Mekong Matters: Workshop and Network for Development Journalists 

 The rapid pace of development leading up to the the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is creating opportunities for journalists to find innovative and important environmental, business, investment, health and culture stories. Are you a Mekong-area journalist who reports on social and environmental impacts of development projects such as dams, mines, roads, ports or economic land concessions? Mekong Partnership for the Environment (MPE) may have workshop, fellowship, resource and networking opportunities for you.

 

DEADLINE EXTENDED TO JULY 31

The Mekong Partnership for the Environment seeks journalists to participate in workshops and establish a network of Mekong journalists reporting on development issues. Participants will learn about social impacts, Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), investment, and investigative journalism. They will also help plan a Mekong journalist network reporting on these development issues and access other events and resources. Our first workshop is focused on finding story ideas using Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs):

Workshop:	Mekong Matters: Reporting on Development Projects Using EIAs
When:	Sept 16-19 (3.5 days), with travel on Sept 15 and 19 or 20.
Where:	Chiang Mai, Thailand
Who:	Print, broadcast or social media journalists: Editors. Senior reporters. Environmental or business reporters. Citizen and social media journalists. From Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam
Cost:	No cost. All travel and event costs will be sponsored by MPE.
Objectives:	Participants will learn how to: Access and analyse EIAs for environment, business and other stories Create human stories from EIA information and data Participants will also: Leave the workshop with real story ideas, outlines and/or sources Take an investigative field trip to a real development project site Discuss workshop and networking ideas for development journalists Meet local environmental groups to get sources and story ideas Access network news, map and data websites and story fellowships   Facilitators:
	Jeff Rutherford: experienced journalism trainer with Internews, Thailand-based sustainability expert James Fahn: UC Berkeley journalism lecturer, early innovator in Asian environmental reporting, Earth Journalism Network Director EIA experts, local civil society organisations, Internews, Pact How to apply: Log-in to the Earth Journalism website. If you are a new member, please register with you name and email here: http://earthjournalism.net/@@register Click the apply link below. Fill out all required questions, upload your letters of reference and work samples (all file formats are accepted). You can save your application and return to it if you can't finish it at one time. Just remember to bookmark the application in your web browser Submit the application for review when you are finished. Apply by July 31st.                    (Source: http://earthjournalism.net/)

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First International Conference on Salween-Thanlwin-Nu Studies

Call for Papers: First International Conference on Salween-Thanlwin-Nu Studies

"State of Knowledge: Environmental Change, Livelihoods and Development"14-15 November 2014

Hosted by the Regional Centre for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD), Faculty of Social Science, Chiang Mai University, Thailand.


Organized by the Salween-Thanlwin-Nu (STN) Studies Group

The conference will provide an opportunity for scholars, policy makers, community groups and civil society from Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, China and internationally to exchange information and to
learn from one another about critical environmental change, livelihoods and development issues in the Salween River Basin.

Shared between China, Myanmar, and Thailand, a range of cultural, biological, and socio-economic values are generated by the Salween River and its adjacent basin ecosystems; the river supports the livelihoods for more than six million people. At the same time, there are nowadays a range of Proposals for investment into the river basin, including plans for 20 large hydropower dams, which is being largely undertaken without comprehensive basin-wide assessment that considers the Cumulative impacts on ecosystem and existing local livelihoods.

The purposes of the conference are:
   - To address the lack of knowledge about the Salween at a basin-wide level by bringing together researchers from a range of disciplines and backgrounds to present work specifically within the framework of    "Salween-Thanlwin-Nu Studies."
   - To provide a forum where a wide range of environmental, social,  cultural and development issues related to the Salween River can be discussed amongst scholars, policy makers, community groups and civil society.
   - This conference will also launch the Salween-Thanlwin-Nu Studies Group, which aims to be a regional network of scholars, policy makers, community groups and civil society working on issues related to the Salween River.

We would like to invite interested participants to submit both individual papers and organized panels for consideration. Topics may include, but are not limited to:

   - River-related livelihoods and alternative or local knowledge
   - Political ecology and development
   - Indigenous knowledge, local research, and citizen science
   (participatory knowledge)
   - Geopolitics and environmental governance
   - Trans border decision-making and governance, including environmental
   and international law
   - Environmental Assessment - Transboundary EIA, Strategic Environmental
   Assessments, alternative tools
   - Human rights, corporate accountability, and regional development
   - Agrarian change/peasant studies, including water and land grabbing
   - Environmental science and geomorphology
   - Biodiversity and conservation
   - Climate and environmental change and adaptation
   - Political borders, boundaries and ecologies
   - Gender and development
   - Cultural politics of environment and development
   - Salween archaeologies and histories
   - Shan Studies - Ethnic Studies

Interested participants should submit a paper title and abstract with keywords (300 words maximum) along with brief biographical information (name, affiliation) by August 15, 2014. Please email submissions to the conference organizers at: salween.studies@gmail.com.







Non-English language panels may be accommodated. Please contact the organizers to discuss your requirements.

Successful candidates will be contacted by September 1, 2014. For those submitting papers, full papers should be submitted by November 1, 2014.

   - Publication Opportunity: One of the significant outcomes of this proposed meeting will include an edited volume of conference proceedings. This book will serve two purposes: it will serve as a baseline assessment of the state of knowledge, and it will provide a framework for future research about the Salween.
   - Field Trip: For interested conference participants, a field visit to the Salween River will be offered. Please indicate in your email if you are interested in this field trip opportunity.
   - Funding available: We will be able to offer travel funding to participants, especially those who are coming from China and Myanmar (Burma). We will also be able to offer accommodations for participants during the conference. Please indicate if you would like to be considered for travel funding.

More information and updates about the conference can be found on the RCSD
website:  http://rcsd.soc.cmu.ac.th/v2012/news_detail.php?id=55

For all related inquiries, please contact salween.studies@gmail.com

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Study Opportunities

Mekong Matters: Workshop and Network for Development Journalists

Deadline: July 31^st 2014

The rapid pace of development leading up to the the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is creating opportunities for journalists to find innovative and important environmental, business, investment, health and culture stories.

Are you a Mekong-area journalist who reports on social and environmental impacts of development projects such as dams, mines, roads, ports or economic land concessions? Mekong Partnership for the Environment (MPE) may have workshop, fellowship, resource and networking opportunities for you.

The Mekong Partnership for the Environment seeks journalists to participate in workshops and establish a network of Mekong journalists reporting on development issues. Participants will learn about social impacts, Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), investment, and investigative journalism. They will also help plan a Mekong journalist network reporting on these development issues and access other events and resources. Our first workshop is focused on finding story ideas using Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs):

Workshop: Mekong Matters: Reporting on Development Projects Using EIAs

When: Sept 16-19 (3.5 days), with travel on Sept 15 and 19 or 20.

Where: Chiang Mai, Thailand

Who: Print, broadcast or social media journalists: Editors. Senior reporters. Environmental or business reporters. Citizen and social media journalists. From Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam

Cost: No cost. All travel and event costs will be sponsored by MPE.

Objectives:Participants will learn how to:

·         Access and analyse EIAs for environment, business and other stories

·         Create human stories from EIA information and data

Participants will also:

·         Leave the workshop with real story ideas, outlines and/or sources

·         Take an investigative field trip to a real development project site

·         Discuss workshop and networking ideas for development journalists

·         Meet local environmental groups to get sources and story ideas

Access network news, map and data websites and story fellowships

Facilitators:

·         Jeff Rutherford: experienced journalism trainer with Internews, Thailand-based sustainability expert

·         James Fahn: UC Berkeley journalism lecturer, early innovator in Asian environmental reporting, Earth Journalism Network Director, EIA experts, local civil society organisations, Internews, Pact.

How to apply:

1.       Log-in to the Earth Journalism website. If you are a new member, please register with you name and email here: http://earthjournalism.net/@@register

2.       Click the apply link below.

3.       Fill out all required questions, upload your letters of reference and work samples (all file formats are accepted).

4.       You can save your application and return to it if you can't finish it at one time. Just remember to bookmark the application in your web browser

5.       Submit the application for review when you are finished. Apply by July 31st.

NEED-Burma

We are pleased to announce the opening of applications to the NEED-Burma’s Land, Law, and Economics Training (LLET) held in Chiang Mai. The 12 week training program begins on September 22^nd and ends December 13^th. It will cover a number of subjects including International Financial  

Institutions, Training of Trainers, Community Development, Economics and Globalization, Transitional Justice and Rule of Law, Peace Building, Human Rights, Organic Agriculture, Land Rights, and more.

We are accepting 15 – 19 students this round. We encourage all ages to apply. Ethnic minorities and females are also encouraged to apply. Visa’s and transportation costs will be coved by NEED-Burma for this training.

Space is limited so please apply early. We are accepting applications in Burmese and in English. For more information please visit us at www.NEED-Burma.org or e-mail with a subject LLET inquiry program@need-burma.org

  

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