Event — River Cities Network Meeting

First River Cities Network F2F Meeting

25 - 27 November 2023

The River Cities Network (RCN) Bangkok meeting brings together, face-to-face, the principal investigators (or their representatives) of the RCN-project teams, the network coordinators, and several of the RCN advisors. The meeting objectives are to stimulate interaction among the RCN stakeholders; to engage with a nearby riverside community in a day of joint fieldwork around local disruption challenges; and to discuss the RCN’s objectives, methods, future activities, and funding strategies.

Objectives

The River Cities Network (RCN) Bangkok meeting brings together, face-to-face, the principal investigators (or their representatives) of the RCN project teams, the network coordinators, and several of the RCN advisors. The meeting objectives are to stimulate interaction among the RCN stakeholders; to engage with a nearby riverside community in a day of joint fieldwork around local disruption challenges; and to discuss the RCN’s objectives, methods, future activities, and funding strategies.

Format

The meeting will comprise 3 days. Days 1 and 2 will take place in the Montien Riverside Hotel, while Day 2 will take place in the urban orchard community of Bang Krachao, downriver from the hotel (transportation for participants will be arranged). There will be four “roundtable” sessions to discuss strategic issues for the River Cities Network, spread out across Days 1 and 3. In addition, Day 1 will feature a half-day of presentations about the Bangkok waterways context. On Day 2, participants will acquire hands-on exposure to the evolving situation of local waterways through a field visit to Bang Krachao, hosted by community representatives there.

Engagement with Bang Krachao community representatives

The Bang Krachao community representatives welcome the opportunity to “host” the RCN participants in their neighborhood on Day 2 of the RCN launch meeting. The objective of the joint fieldwork will be to have a discussion on the complex disruption issues currently facing the canal system and orchards in the community. The RCN partners and advisors will not come as “experts”, as the local context is too specific for that and the time available to the RCN teams too short to provide meaningful recommendations. Moreover, the representatives know better than any outsiders the specific (social and environmental) conditions in their community. Rather, the community welcomes the opportunity to share their story with the RCN and to engage in a discussion that could yield insights, lessons, and (perhaps) some suggestions for the Bang Krachao case based on the international context and experience of the RCN teams. They hope that the outcomes of the joint fieldwork can help them as they proceed with their local activism. The fieldwork will be organized around four main challenges, which constitute core problems faced by the community: 1) land use change (legal and illegal), 2) flood barrier and excess saltwater, 3) socioeconomic changes, 4) biodiversity loss.