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

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 ONLINE EVENT: Low Flows, Drought, Data and Geopolitics on the Mekong-Lancang [Online, 6 August 2020]

14.00-16.00, Thursday, 6th August 2020 at Institute of East Asian Studies, Thammasat University Facebook Page

Carl Middleton from CSDS will be presenting on this event.

Institute of East Asian Studies, Thammasat University, invites everyone to listen to a talk via online media (Facebook Live) to keep an eye on the movement of the situation of East Asia and Southeast Asia on the issue.

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

Moderator:
Asst. Prof. Dr. Soimart Rungmanee from Puey Ungpakorn Institute of Development Studies, Thammasat University

For more information about this event, please visit the event page here.

UPCOMING PANEL DISCUSSION: The Mekong runs dry? Governance in transition: A close look at current rules and geopolitics at play

17.00 - 19.30, Wednesday, 29th july 2020 at the SEA-Junction, 4th Floor, Bangkok Art and Culture Centre

Carl Middleton from CSDS will be presenting on this event.

Development in the Mekong region, especially development trends and projects on the mainstream Mekong River itself, has long been a critical challenge and complicated issue for concerned parties and the public at large, and needs much understanding so that people can help one another find the way to share resources and live together in harmony. The attempt was first challenged since China started to develop the upper part of the river by building a cascade of dams on the river in early 1990s.

The challenge has become far critical especially in regard to the aspect concerning transboundary impacts as the Mekong countries become ambitious too and wish to build a cascade of dams, 11 so far, on the lower part of the river. At this point, they have been more than half way, as the sixth dam project, Sanakham, is subject to the regional prior consultation process, The question is; in times when development of the river has accelerated and posed a more serious threat, whether existing mechanisms to regulate water uses and mitigate impacts are efficient enough and catch up with such the speeding trend, and more critically, whether geopolitics in the region is still much at play and influences decisions made in regard to development in the region.

List of expert panelists: 

• Dr.Somkiat Prajamwong, Chairperson of the MRC Joint Committee for 2020 and Secretary General of the Office of National Water Resources

• Dr. Carl Middleton, Director of the Center for Social Development Studies (CSDS), the Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

• Pianporn Deetes, Thailand Campaign Coordinator, International Rivers

• Premrudee Daoroung, Coordinator, Lao Dam Investment Monitor (LDIM)

• Orapin Lilitvisitwong, Editor, Thai PBS’s website, Decode

THE SESSIONS WILL BE PRESENTED IN THAI

In accordance with the COVID-19 regulation, please confirm your participation ahead of the event (limited seats available). You can confirm your participation through Bangkok Tribune News FB Messenger here.

You can also watch the event live at FB Live: Bangkok Tribune News FB Page.

For more information, please visit the event’s website here.