The 2015 Regional Symposium
Bangkok, Thailand, Aug 25-27 2015 (apply by July 3)
The Mekong Partnership for the Environment is pleased to announce the 2015 Regional Symposium on “Shared Solutions: Safeguarding Sustainable Development in the Mekong Region” to be held in
Bangkok, Thailand, from August 25-27, 2015.
Designed as a learning symposium, sessions will incorporate trends and approaches for advancing social and environmental safeguards and responsible investment in the Mekong region, within the broader regional context of the emerging ASEAN Economic Community. Cutting across the event themes are opportunities for increasing regional cooperation among stakeholders and efforts to increase access to information and data. The agenda will include both plenary presentations and concurrent thematic discussions on topics such as:

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reforms in Mekong countries

Public participation and effective engagement in development decision-making

Integrating safeguards into the ASEAN Economic Community

Safeguard harmonization among donors and multi-laterals

Private sector perspectives on effective impact assessment

Social Safeguard Systems

Opportunities and challenges with multi-stakeholder approaches

Gender and safeguards

The Japanese experience with EIA in the Mekong

The future implications for safeguards in a warmer Mekong region

Investigating ‘alternative’ development models

AIIB and the changing landscape of multilateral finance

Environmental, Social, and Governance factors and responsible banking

Chinese investments in the Mekong

Moving beyond Corporate Social Responsibility

Open data and access to information

The role of regional journalism
Optional short training sessions on themes of interest will be provided on the third day.
Workshop: Shard Solutions: Safeguarding Sustainable Development in the
Mekong
When:
Where:
Who:
Aug 25-27, 2015
Eastin Grand Hotel Sathorn, Bangkok
Representatives from government, NGOs, international and regional safeguards/EIA practitioners, private sector, academics, donors, and
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Cost: media from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and China are encouraged to register.
The registration for the Symposium will be limited to 100 participants.
Travel support will be offered for a limited number of participants based on need and funding availability. The organizer aims to ensure a balanced participation from all relevant countries, sectors and backgrounds. Confirmation of attendance will be issued accordingly. An email confirmation of your attendance will be sent by mid-July.
Objectives:

Share approaches, research, action plans, and case studies around increasing regional cooperation and awareness on issues related to responsible investment and reducing social and environmental impacts of development;

Network with government, NGO, private sector, and academic experts and practitioners involved in addressing issues related to the social and environmental impacts of large-scale development in the lower Mekong countries and ASEAN more broadly;

Strengthen existing partnerships and identify potential new opportunities for national and regional collaboration; and

Increase the understanding of the role of integrated, regional development within the Mekong and the broader ASEAN region.
Mekong Partnership for the Environment (MPE) supports constructive engagement among civil society, governments and business to promote responsible development in the Mekong region. The event is organized by Pact as part of the MPE Project. Contributors to session design and content include: WLE-Mekong, World Resources Institute (WRI), NGO Forum on ADB, WWF, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Oxfam, Stockholm
Environment Institute (SEI), East West Management Institute (EWMI), Internews, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), and Vermont
Law School (VLS). Financial support is provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Swedish International
Development Cooperation (SIDA)
Please contact Areerat Chabada: achabada@pactworld.org
. Application deadline is July 3, 2015
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The 2015 Regional Symposium
Bangkok, Thailand Aug 25-27, 2015
The workshop is open to representatives from government, NGOs, international and regional safeguards/EIA practitioners, private sector, academics, and media, from Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam,
The event is limited to 100 participants. Confirmation of your attendance will be sent by mid-July
Apply: If you would like to attend the symposium, please fill out this word document and send it to achabada@pactworld.org
by July 3. Thank you!
(Note: This event will be held in Thailand in English)
Name:
Gender:
Job title/s:
Organization:
City & country:
Email:
Phone:
Type of participant □ Government □ NGO
□ Private sector □ Academia
□ Other (Please specify):_______________
Please rate your English 1-5:
5 = fluent, 1 = basic
BIOGRAPHY: Briefly describe your personal biography and include a description of your current work.
TOPIC INTEREST: Why are you interested in attending this workshop
How will you use the learning you get from your participation in this workshop?
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Are you specifically involved in any of the following areas?
□ large scale investment project
□ EIA policies and practices
□ social and environmental safeguards
□ policy-making
□ other related area
Funding: Funds available to support participants of the workshop are limited. Please indicate below if your nominating agency will be able to support your round trip travel and/or per-diem if you wish to be considered for funding support.
A.
Per-diem
( ) I have my own funding and do not wish to be considered for funding support
( ) I do not have funding and I do wish to be considered for funding support
B.
Round trip travel to Bangkok, Thailand
( ) I have my own funding and do not wish to be considered for funding support
( ) I do not have funding and I do wish to be considered for funding support
C.
Accommodation
( ) I have my own funding and do not wish to be considered for funding support
( ) I do not have funding and I do wish to be considered for funding support
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