On Wednesday, 18 March 2020, the Faculty of Social Administration (SOCAD), Thammasat University will host an academic seminar presented by the Department of Development and Sustainability, Asian Institute of Technology (AIT).

The seminar, on Development and Sustainability, will take place from 9:30am to 12:30pm in SW302 3rd floor of the Faculty of Social Administration (SOCAD) building, Thammasat University, Rangsit campus.

As all TU students know, AIT is an international organization for higher education in Khlong Luang. It specializes in engineering, advanced technologies, sustainable development, and management and planning. Its aim is to promote technological change and sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region, through higher education, research, and outreach.

The TU Library owns many books published by AIT and featuring the work of AIT researchers. The TU Library collection also contains many books about development and also about sustainability.

DDS at AIT, according to its website

• aims to respond to emerging challenges to sustainable development in Asia and rest of the world. The world is rapidly changing economically, socially, politically as well as culturally. In order to effectively address various emerging issues, we need to have critical and deep analysis of contexts under a multiplicity of identities – be it by gender, religion, ethnicity, class, age, geographical location, livelihood, etc.
• There are urgent needs for professionals who are able to apply multi-disciplinary approach to problem solving, with in-depth understanding and responsiveness to the various needs of women and men.
• We strive to generate knowledge and approaches to meet these needs in the region.

Mission

• To develop a next generation of leaders who are able to address emerging and rapidly changing development needs involving various resources – natural, human, social, economical or political
  • and –
• To serve the society by producing analysis and grounded knowledge that will contribute to improve practices for sustainable development

Career Opportunities

• The Department employs an interdisciplinary approach to train and produce highly skilled professionals in the fields of Gender and Development Studies; Natural Resources Management; Regional Rural Development Planning; and Urban Environmental Management; and Disaster Preparedness, Mitigation and Management.
• Our graduates work for local and international research institutions; universities; government and non-governmental organizations; as well as international organizations such as the United Nations (UN), World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and others.

The agenda of the seminar includes such topics as where is the Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS); career path, research examples and activities related in DDS; studying towards master’s and doctoral program and available scholarships; sharing experiences from TU alumni and current DDS students; in alternating English language and Thai language sessions. All students interested in attending are cordially invited to register at this link.

Distinguished speakers

Among the speakers at the seminar will be Professor Kyoko Kusakabe, Department Head of the Department of Development & Sustainability, and expert in Gender and Development Studies at AIT.

The TU Library owns some books edited and coedited by Ajarn Kyoko, notably Gender equality in urban environmental management: a casebook.

Copies are available for loan at the Pridi Banomyong Library, Tha Prachan campus, and the  Professor Direk Jayanama Library, Faculty of Political Science, Tha Prachan campus.

The TU Library also owns a book co-authored by Ajarn Kyoko, Thailand’s Hidden Workforce: Burmese Migrant Women Factory Workers. The book is shelved in the Pridi Banomyong Library.

Among Ajarn Kyoko’s areas of expertise are gender and development; labor migration; women in the informal economy; unpaid work; gender issues in fisheries and aquaculture; and gender assessment of development projects. She has also researched cleaner aquaculture production systems; applied genetics in aquaculture/stock improvement and management; aquaculture-environment interactions; innovative hatchery techniques for fish and crustaceans; and  climate-smart fisheries and aquaculture production/consumption

Books coedited by Ajarn Kyoko that are available to TU students through the TU Library Interlibrary Loan (ILL) service include Transformations of indigenous people’s lives and livelihoods: Mobilities in China, Laos, and India; and Gender, road and mobility in Asia, London: Practical Action.

Another speaker at the seminar will be Professor Nophea Sasaki of the School of Environment, Resources and Development (SERD) AIT, an expert in climate policy, forest carbon management, and ecological modelling. He lectures in climate change and sustainable development.

The TU Library collection contains a book with a chapter co-authored by Ajarn Nophea, Managing Concession Forests for Carbon Benefit in Cambodia.

The book in which this chapter appears is GMS 2020: Balancing Economic Growth and Environmental Sustainability : Focusing on Food-Water-Energy Nexus : conference proceedings edited by Hasan Moinuddin and Jay Maclean.

Copies are shelved in the General Stacks of Pridi Banomyong Library and the Puey Ungphakorn Library, Rangsit campus.

Ajarn Nophea earned a PhD with a special focus on forest management at Gifu University, Japan, following a master of science degree in forest management at Shinshu University, Japan and a bachelor of science degree in agroforestry at the Royal University of Agriculture, Cambodia.

His research interests include forest carbon management; selective logging; forest carbon accounting and modelling; ecological modelling; low-carbon project development; The REDD + Integrated Project; biodiversity conservation; payment for ecosystem services; and climate policy.

As part of his research in data technology and technovation for sustainability, Ajarn Nophea taught for 11 years at the University of Hyogo in Kobe, Japan. He was known for his forest carbon management and technovation for sustainability and is affiliated with the Natural Resource Management academic program of the Department of Development and Sustainability at SERD.

SERD lists the following mission, vision, and core values on its website:

SERD responds to regional needs by mobilizing and enhancing capacities for socially, economically and environmentally sound development in partnership with public and private sectors. The School’s interdisciplinary approach integrates technological, natural and social sciences.

SERD VISION

SERD will continue its leadership role in offering excellent academic programs relevant to regional needs.

SERD research will be concentrated toward focal area and are to be conducted by core teams

SERD outreach will be community-service oriented

SERD Programs will be consolidated and financially viable. The School/Program activities including the students, staff, faculty and curricula, will subject to quality assessment

SERD CORE VALUES

• Interdisciplinary
• Innovativeness
• Excellence
• Responsiveness

Limelight of school creates linkages among regional, national and international universities not only for academic but also for research purposes. Some of them are interuniversity, inter- disciplinary and executive master programs. Dynamic of students and faculty are facilitating strong connection within the region and outside the world. Gender equality is also one of the aspects that the school concerned. Enrollment of students proves gender equality within the school. Currently 55% of female and 45% of male under take their higher studies in SERD.

A third speaker at the seminar will be Assistant Professor Sylvia Szabo, Ph.D., an expert in climate change and sustainable development, urbanisation, and population change.

Ajarn Sylvia earned a Ph.D. in social statistics and demography at the University of Southampton, United Kingdom (UK), after a master of science degree in human geography at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), UK, and a master of science degree in European politics and governance, also at LSE.

Her areas of expertise include climate-sensitive development; adaptation to climate change; poverty alleviation; population change; public policy; urban-rural interlinkages; food and nutrition security; and monitoring and evaluation.

Ajarn Sylvia previously worked at Save the Children, University of Southampton, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. She also consulted for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)