Events

The Helmholtz Climate Initiative Regional Climate Change (REKLIM) is inviting researchers to submit papers to the 2nd International Conference "Our Climate - Our Future: Regional Perspectives on a Global Challenge“ to be held on September 23-25, 2019 in Berlin, Germany.  The conference aims to provide a forum where scientists from around the globe can present and discuss the latest findings on regional climate research in connection with REKLIM’s focus areas. Topics to be covered at the conference include: coupled regional modelling; sea-level rise in a warming climate: from global drivers to coastal impacts; land-atmosphere interactions: from measurements to modelling; atmospheric composition and climate: interactions between global and regional scales; extreme events across scales (past, present, future);  and climate change adaptation as societal challenge. Deadline for submission of  abstracts for oral and/or poster presentations is May 31st. For more details, go to www.reklim-conference-2019.de; or e-mail: info@reklim.de.REKLIM_Conference_2019

The UCRSEA Partnership will hold its last annual workshop and a policy forum on the following dates: 21 May 2019: Partners Meeting (UCRSEA Partners only) 22 May 2019: Policy Forum (By invitation) 23 May 2019: UCRSEA Wrap-up (UCRSEA Partners only) Meeting venue and accommodations will be at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.

Climate change is an urgent universal crisis facing all human beings. The impacts of climate change are potentially catastrophic and are unevenly distributed among different cities and countries due to environmental, geographical, social, political, and economic factors, rooted in systemic inequalities. Building resilience to climate change is complex, particularly in rapidly growing cities of Southeast Asia. In response to climate change, globalization, and urbanization, many Southeast Asian cities are experiencing a dramatic transformation due to socioeconomic and environmental challenges, especially under China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ (OBOR) initiative. Scholars and practitioners across different sectors have been invited to share their latest knowledge in the field and explore cutting-edge approaches. It hopes to further strengthen links between a community of climate leaders connected to the ground; and generate opportunities for collaboration in future urban climate resilience governance. Objectives -Promote the knowledge mobilization of UCRSEA, including academic dissemination, knowledge translation to a wider public, and ongoing networking among scholars and practitioners -Increase the research products of UCRSEA through presentations and workshops -Enhance the digital presence of UCRSEA -Strengthen and expand the current UCRSEA network among scholars and practitioners across sectors. This event consists of two major sessions: a webinar at 8:30-11:30 am and a panel discussion at 2:00-4:30 pm. During the webinar, six experts on climate issues in Southeast Asia will present their work through Facebook Live: Ms. Cat Tuong Nguyen Project Manager, CHANGEVN, Vietnam Dr. Indrajit Pal Assistant Professor, Disaster Preparedness, Mitigation, and Management, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand Ms. Ragene Andrea Palma Freelance Urban Planner, Blogger and Contributing Writer, CNN Philippines Dr. Seak Sophat Vice Dean, Faculty of Development Studies, Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia Mr. Win Myo Thu Director, EcoDev Myanmar Ms. Ngoc Tran Department of Climate Change, Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment, Vietnam Each speaker will make a 3-minute elevator pitch to address the most critical environmental/climate issue in the region by answering the following questions: 1. What is the most urgent environmental/climate issue in your city/country? 2. Why is it important? 3. What can we do? A 10-minute Q&A session will follow. For the panel presentation in the afternoon, five emerging scholars will share their current research work on urban climate resilience in Southeast Asia, followed by an interactive discussion with the audience. They are: Dr. Yanjun Cai, PhD 2018 UCRSEA Postdoctoral Fellow, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy Katherine Laycock 2019 UCRSEA Postdoctoral Fellow, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy Furqan Asif PhD Candidate, International Development, University of Ottawa Try Thuon PhD Candidate, Social Sciences (International Program), Chiang Mai University, Thailand and UCRSEA Graduate Fellow, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy Tu Nguyen PhD Candidate, Urban Planning, National University of Civil Engineering, Vietnam and UCRSEA Graduate Fellow, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy

The Seminar, organized by UCRSEA, will focus on the eco-feminism and environmental movement in Northern Thailand, including the eco-feminism in developing countries and formation in Thailand, environmental situation in Thailand from a gender perspective, and the eco-feminism and social movement to protect the resource base. Speakers: Dr. Ariya Svetamra is a Lecturer at Department of Women’s Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University, Thailand. She obtained her Ph.D. in Social Science from Chiang Mai University in 2010. She is a Curriculum Committee member of the MA and PhD Program on Women's and Gender Studies (International) and teaches Feminist and Gender Theories and Methodologies courses in particular. Her research interests are in women’s studies, gender studies, anthropology of religions and ethnic studies. Dr. Paiboon Hengsuwan is a Lecturer at the Department of Women’s Studies, Chiang Mai University. He has a Ph.D. in Social Science from Chiang Mai University (2013). His recent publications include “Living in Fear of Violence at the Thai-Burma Border” published in “Uncertain Lives: Changing Borders and Mobility in the Borderland of the Upper Mekong” (2015), and “Living with Threats and Silent Violence on the Salween Borderlands: An Interpretive and Critical Feminist Perspective” (Regional Journal of Southeast Asian Studies vol. 2 no. 1). For more information, contact Mr. Ly Quoc Dang at lqdang@ctu.edu.vn, 0909-886-896.

Dr. Yanjun Cai, UCRSEA Postdoctoral Fellow, will give a talk on climate resilience on Tuesday, October 23rd, 2:00-4:00 pm. The event is presented by the Contemporary Asian Studies Student Union and sponsored by the Asian Institute, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto. Click on the photo below for the link to the event:

Here is a list of upcoming international conferences in late 2018 and in 2019 that might be of interest to UCRSEA Partnership collaborators and partners. Note that some of these meetings have deadlines that are coming up soon if you are considering submitting a paper. UCRSEA will help organize panels if there is any interest among collaborators and partners to present their UCRSEA-related research reports or papers in any of these conferences. Assistance will also be provided in drafting abstracts before they are submitted. Funding will be available to those whose papers will be accepted.

UCRSEA has formed a panel session, “Urban Climate Resilience in Southeast Asia”, during the 2018 CAG Conference. Prof. Amrita Daniere, Prof. Douglas Young, Dr. Gwenn Pulliat, Dr. Yanjun Cai and Katherine Laycock (2019 UCRSEA Postdoctoral Fellow) will be presenting the following papers during the conference:

• Social Capital to Improve Climate Action (Katherine Laycock)
• The implementation gap: Reality vs. environmental rhetoric in Lao Cai, Vietnam (Gwenn Pulliat)
• Social Media Affordances and Urban Resilience in Myanmar (Yanjun Cai)
• Why Focusing on Urban Climate Change Resilience in Southeast Asia is Relevant and Urgent (Amrita Daniere)

The session is scheduled on August 9th, 3:45-4:30 pm. The conference program is available here.

Dr. Yanjun Cai, UCRSEA Postdoctoral Fellow, will be making a research presentation at the Royal University of Phnom Penh on June 16th on how the participatory approach of photovoice and the technological tools of social media can be innovatively integrated for proactive resilience, especially in marginalized communities. The multiplicity of definitions, interpretations, and objectives (e.g., social, economic, political), which underlies the theories and practices of resilience, is challenging for intellectual coherence. The convenient—depoliticized or overtly technical—application of resilience often fails to recognize structural issues that can be contextually unique. Common efforts to build resilience frequently elide the embeddedness of power, conflicts, and inequities. In this light, few scholars and practitioners have comprehensively revealed the intricacies of climate-related vulnerability and adaptation from the perspectives of affected communities. The presentation illustrates how integrating photovoice with social media tools can foster more just and transformative resilience building for marginalized communities in the Philippines. Allowing three disadvantaged communities in metropolitan Manila and Cebu to engage with photovoice demonstrated the nuances of vulnerability, revealed unrealized capacity, and helped develop collaborative governance strategies. Drawing upon the lessons learned, this presentation then illustrates how leveraging photovoice for social media applications can further contribute to building resilience in more inclusive, just, holistic, and potentially transformative ways. Resiliency efforts can and should evolve as a proactive approach to support place-based leadership and social innovation for transforming marginalized communities by harnessing social capital and enabling empowerment. Dr. Cai received her Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. She has years of research and practice experience in resiliency planning, environmental policy, participatory governance, and community development in the Asia-Pacific region. She has worked with a number of organizations, including the Asian Development Bank, University of the Philippines, University at Albany, and NGOs in the Philippines, China, and Vietnam.

As a follow-up to the 2016 Curriculum Development Workshop, a training workshop to introduce and teach the course syllabus on Urban Climate Change Resilience and Governance and train participants is being organized. The one-semester (15 weeks) course covers a range of concepts, theories, and issues relevant to and important for understanding the challenge of climate change in cities. It explores how cities are responding to climate change impacts and forecasts, and how urban scholars assess these responses. The varied and competing ideas of resilience as a response to climate change and their varied frameworks for assessing and developing resilience will also be taken up.

Prof. Amrita Daniere will take the lead in the course instruction.

The 4th UCRSEA Annual Workshop is scheduled for 7-10 May in Yangon. This year, the workshop will review progress to-date of project activities in the secondary cities, share research findings, experiences and insights and write-up papers based on research results.

More detailed agenda and programme will follow.