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.

IN THE NEWS: Dams and droughts, data and diplomacy in the Mekong

The 2019-2020 drought-affected huge numbers of riparian fishers and farmers in the Mekong Basin. Fishers in northeast Thailand and Cambodia reported drastic declines in fish catches in the Mekong’s tributaries while many farmers in Cambodia and Vietnam deserted their farms to find jobs in urban areas.

“Water diplomacy is emerging in the region, but it is very state-centric and downplays the role of non-state actors including civil society groups and local community groups”, said Dr. Middleton, director of the Center for Social Development Studies at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.

For the full article please click the link here.

UPCOMING PANEL DISCUSSION: Saving the Mekong [Bangkok, 19 February 2020]

19.00 - 21.00, Wednesday, 19th February 2020 at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand (FCCT), Penthouse, Maneeya Center, 518/5 Ploenchit Road, Patumwan, Bangkok, Thailand

Carl Middleton from CSDS will be presenting on this event.

Will the “mighty Mekong” be the first of the planet’s great rivers to be destroyed by development?

Dramatic changes to the Mekong’s water flow, caused by dozens of dams built over the past 30 years on its upstream reaches in China, Laos and Cambodia, are threatening an ecosystem of unrivalled diversity outside the Amazon basin. More dam projects are underway or in planning stages, even as fish stocks are falling sharply. In late 2019 the lack of sediment, held back by the dams, turned the river from its usual brown to a startling blue colour, a worrying indication of further environmental degradation. China insists it manages the flow from its dams responsibly, but Chinese companies continue to fund and/or build new dams in Laos and Cambodia, with agreement from regional governments.

Leading environmental experts believe the true economic impact of over-development on the river and its resources has not been properly calculated. A recent decision by the Thai government to scrap approval for a Chinese proposal to blast and dredge a 90km kilometre stretch of the river to enable access for larger vessels is a rare victory for civil society groups opposing destructive development, but may point to greater resistance by affected communities in the future.
 
List of expert panelists: 

• Brian Eyler, author of Last Days of the Mekong and director of the Stimson Center’s Southeast Asia program, who traveled along the river from China’s Yunnan province to its delta in southern Vietnam to explore its modern evolution. (via Skype)

• Pianporn Deetes, Thailand Campaigner for International Rivers, which led the campaign against blasting rock shoals in the Mekong.

• Pou Sothirak, Executive director of Phnom Penh-based CICP, a think tank focusing on regional issues, and a former Cambodian ambassador to Japan.

• Carl Middleton, lecturer in International Development Studies and deputy director for international research in the Center for Social Development Studies at Chulalongkorn University, where he focuses on environmental issues in Southeast Asia.

For more information, please visit FCCT’s website here.

UPCOMING PANEL DISCUSSION: Silencing the Mekong The making of Xayaburi dam from commencement to operations [Bangkok, 22 October 2019]

18.00 - 20.00, Tuesday, 22nd October, 2019 at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand (FCCT), Penthouse, Maneeya Center, 518/5 Ploenchit Road, Patumwan, Bangkok, Thailand

Carl Middleton from CSDS will be presenting on this event.

On 29th October 2019, the Xayaburi Hydropower Project on the Mekong in Laos will formally commence operations. As the first dam on the lower Mekong mainstream, this marks a turning point for the Mekong River.

From the outset, the Xayaburi dam was a highly controversial project due to widespread concerns over its expected impacts on the river system, including transboundary impacts in neighboring countries. Major predicted impacts include the destruction of Mekong migratory fisheries and trapping of sediment, preventing it from traveling downstream. The dam’s environmental impacts in turn threaten the food, livelihoods and socio-cultural systems of populations residing within the river basin.

During the Xayaburi dam consultation process, many stakeholders raised concerns over the project and questioned the adequacy of the data and studies. The Vietnamese government called for a project suspension and a ten-year moratorium on all mainstream dams pending further study to better understand the river system and the impacts of planned dams. In Thailand, community representatives along the Mekong River filed a landmark lawsuit in the Thai Administrative Court challenging Thailand’s power purchase from the project. Originally filed in 2012, following several appeals, the lawsuit remains pending over 7 years later.

Despite this, the Xayaburi dam moved forward, with the developers undertaking a redesign in an effort to mitigate concerns. Subsequent projects have followed. This month, the MRC announced the commencement of Prior Consultation for Luang Prabang, the fifth lower Mekong mainstream dam to undergo the process.

In the lead up to the commissioning of Xayaburi dam, this event will include a panel discussion with academic, community and civil society speakers. The panel will share comments on the project’s history, its flawed decision-making process, and the ongoing campaigns, and Xayaburi’s implications for the ecosystems and people of the Mekong basin.

The event will feature the launch of a new report. International Rivers commissioned two independent experts to provide comments on the MRC’s review of the Xayaburi redesign, released earlier this year. The expert commentary examines the legacy of Xayaburi in setting a benchmark for decisions on mainstream dams and highlights the urgent need for a truly regional approach to safeguard the Mekong’s future.

Confirmed speakers include:

• Dr Carl Middleton, Center for Social Development Studies, Chulalongkorn University

• Ormbun Thipsuna, Thai People’s Network in Eight Mekong Provinces

• Sarinee Achavanuntakul, Salforest

• Professor Le Anh Tuan, Research Institute for Climate Change, Can Tho University

• Maureen Harris, International Rivers

For more information, please visit FCCT’s website here.

IN THE NEWS: 'Why the Mekong matters'

IN THE NEWS:

By Sam Geall [The Third Pole, 1 November 2018]

The countries of the Mekong should build a “community of shared future”, said China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in December last year. The Lancang-Mekong Cooperative Framework (LMC) is “practical and highly effective”, he said. “We do not go after a high-profile ‘talk shop’, but a down-to-earth ‘bulldozer’”.

China has managed to cement its influence over the transboundary river in recent years, in a move that has important implications for the riverine environment and the people that rely on its resources. Its primary vehicle, or “bulldozer”, the LMC, will drive dam and development projects, special economic zones and trade.

It also illustrates China’s changing approaches to Southeast Asia – the central topic addressed recently in a policy forum The Third Pole and chinadialogue co-organised with the Centre for Social Development Studies (CSDS) and the Faculty of Political Science at Chulalongkorn University, in Bangkok.

Read more at this link here

UPCOMING INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE SESSION: "Sustainable Transboundary Governance of the Environmental Commons in Southeast Asia" [Singapore, 1-2 November 2018]

Sustainable Transboundary Governance of the Environmental Commons in Southeast Asia is a workshop organised by the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore. This multi-disciplinary workshop will explore key issues in sustainable development with particular reference to the ecological commons in Southeast Asia from a transboundary governance perspective.

For more details about the workshop, please visit this link.

Panel 7 - Transborder Governance Frameworks

15:30 - 16.30, November 2, AS8 Level 4, Seminar Room 04-04, National University of Singapore, Singapore

How East Asian Regional Economic Integration Teleconnects and Transforms Wetland Commons and Community Vulnerability in Japan and Thailand

• Carl Middleton, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand

• Takeshi Ito, Sophia University, Japan

Global and regional economic integration teleconnect distant places not only economically but also ecologically. Japan is a key exporter of capital and aid provider to Southeast Asia, catalyzing industrialization and new flows of trade and investment. Whilst much emphasis has been placed by governments and transnational corporations on the economic benefits of regionalization, research has also revealed impacts to local environments including enclosure of commons and differentiated changes for communities’ vulnerabilities

For more details on this session, please take a look at the abstract here.

UPCOMING PUBLIC SEMINAR: "Understanding the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Framework and China’s role in the Mekong Region" [Bangkok, 3 September 2018]

09.00 - 17.00, Monday, 3rd September at Alumni Meeting Room, 12th Floor, Kasem Utthayanin Building (อาคารเกษม อุทยานิน), Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

Co-organized by chinadialogue, The Third Pole, Earth Journalism Network, and the Centre for Social Development Studies, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok

The Mekong region is facing a period of rapid change shaped by a significant shift over the past decade in its relationship with China. New pathways of regional integration and intergovernmental cooperation have emerged, including through the Belt and Road Initiative and the Lancang Mekong Cooperation Framework. Associated with these shifts have been deepening trade between China and the Mekong Region, and growing flows of investment from China into a range of projects including large dams, railways, and industrial projects. Whilst these trends reflect a geo-economic shift, longstanding challenges on environmental sustainability, social equity, government-investor accountability to the public and public participation remain. Inevitably it seems, China, as a powerful country, will play a key role in shaping the future path of the Mekong Region.

This public forum will bring together experts and journalists from China and lower Mekong countries to discuss the geopolitical implications of Chinese investment and regional initiatives in the Mekong Region. It will address the Belt and Road Initiative; the challenges and opportunities in transboundary water governance under the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Framework, together with other emerging cooperation issues; and debate by regional journalists about the trends, challenges and successes for Southeast Asia’s media on reporting on China’s role in the Mekong Region.

Program and List of Panelists:

08.15 - 09.00  Registration

09.00 - 09.15  Welcome remarks by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ake Tangsupvattana, Dean of Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

09.15 - 10.45  Session 1: The Belt and Road Initiative:  Geopolitical implications for Asia

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

• 'Geopolitics and Geoeconomics of the Belt and Road Initiative' by Dr. Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Institute of Security and International Studies (ISIS), Chulalongkorn University

• 'The Belt and Road Initiative: A Perspective from China' by Mr. Li Hong,Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (UNESCAP)

• 'What does the Belt and Road Initiative mean for US-Thailand relations?' by Benjamin Zawacki, Independent Analyst

• 'Debt Diplomacy?: The experience of Sri Lanka' by Amantha Perera, Journalist

10.45 - 11.15  Coffee break

11.15 - 12.45  Session 2: Transboundary Water Cooperation – Progress and Challenges

Moderator: Dr. Ukrist Pathmanand, Mekong Research Center, Institute of Asian Studies, Chulalongkorn University  

• 'Positioning the MRC in the context of the Mekong Lancang Cooperation Framework' by Dr. Anoulak Kittikhoun, Mekong River Commission (MRC) Secretariat

• 'From GMS to Belt and Road Initiative: Continuities and discontinuities in transboundary water governance in the Lancang-Mekong basin' by Dr. John Dore, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

• 'The implications of the Xe Pian-Xe Nam Noi  disaster for transboundary water governance' by Supalak Ganjanakhundee, The Nation (Thailand)

12.45 - 13.30  Lunch

13.30 - 14.45  Session 3: Rise of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Framework: Emerging cooperation issues

Moderator: Kamol Sukin, China Dialogue

• 'Regional energy cooperation: Institutions, infrastructure and investment' by Courtney Weatherby, Stimson Centre

• 'Opportunities for sustainable Lancang-Mekong scientific cooperation' by Chayanis Krittasudthacheewa, Stockholm Environment Institute

• 'The Lancang Mekong Cooperation Framework: Implications for Thailand and ASEAN' by Apichai Sunchindah, Independent analyst

14.45 - 15.15  Coffee Break

15.15 - 16.45  Session 4: Reporting on the Mekong and China’s role: Trends, challenges and successes for Southeast Asia’s media

Moderator: Sim Kok Eng Amy, Earth Journalism Network

• 'Challenges and opportunities reporting on the Mekong from China' by Wang Yan, News China

• 'Chinese power investment and natural resource governance in Myanmar' by Zayar Hlaing, Mawkun magazine

• 'Obstacles in covering China-investment-related stories in Vietnam' by Bui Tien Dung, Tuoi Tre (Youth) Newspaper

16.45 - 17.00  Closing Reflections

• Dr. Sam Geall, China Dialogue

• Professor Surichai Wun’gaeo, Center for Peace and Conflict Studies, Chulalongkorn University

*This event will be broadcasted on Facebook Live: www.facebook.com/CSDSChula/

To register for this forum, please e-mail us your name, organisation, and position to  Anisa Widyasari (CSDS) at communications.csds@gmail.com. The seat is limited and registration will be accepted on first come first served basis.

UPCOMING PUBLIC SEMINAR: "Water scarcity and disaster recovery in Hakha Town, Chin State, Myanmar: Technical problem or governance challenge?" [5 July 2017]

14:00-16:00, Alumni Meeting Room, 12th Floor, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

Co-organized by the Center for Social Development Studies (CSDS) and the Master of Arts in International Development Studies of the Faculty of Political Science Chulalongkorn University.

This event will be broadcast on Facebook live: www.facebook.com/CSDSChula/

Introduction

Hakha town is the capital of Chin State, Myanmar, located in the mountainous Northwest of the country. Chin State is one of the poorest states in Myanmar, including in terms of economy, basic infrastructure, and access to health care and education. This reflects a lack of long-term investment in basic services, as well as being the product of Myanmar’s long-standing conflict.

In recent years, the town’s population 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. This situation has caused discontent towards the Municipal, State and Union level government, and has also on occasion caused conflict amongst the local population themselves.

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. In the longer-term, the resettled people, who are mostly farmers, are uncertain about how they can make a living without access to farming land, and a perceived limited support from the government.

Research presented at the seminar will show how water insecurity is the product of physical, social and political processes that are inter-related, including: rising water demand due to a growing population without systematic town planning; deforestation of the surrounding watershed which has reduced water supply; and underinvestment in water supply infrastructure. The seminar will explore the underlying causes of these dynamics, as a basis for deliberating approaches to ensure equitable and reliable water access for all of Hakha’s residents.

Seminar speakers

• “Water insecurity in Hakha Town, Chin State, Myanmar” by Asst. Prof. Dr. Carl Middleton (Director of CSDS) and Orapan Pratomlek (CSDS project coordinator)
• “Prospects for improved water security: Municipal water, watershed protection, and urban planning” Van Bawi Lian (CSDS researcher)
• “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)
• Discussant: Pastor Lai Cung (Hakhathar Baptist Church)
• Chair: Asst. Prof. Dr. Naruemon Thabchumpon (Director of MAIDS Program, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University)
• Opening remarks: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ake Tangsupvattana, Dean of Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University (t.b.c.)

For further details on CSDS’s research on Water governance and access to water in Hakha Town, Chin State, Myanmar, visit here: http://www.csds-chula.org/water-security-in-hakha/

This research is supported by Chula UniSearch under the Human Security Cluster.