Editor’s choice
The Sustainable Mekong Research Network (SUMERNET), an initiative for research and policy engagement, focuses on water insecurity in the Mekong Region through scientifically robust, policy-relevant research, and diverse and innovative means of outreach.
2019–2028
The Mekong Region continues its drive towards regional economic integration and a gradual shift towards more open political systems and a market economy. Sustainable development is a major challenge as environmental degradation takes a toll on both ecosystems and livelihoods, and competition over limited natural resources becomes increasingly common, often cutting across national boundaries. Poverty and social inequality – including gender inequality – remain significant concerns in the region.
The policy choices made today are thus crucial to ensuring socially inclusive, equitable and sustainable development in this region.
The Sustainable Mekong Research Network (SUMERNET), an initiative for research and policy engagement bringing together 70 research and policy partners, aims to support the sustainable development of the Mekong Region through scientifically robust, policy-relevant research and outreach.
In Phase 4 of its programme (2019-2028), titled SUMERNET 4 All, the network will focus on water insecurity throughout the Mekong Region by linking evidence-based research on regionally relevant water issues and engaging with policy, local community and vulnerable groups across the region.
Photo: Rajesh Daniel, SEI Asia.
Photo: Rajesh Daniel, SEI Asia
Photo: Rajesh Daniel, SEI Asia.
SUMERNET was launched in 2005, supported by the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida). Membership has grown from the initial 14 to 70 organizations comprising academics, government line agencies, independent research institutions and international organizations.
SUMERNET supports policy-relevant research and outreach activities to inform and engage decision-makers, planners and stakeholders bringing together research partners engaged in sustainable development in the six countries of the Mekong Region: Cambodia, China (specifically Yunnan Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region), Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Within this context, it pursues an evolving agenda in response to questions and policy issues that arise in the region.
In this present 4th phase called SUMERNET 4 All, the network will focus on reducing water insecurities for all, in particular, the poor, marginalized and socially vulnerable groups of women and men in the Mekong Region.
This new phase of SUMERNET 4 All will continue working towards sustainable development of the Mekong Region by putting knowledge-based policy engagement at the heart of its activities.
SUMERNET 4 All has the mission “to improve the policies and practices in reducing water insecurity by conducting collaborative research, engaging in the policy process, and promoting scientifically sound research and innovation while considering gender and social equality, human rights, conflict sensitivity, environmental integrity and poverty reduction in the Mekong Region.”
Our overarching mission is to improve policies and practices in the Mekong Region that reduce water insecurities in ways that are gender- and socially-responsive by: conducting collaborative research; engaging in the policy process; promoting scientifically sound research and innovation.
Water insecurity is defined as “not having the rights or access to sufficient water of adequate quality or being made increasingly vulnerable to unacceptable levels of water-related risks.” Water insecurity has important implications for health and wellbeing, gender equality, as well as livelihoods, income generation and productivity. Water insecurity is multi-scale: spatially, it may be applied to individuals, households, communities, nations and region; temporally, it may refer to just a particular time of year or season with high risks, or it may apply to entire years or decades, in particular under impacts of climate change which are highly uncertain.
In response to changing demands and policy debates in the Mekong Region, SUMERNET 4 All will focus on three research themes:
SUMERNET promotes the use of scientific knowledge in policy-making not just by producing policy-relevant research, but also by engaging development actors, decision-makers and other stakeholders directly in the research process. Engagement with these actors, whom we call ‘boundary partners’, is built into SUMERNET’s research activities, which helps ensure that the work is aligned with our boundary partners’ priorities and can be effectively integrated into their plans and programmes. Boundary partners also include actors active in promoting a gender policy lens to sustainable development, and thus would include gender/feminist organizations and individuals whose work is committed to building a democratic, inclusive and just Mekong future.
SUMERNET’s boundary partner model has led to the strategic engagement of decision-makers and influencers at all stages of research and dissemination, making SUMERNET research credible and policy-relevant. Boundary partners and other stakeholders are also engaged through media, communication and dialogue activities such as policy forums that will consciously integrate gender and social analyses and issues.
SUMERNET monitors emerging regional policy issues so that it can anticipate and be responsive to knowledge demands. The rapid development of the Mekong Region makes it essential that SUMERNET maintain a degree of flexibility to reorganize around emerging issues. SUMERNET’s structure is highly inclusive: partners can propose new strategic directions for the network to consider by the SUMERNET Steering Committee. This ensures that SUMERNET’s work remains directly relevant and driven by the region.
Join this side event, jointly organized by the Sustainable Mekong Research Network (SUMERNET) and Mekong Thought Leadership and Think Tanks Network Program, to fill in knowledge and policy gaps and to seek actionable evidence-based solutions for consideration by MRC decision-making and other planning processes.
The Mekong Thought Leadership and Think Tanks Network Program, supported by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), is providing fellowship opportunity hosted in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Vietnam. The fellowships are intended for entry- or mid-level professionals of all genders who are Mekong citizens (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, Vietnam) with research, policy, and/or practitioner experience on water, energy, and climate sectors.
This podcast explores the concept of epistemic injustice. What is it, when does it occur, and how can researchers address this in research projects?
SUMERNET Mekong Media-Research Partnership 2021-2022
2022
Tha, T., Piman, T., Bhatpuria, D., Ruangrassamee, P. (2022). Assessment of Riverbank Erosion Hotspots along the Mekong River in Cambodia Using Remote Sensing and Hazard Exposure Mapping. Water 2022, 14, 1981. https://doi.org/10.3390/w14131981
Lebel, L., Navy, H., Siharath, P., Long, C. T. M., Aung, N., Lebel, P., Hoanh, C. T., Lebel, B. (2022). COVID-19 and household water insecurities in vulnerable communities in the Mekong Region. Environ Dev Sustain. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-022-02182-0
Lebel, L., Aung, N., Long, C.T.M. et al. (2022). Stakeholder Perspectives on COVID-19 and Household Water Access in Vulnerable Communities in the Mekong Region. Environmental Management. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-022-01616-9
2021
Lebel, L., Soe, K. M., Phuong, N. T., Navy, H., Phousavanh, P., Jutagate, T., Lebel, P., Pardthaisong, L., Akester, M., Lebel, B. (2021). Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic response on aquaculture farmers in five countries in the Mekong Region, Aquaculture Economics & Management, 25:3, 298-319, DOI: 10.1080/13657305.2021.1946205
New paper assesses COVID-19 measures on aquaculture farmers’ livelihoods in the Mekong Region
Shrestha, M., Piman, T., Grünbühel, C. (2021). Prioritizing key biodiversity areas for conservation based on threats and ecosystem services using participatory and GIS-based modeling in Chindwin River Basin, Myanmar. Ecosystem Services, 48. 101244. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2021.101244
Shrestha, M., Matheswaran, K., Polpanich, O., Piman, T., Krittasudthacheewa, K. (2021). A stakeholder‐centric tool for implementing water management strategies and enhancing water cooperation (SDG 6.5) in the Lower Mekong Region. In Pandey, P. V., Shrestha, S. and Wiberg, D. (Eds.) Water, Climate Change, and Sustainability, pp. 239-256. Wiley Online LIbrary. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119564522.ch16
Ainsley, S. et al. 2018. Fish species diversity and fisheries resources from wetlands in Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary, Cambodia, Cambodian Journal of Natural History, Volume 2018 No. 1. Centre For Biodiversity Conservation Royal University of Phnom Penh.
Nguon, P. et al. (2018) Co-production of salient, credible and legitimate environmental knowledge: Cambodia National REDD+ Strategy. Journal of Sustainability Science. Springer.
Kusakabe, K. and Myae, Aye C. (2017) Precarity and Vulnerability Under Expansion of Rubber Plantation in Northern Laos and Northern Shan State. Journal of Contemporary Asia. Routledge.
Elazegui, D.D., Maria Ana T. Quimbo, and S.G. De los Santos (2016) Adaptation Pathways for Climate-Resilient Development: Lessons from Selected Local Government Units in Central Luzon, Philippines. Journal of Development Policy Review. Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Overseas Development Institute.
Melati, K., Aung, M. T., González, J. G., Nguyen, P., Htway, T., Bhatpuria, D. (2021). Policy recommendations for environmental conservation in the Chindwin River Basin. SEI policy brief. Stockholm Environment Institute.http://doi.org/10.51414/sei2021.033
Krittasudthacheewa, C., Maung, W., Lebel, L., Daniel, R. and Hongsathavij, V., eds (2021). Chindwin Futures: Natural resources, livelihoods, institutions and climate change in Myanmar’s Chindwin River Basin. Strategic Information and Research Development Centre, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.
Trung N.H., Duc N.H., Loc N.T., Tuan D.D.A., Thinh L.V., Lavane K. 2019. Urban Water Management Under Uncertainty: A System Dynamic Approach. In: Stewart M., Coclanis P. (eds) Water and Power. Advances in Global Change Research, vol 64. Springer, Cham.
Krittasudthacheewa C., Hap, N., Bui, D.T., and Voladet, S. (eds.). (Forthcoming 2019). Addressing the Impacts and Uncertainties in Development and Climate Change in the Mekong Region. SIRD, Selangor, Malaysia.
Nguyen, V. K., & Howie, C. (Eds.). 2018. Conservation and Development of the Floating Rice Based Agro-Ecological Farming Systems in the Mekong Delta. Agricultural Publishing House, Hanoi.
Lebel, L., Hoanh, C.T., Krittasudthacheewa, C., Daniel, R. (Eds.). 2014. Climate risks, regional integration and sustainability in the Mekong region. SIRD,Selangor, Malaysia.
Daniel, R., C. Grünbühel, V. Hongsathavij (eds.) SUMERNET Research Projects: Policy Briefings Phase 3 (2013-2018). SEI Asia, Bangkok, Thailand.
All episodes are available on Podbean platform.
Saving Chindwin’s Biodiversity (~11 mins. in Myanmar language with English subtitles, June 2019).
SUMERNET film series on “Climate change and water insecurity”, 2018. Producer: Rajesh Daniel, SEI Asia, Bangkok, Thailand.
Photo: SUMERNET.
This section provides highlights from the website of the SUMERNET programme. The website is the platform used to reach out to the network partners from the Mekong to highlight work on sustainable development, poverty alleviation, gender and social equality and the incorporation of a rights-based approach in natural resource management.
The website also supports the dissemination of SUMERNET work with other Southeast Asian countries beyond the Mekong Region to promote greater regional collaboration and knowledge exchange.
During this current phase called SUMERNET 4 All, the website will feature stories and multimedia network on the overall theme of “water insecurity”.
Below is a selected list of recent highlights from the SUMERNET website:
Join this side event, jointly organized by the Sustainable Mekong Research Network (SUMERNET) and Mekong Thought Leadership and Think Tanks Network Program, to fill in knowledge and policy gaps and to seek actionable evidence-based solutions for consideration by MRC decision-making and other planning processes.
The Mekong Thought Leadership and Think Tanks Network Program, supported by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), is providing fellowship opportunity hosted in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Vietnam. The fellowships are intended for entry- or mid-level professionals of all genders who are Mekong citizens (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, Vietnam) with research, policy, and/or practitioner experience on water, energy, and climate sectors.
This podcast explores the concept of epistemic injustice. What is it, when does it occur, and how can researchers address this in research projects?
The podcast discusses the definition of knowledge(s) (in plural), and the co-creating approach used by Prof. Kanokwan. What is co-creation of knowledges? How can it help deal with conflicts and unintended consequences in a policy making cycle?
In the dry and arid central region of Myanmar, water for drinking and farming is scarce. Climate risks are worsening the situation as dry seasons get longer and more intense; most young people are migrating to the cities.
This is part of the SUMERNET documentary film series on “Climate Risks and Water Insecurity in the Mekong Region” produced by SUMERNET. Watch the seven short films here.
SUMERNET is open to organizations and individuals with an interest in contributing to sustainable development in the Mekong Region through knowledge-based policy engagement. We welcome partners to serve in different capacities and participate in various activities, e.g. research project implementation, knowledge exchange and sharing, capacity building and mentorship, joint publications, and contributing to policy debates and public forums.
To become a member of SUMERNET, interested parties can send an email to: [email protected].
For more information about our work and partners, please visit our website: sumernet.org
Other publication
17 June 2014 / About Adaptation and Climate policy
Feature / In the dry and arid central region of Myanmar, climate risks mean more intense and longer dry spells and frequent droughts.
19 April 2018 / About Disaster Risk, Food and agriculture and Water resources
Feature
1 February 2016 / About Public policy
Design and development by Soapbox.