Inception Workshop on Sustainability Science Demonstration Site: Framework For Action “Water and Environmental Sustainability in Langkawi” under the MFIT project SHARP (Science Harnessed for ASEAN Regional Policy)
Group photo of the participants @A.M. Tchadie
To mark the start-up of the research for the establishment of the Sustainability Science Demonstration Site in Langkawi, the Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI) of the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), organized with the support of UNESCO Jakarta a three days’ workshop on "Sustainability Science Demonstration Site: Framework For Action: Water and Environmental Sustainability in Langkawi” from 23 to 26 November 2015, in Langkawi, Malaysia.
Participants included, two keynote speakers, an expert on social science, experts working on the establishment of the two other sustainability science demonstration sites in Cambodia and Philippines, representatives from LESTARI - UKM, stakeholders from Langkawi Development Authority (LADA), Langkawi Research Centre (PPL), Friends of Langkawi Geopark Association (FLAG) and representatives from local NGOs and community organizations.
Group discussions @ A.M. Tchadie
On the first day of the workshop, after the welcome remark of Prof Mazlin Mokhtar, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation of UKM, Mr Shahbaz Khan, Director of UNESCO Office, Jakarta introduced the general idea behind the inception workshop. The overall framework of the event was to design the baseline to guide the establishment of the sustainability science demonstration site in Langkawi. There is an important need to understand the current water, environmental, economic and social shocks; as well as it is necessary to use a visioning exercise in order to develop a sustainability plan, which will guide all development actions for Langkawi towards 2030. Built on a system harmonization approach, the discussions were based on multiple scenarios, going beyond fragmented disciplines towards the design the vision for a water and environmental sustainable future in Langkawi.
On the second day, the participants were divided into groups of discussions with different topics to undertake the feasibility analysis and to compile elements of the application of the framework for the demonstration site which will be applied not only in Langkawi, but also in Cambodia and Philippines. At the end of the exercise, the results were collected and delivered to LESTARI – UKM for further actions.
In the afternoon of the day, participants visited the Langkawi Research Centre (LRC) and the team of researchers involved in the establishment of the demonstration site in Langkawi, presented to the participants the facilities were the research will be conducted.
Participants at the LESTARI Research Centre in Langkawi @A.M. Tchadie
The third day of the event was dedicated to sites visit. Participants visited the Kilim Geoforest Park, Kisap River and Kota Mahsuri. During these visits, it was explained to the participants, the different impacts of social and economic activities on the rivers. Several threats such as the degradation of the mangroves, the expansion of development infrastructures, the degradation of water quality of the rivers, etc. were identified and some data were collected by the participants.
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