Presentation of the Project at the 2nd Thai Australian Business Studies Conference

After the return from our fieldwork in Thailand, we had to prepare to host a Thai-Australian Studies conference at RMIT University. The idea of the conference is to bring together delegates who are interested in business and community development from ASEAN nations and Australia.

Our research team also hosted a conference dinner with RMIT's Centre for Business Education Research on the first night of the conference. The dinner was well attended by delegates from Burapha University, Chulalong korn University, Monash, RMIT and the University of Melbourne.

At the second day of the conference, we organised a forum on gender and mining industry and shared our experiences on mining and development project with DFAT, our field trips in Lao PDR and Thailand. We also presented preliminary findings from Thailand, focusing on stories from Tub Klor and relationship between mining MNC and women in the community. The presentation was well reviewed and attended by young researchers from various disciplines.

At the end of the 2nd Thai Australian Business Studies conference, we were confirmed by a number of participants that the value of our research project can go beyond economics and management area. In fact, those from health, cultural studies and community development also show strong interest in the project and help us to think of new directions to promote this project to policy makers in Australia, Thailand and Lao PDR. 

 

Data Collection in Thailand: Meeting with the Community

Our team in Thailand is quite a large team from Thammasat and Mahidol Universities. In this project, we also employed seven postgraduate students from Mahidol University to help us in the data collection process in Pijit. This particular aspect of the project fits in the scope of the Australian Aid's research strategy very well since we also aim to empower young scholars to be more familiar with the research process and its complications.

We started our second day at the house of head of village (Poo Yai Ban). Similar to our experiences in Laos, meeting with Poo Yai Ban is very important and courteous. It is important that we introduce our project and its objectives to the leader of this community. I can see a bit of hesitation at the first 20 minutes, due to some sensitive issues in the community.  Poo Yai ban explained several community issues and how nmining MNCs work with the community to promote issues such as community development, environmental criticisms, job and employment, educational development and health issues.  Indeed, the relationship structure between this community and mining MNC is truly interesting.

We also visited the community's meeting (at the central Sala ) and listened to the community stories from various perspectives. My first interview was with some representatives from the sewing group, a vocational group mainly for women (YES! it means men are allowed to join  this group). A number of relationship issues emerge from our discussions. Some stories on how women group works with mining MNCs in Thailand. Some stories from the community perspectives can be very interesting for those who are interested in the sociological perspectives of the community.

Data Collection in Thailand: Day 1

We have made it to Thailand!!!

After months of planning and management of the project, our team arrived Pitsanuloke and Pijit this month. Our team in Thailand is a true multi-disciplinary team. Apart from Dr. Suphat Supachalasai, an economist from Thammasat Univertsity, we have been incorporated by Dr. Pilaipan from Mahidol University and her team. 

We met at the hotel to discuss the concept of community and some gender issues which are the key points from this study. We realized that common potential issues can be community's perspectives on development and its meaning. Thus, our team decided to follow some key iterviews

It is our hope that this fruitful trip will help us to academically understand of mining MNCs in this study.

The 5th International Conference of the Asian Rural Sociological Association (ARSA)

This project has created attentions not only in Australia, but also in Lao PDR and Thailand where our team has been working closely with the industry and the communities.

  

From 1-5 September, the National University of Laos (NUOLS) hosted the 5th International Conference of the Asian Rural Sociological Association (ARSA). One of the key organisers, Associate Professor Kabmanivanh Phouxay, discussed our project with international delegates from the region. Since the theme of the conference is  From Challenges to Prosperous Future in the Rural Asia, the key findings from the field in Vilabouly were well received by participants at the conference.  

                                                   Assoc.Prof. Phouxay at ARSA conference

The organiser of this conference, the Asian Rural Sociological Association, has been promoting the international conference to promote better understanding on the sociology of rural development in Asia. The Asian Rural Sociology Association (ARSA) was an offshoot of Asian Rural Sociology Working Group (ARSWG) which was set up in 1992 by a group of Asian participants attending the World Congress of International Rural Sociology Association (IRSA) in Pennsylvania State University, USA.

Presentation for the Centre for Sustainable Organisations and Work, the Sustainability

Nattavud Pimpa, Timothy Moore, Sheree Gregory and Brigitte Tenni presents International Mining and Development: How Multinational Corporations Promote Gender Equity

Sponsored by the Centre for Sustainable Organisations and Work, the Sustainability Seminar Series explores critical debates and issues from a wide range of disciplines. Though diverse, the series is connected by Centres key research themes: Work, Sustainability and Organisations, and Globalisation.

Event details

Event:	International Mining and Development: How Multinational Corporations Promote Gender Equity
Date:	26 September, 2014
Time:	3 pm – 4:30 pm
Location:	RMIT University, Building 80 Level 07 Room 06 (445 Swanston Street, Melbourne)
RSVP:	Email amrutha.sakuru@rmit.edu.au (Places are limited. Registration and attendance is free)

Capacity building Workshop: Communication for Research in Development

ADRAS project is unorthodox. When we think of other research project, ideas of publishing your research in top tier journals (AKA A*, A journals) might be project's priority.
In this project, apart from publishing and sharing the results to academic community, the Australian AID (DFAT) also suggested us to promote ideas and actions on capacity building with partners in the project. The impacts can and will be positive and perhaps larger.
In order to achieve this objective, I represent our team to Cholbri in Thailand to organise a capacity building workshop for 26 novice researchers and PhD. students at the Graduate School of Commerce, Burapha University. The focus of the workshop is communicating and disseminating research in business and community development.

Our team created contents and curriculum for this workshop from our current research on mining and development in Laos and Thailand. We worked with all participants to engage them to think about ways to create impacts from your research. I used a number of examples from international and local conferences that I attended to promote our project, meeting with the local authorities and media, writing and promoting policy brief to NGOs or civil society organisations, publishing in some journals and magazines, and being on social media.

The day was full with interesting conversation and ideas among participants who promise to engage their community and disseminate their developmental projects to various communication channels. We also created a network of developmental researcher where I will return to Burapha University and meet with them to listen to the next phase of their research plan.

Our team sincerely thank the Graduate School of Commerce at Burapha University to be very co-operative and supportive. We hope that this network will promote the concept of sustainability in the mining sector in Thailand.

AMNEP in Hanoi: Day 2

The second and last day of AMNEP  still is very interesting.

Due to the quality of speakers and ideas of the morning session, I am very certain that all participants have learnt a great deal on civil society organisations in South East Asia. The key challenges among women in South East Asia were substantially discussed by Professor Aurora Javater and Sally Moyle. Both speakers shared their experiences and interpretations of women's health, social issues and economy in our region.

The afternoon session was my highlight of the trip! It's the day we share some findings from the project and will launch the project's policy brief for NGOs and key Governmental and civil society organisations. Our workshop is set up for NGOs and delegates from different organisations who are interested in development in Mekong countries.

 

The panel includes Dr. Francisco Montiel from the United Nations Women, Tanja Van de Linde from Oxfam Novib and me. We met in the morning and discussed some commonalities among our projects and we need to be certain that the participants will be able to learn certain aspects of women's economic empowerment from our projects.

I shared our research findings and challenges for women in Lao PDR and the effects of mining industry on women and their communities. Our policy brief is obviously useful for participants and they we find that some recommendations from our project can be influential and interesting for NGOs and civil society organisations in Mekong region.

we also worked with the participants on the development of ideas and suggestions for the Australian AID on (1) implications for ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and women in AEC, (2) opportunities for women in the region, and (3) future of economic activities.

The  conclusion of second AMNEP forum was led by questions o the future of Mekong countries and the ways in which NGOs, local and regional Governments can work together for the future of this area.

I really hope that we will be able to return to the 3rd AMNEP and discuss key comparative points from our research project with participants from various organisation. This year is truly a great year for AMNEP and we need to thank DFAT for their support for all participants.