EVENT: Final Salween-Mekong-Red workshop synthesize regional insights

The final workshop of the Mekong-Red-Salween fellowship program was held in Yangon on 23th and 24th October. 22 fellows joined the workshop, together with the project teams from Ubon Ratchathani University, the Vietnam Academy for Water Resources, and Chulalongkorn University. The overarching goal of the workshop was to identify and synthesize insights gained by fellows from the three river basins during the duration of their fellowship experience. The agenda can be downloaded here.

Fellows convene for the final workshop (credit: Chawirakan Nomai

On the first day, in the morning, we focused on the three themes:

• Water governance by Dr Carl Middleton

• Gender and water by Dr. Kanokwan Manorom

• Integrated disaster risk management by Dr. Bui Cong Quang

For each theme, first there was a presentation by the project team, followed by facilitated group discussion by basin. Here, the fellows shared what they had learned about each topic through their research. A range of insights emerged that revealed both the shared and unique experiences across and within each basin. In the afternoon, we focused on identifying ways in which research produced through a fellowship program could practically impact policy agendas, followed by an evaluation of the program. The outcome of the day’s discussion will form the basis of a policy brief and book chapter.

On the second day, we focused on preparation for the Water Land Ecosystem (WLE) Forum the following day. Here, we synthesized the previous day’s discussion to answer the following five questions per basin to be present via a round table at the WLE Forum:

• What are the common most significant themes/issues that you have observed from your research/ working with the next users?

• What are the common emerging /new/ debatable knowledge that you have found from your research on resource governance/ social justice/ related themes?

• What are the impacts of the fellows’ research on development/improve resource governance?

• What are common key policy recommendations based on your research to improve resource governance in Salween/Mekong/Red river basins?

• What have you gained from the program?

The fellows also identified and practiced a concise verbal summary of their policy poster and policy brief ready for their session.

The two day workshops revealed both the breadth and depth of knowledge generated by the fellowship program. We also discovered how over the past three years the fellows had learned much from each other, and built new friendships that span the region.

WORKSHOP: WriteShop for International Publication for Salween, Mekong and Red Fellows

On 23-24 March 2017, the selected fellows from the Salween, Mekong and Red River fellowship program who will proceed to further develop their research to be published in a book or international journal met in Sapa, Vietnam for a WriteShop. The goal of the WriteShop was to support the fellows in deepening their research analysis towards attaining a quality suitable for publication. 

Around 30 fellows, mentors and staff of the Salween, Mekong and Red River fellowship program joined the WriteShop. The agenda and presentations can be downloaded below:

• Workshop agenda

• Introduction to the WriteShop by Dr. Carl Middleton

• Concept, argument, method and debate by Dr. Carl Middleton

• Strategies for producing a strong book chapter by Dr. DO Hoai Nam

• Engaging the literature by Dr. Kanokwan Manorom

• Structuring and outlining by Dr. Carl Middleton

• Introducing, framing and concluding by Dr. Carl Middleton

WORKSHOP: Workshop for Research Finding Analysis and Conference Paper Writing 1st-3rd April 2016 Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand

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This workshop brought together research fellows, mentors and colleagues who are currently involved in the project titled “Capacity Building and Professional Development of Water Governance and Regional Development Practitioners in the Mekong, Salween and Red river basins.” The project aims to strengthen the capacity for undertaking research and policy engagement of scholars and practitioners of water, land and energy use and governance in the Red, Mekong and Salween river basins. A cross-cutting focus of the project is research on gender and other forms of social marginalization.

The objectives of the workshop were:

• Support fellows’ analysis of data collected in their fieldwork

• Support fellows’ preparation of a conference paper that will highlight the main research findings (to be presented at the WLE Forum in November 2016)

• Advise fellows on the remaining period of the fellowship, including the production of the research report, policy brief, and second blog

The workshop agenda can be downloaded here

Workshop Presentations

Introduction: Workshop for Research Finding Analysis and Conference Paper Writing By Dr.Carl Middleton

Writing an abstract By Louis Lebel

Management and analysis of in-dept interview data  By Louis Lebel

Managing and initial analysis of structure and semi-structured interview data by Dr.Carl Middleton By Dr.Carl Middleton

Introduction to research methodology  By Assoc.Prof.Dr.Dang Tung Hoa

How to write an introduction By Dr.Jakkrit Sangkhamanee

Writing with a purpose, writing with concepts By Louis Lebel

How to manage in-text citations (ITCs) and reference list items (RLIs) By Michael Medley

Sourcing and incorporating policy and law in to your conference paper analysis By Dr.Carl Middleton

Research methodology By Dr.Kanokwan Manorom

Basic structure of a conference paper By Albert Salamanca

Gender dimension to research writing By Dr.Kanokwan Manorom

Writing conclusions  By Louis Lebel

Writing a research article By Louis Lebel

Write to publish By Louis Lebel

Next step

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Credit: Photos by Ms.Chawirakan Nomai, MK32 Program Coordinator and Mit, MK33 Program Coordinator

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WORKSHOP: The Second Workshop on Data collection and Methodology, Ubon Ratchathani, 4-6 August 2015

The second  Field Study Workshop in Ubon Ratchathani, Rasi Salai,

August 2015

The Second Workshop on Data Collection and Methodology, Ubon Ratchathani and Sri Saket, 4-6 August 2015

             In this second workshop, we focus on the principles and best practices of undertaking fieldwork, and how to document and analyze the findings. This workshop, hosted by the MSSRC, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Ubon Ratchathani University, will entail workshop based discussion and practical experience in the field. Workshop objectives The workshop objectives are for research fellows to: learn about social-science research methods and how to apply them in field work, consider how to incorporate these research methods into their own fieldwork, practice these research methods in the field, and reflect critically on their use, learn how to undertake basic data analysis of qualitative and quantitative field data, continue to build relationships between one another across the river basins.

            The workshop involved field visit to rural villages along the Mun river basin in Sri Saket Province. The fellows had an opportunities to practice their obtained research skills through observations, interviews with the locals, and group work. By the end of the workshop, each group of fellow represented the gained data in the form of PPT presentation based on their assigned topic. The results are as follow;

Group 1 - Role of Women

Group 2 - Role of Government

Group 3 - Role of Civil Society

Group 4 - Traditional Water Management

Group 5 - Local Livelihoods

Field study tools' presentation by Carl Middleton

Experience of past fellow on data collection tools by Dr.Watcharee Srikham

A Glimpse of Rural Wet Land, The Mun River Basin, Sri Saket Province

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WORKSHOP: Naga Fellows’ Field Research Training: A Journey to the Rasi Salai Dam, Thailand

By Alayna Ynacay-Nye and Kyle Ojima

On 4 to 6th August 2015, the Naga fellows from the Mekong, Red and Salween river basins traveled to Ubon Ratchathani province in Thailand for an intensive course in field research methods and to study the impacts of the Rasi Salai dam on local livelihoods.  The event was hosted by the Mekong Sub-Region Social Research Center (MSSRC), Ubon Ratchathani University.

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All of the research fellows and staff from the Mekong, Red and Salween river basins who attended the training at UbonRatachathani University. (Photo by Kyle Ojima)

The first day of the training, held at UbonRatchathani University, readied the fellows for their field work, providing an orientation to field research methods. Techniques and approaches were provided by invited speakers, but benefited greatly from the combined experience of the fellows themselves, many of who have experience conducting field research already.  The fellows were then separated into five thematic groups that would be their research focus for the following two days:

• Roles of women in wetland management

• Roles of government and local authority in irrigation management

• Civil society and people organization in wetland recovery

• Traditional water management

• Local Livelihoods and change of wetland resources and utilization.

By the early evening, the fellows had relocated from the university to Si Sa Khet province, and were settling into their home stays in villages within the area affected by the dam.

Construction and impact of the Rasi Salai Dam

In the 1990s, the Thai government constructed the Rasi Salai dam on the Mun River in Si Sa Khet Province, inundating a large swathe of wetland, proposed to irrigate the surrounding areas. The impacted wetland was referred to by the locals as their ‘supermarket’ due to the invaluable resources it provided and that supported the community. The dam had a severe impact on many people’s livelihoods, with prolonged flooding and the loss of river and wetland biodiversity reducing fishing yields, wetland rice farm production, and farmers’ ability to raise cattle and to collect valuable products from the wetlands, such as mushrooms, medicinal herbs, red ant eggs, and fire wood.

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The Rasi Salai Dam in Si Sa Khet province, Thailand, which caused serious impacts to local communities. (Photo by Kyle Ojima)

When the government approved the construction of the Rasi Salai Dam, it did not conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) or consult local villagers. When construction began in 1992, villagers were initially told that a 4.5 meter rubber weir was being built to solve the problem of water scarcity. However, after the construction the villagers found that instead of a small rubber weir it was a 9 meter concrete dam. Whilst there have been many impacts, relatively few villagers of the region have actually received the promised irrigation benefits.

Fellows learn about the Rasi Salai Dam

On Wednesday August 5th, the fellows and staff woke up in their local villages, and began to explore their allocated themes. Most of the groups started out with interviews a range of people, from local government organizations to farmers living off the land. The fellows learned that some villagers who once relied on the wetlands for food, were no longer able to grow crops because the flood regime had changed; it had led to water logging creating soils that could no longer sustain rice fields and other plant life. Villagers said that traditionally in the area there were 13 varieties of rice grown for generations, but now there are only 3. The river’s migratory fish species were also in decline.

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A meeting with retired local officials and farmers to discuss the effects of the RasiSalai dam on local livelihoods (Photo by Alayna Ynacay-Nye)

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There were once many cattle in the Rasi Salai area, but the loss of grazing land following the dam significantly reduced the number (Photo by Kyle Ojima)

The fellows heard from the villagers interviewed that they are no longer able to depend solely on the land for food and economic security, and must seek alternative solutions. This has resulted in villagers migrating to big cities such as Bangkok in pursuit of low paying labor jobs, leaving their traditional agrarian way of life and weakening their ties to family, culture and their neighbors. For those who chose to stay in RasiSalai, the land is no longer able to provide the variety and quantity of foods it previously could, forcing people to purchase low quality products in the market which further increases their expenses and debt. The creation of the dam sparked social movements advocating for villagers’ rights and compensation. The Royal Irrigation Department (RID) is currently negotiating with the Taam Mun Association, which represents the villagers, for compensation and livelihood recovery programs. This has created a stronger trust and communication between the RID and the villagers that in the past.

Presenting research findings

Finally on Thursday August 4th, the groups left the villages and arrived at the Lower Mun Irrigation Office for a wrap up of the workshop. The fellows were able to present what they had learned in the villages using the research tools studied on the first day of the workshop. A local village leader and a representative from the Royal Irrigation Department also joined the meeting to provide their perspectives on the Rasi Salai Dam and its benefits and impacts.

Overall, the fellows had a valuable opportunity to build relationships amongst each other and therefore across the Mekong, Red and Salween basins. The fellows also learned various techniques for fieldwork and had the chance to actively apply them in the field. In addition, the fellows were able to learn from the local situation at the RasiSalai dam, and to contrast it with the experience in their own countries. The fellows are now looking forward to meeting again and sharing the progress of their research at the “2015 Greater Mekong Forum on Water, Food, and Energy” on 21-23 October in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

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All of the fellows gathered at the Lower Mun Royal Irrigation Department office to present what they learned from their field work.  (Photo by Kyle Ojima)

Further information

Please see the blog titled “Finding Common Ground: Co-produced Wetland Zoning in Northeast Thailand”(12 August 2015) produced for the Recovering and valuing wetland agro-ecological systems and local knowledge for water security and community resilience in the Mekong region(RECOVER) project.

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