fellowship program implemented by the UNESCO-IHA in the Ayrewaddy basin. In general, the aim of these fellowships are to strengthen capacity for undertaking research and policy engagement of scholars and practitioners of water, land and energy use, management and governance.

Conference objectives

The objectives of the International Conference on the Mekong, Salween and Red Rivers:

Sharing Knowledge and Perspectives Across Borders are:

• For research fellows to present their research findings in full, and receive feedback from discussants and other participants
• To enable networking between fellowship programs, including with alumni from past fellowships
• To evaluate the impact of existing and past research fellowship programs, and deliberate future direction

Contact salweenfellowship@gmail.com for further information