Mekong Environmental Symposium
Context
The United Nations has declared 2013 as the year of “International Year of Water Cooperation”. Actors from all backgrounds and disciplines will take advantage of this to actively promote the internationally agreed water-related goals, which were set out in Agenda 21, the Millennium Development Goals, and prior climate-related summits in Johannesburg, Kyoto, Cancun, and Rio. At the Mekong Environmental Symposium 2013 we hope to focus on the most pressing issues in one of the world’s largest transboundary river catchments. The Mekong Basin is home to over 70 million inhabitants. The river flows for over 4800 km through six countries. Nations active in the Mekong include not only the riparian countries themselves, but also countries such as Japan and other ASEAN nations, Australia, the USA, and many European countries. We are therefore looking forward to welcoming contributions from representatives of all these countries, who will present their ideas on the sustainable, healthy development of the basin.
Programme Topics
The United Nations has declared 2013 as the year of “International Year of Water Cooperation”. Actors from all backgrounds and disciplines will take advantage of this to actively promote the internationally agreed water-related goals, which were set out in Agenda 21, the Millennium Development Goals, and prior climate-related summits in Johannesburg, Kyoto, Cancun, and Rio. At the Mekong Environmental Symposium 2013 we hope to focus on the most pressing issues in one of the world’s largest transboundary river catchments. The Mekong Basin is home to over 70 million inhabitants. The river flows for over 4800 km through six countries. Nations active in the Mekong include not only the riparian countries themselves, but also countries such as Japan and other ASEAN nations, Australia, the USA, and many European countries. We are therefore looking forward to welcoming contributions from representatives of all these countries, who will present their ideas on the sustainable, healthy development of the basin.
Programme Topics
- Hydropower development and impacts on the river ecology
- Hydropower development and impacts on the economy
- Mekong Basin forest dynamics and REDD+
- Mekong Basin landuse (non-forest) dynamics
- Mekong Basin hydrology and hydrography
- Hazards and disaster risk reduction in the Mekong Basin
- Mekong Basin aquatic ecology, biodiversity and water quality protection
- Tonle Sap Lake: ecology, biodiversity and rural livelihoods
- Mekong Delta: Climate change related challenges
- Impacts of urbanization and industrialisation on agriculture and water resources
- Collaboration platforms in basin management: Information Systems and Spatial Infrastructures
- Capacity building, education and outreach