Global COE Program - Kyoto University - In Search of Sustainable Humanosphere in Asia and Africa

Date: May 14 (Thurs.), 2009 16:00 - 18:00
Place: Room 331, 3rd floor of Inamori Foundatin Memorial Hall

Topic: "Bridging the social, ecological and economic dimensions of
sustainability in mountain watersheds of Southeast Asia"

Speaker: Dr. Andreas Neef, CSEAS Visiting Research Fellow from
University of Hohenheim

Abstract：
Many past research and development efforts in the mountains of Southeast
Asia did not have a long-term impact because they tended to focus only
on one dimension of sustainability rather than employing a
multi-dimensional approach. Attempts to introduce soil and water
conservation measures, for instance, have largely failed because they
concentrated merely on the technical feasibility and potential
ecological effects, while neglecting economic viability and
socio-cultural acceptance. The predominant state-paradigm of
environmental resource governance with its emphasis on
command-and-control approaches has often undermined community-based
resource management systems of common-pool resources, such as forests
and water. The production of agricultural commodities, on the other
hand, has mostly been market-driven and often induced unsustainable boom
and bust cycles.
Public investments towards sustainable land use and rural development in
marginal mountain regions will need to move from financing piecemeal
research and technology development to building long-term
‘Multi-Stakeholder Knowledge and Innovation Partnerships’. Such
partnerships can bridge the social, ecological and economic dimensions
of sustainability and integrate the community, the market and the state
– which have often been regarded as antagonistic forces. The underlying
rationale of multi-stakeholder knowledge and innovation partnerships is
that efforts to reverse widespread environmental degradation and
alleviate rural poverty in mountain watersheds of Southeast Asia require
collective and concerted action by a wide range of stakeholders and
across different scales. Drawing primarily on research work in Thailand,
but also on other countries in Southeast Asia, I argue that
‘Multi-Stakeholder Knowledge and Innovation Partnerships’ towards
sustainable watershed development in mountainous regions need to be
based on three pillars: (1) participatory resource governance, (2)
payments for environmental services, and (3) rural processing and
marketing cooperatives.

Coordinator: Yasuyuki Kono (CSEAS)