Off-grid energy for rural development in Southeast and South Asia: Closing regional workshop

The Smart Villages Initiative (SVI) the Global Young Academy (GYA), the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), and the National Science Museum (NSM) held a workshop on off-grid energy for rural development in Bangkok, Thailand from 7 to 9 March 2017. The workshop covered how energy access in off grid villages can enable improvements in education and healthcare at the village level, the role and view-point of young scientists on science-policy issues related to smart villages and rural development, and sought to achieve a synthesis of what has been learned from engagement programmes in South and Southeast Asia on these topics.

Programme

Day 1, Tue 7 March:
How can off-grid energy access enable improvements in education & healthcare at the village level
Workshop introduction and overview Dr Bernie Jones, Smart Villages Initiative
Moritz Reid, Global Young Academy
Welcome addressDr Yongyuth Yuthavong, former Deputy Prime Minister, Thailand
Introduction to the Smart Villages Initiative – reflections on energy-education/healthJohn Holmes, Smart Villages Initiative
Keynote 1 (Health): Opportunities and challenges to enhance village level healthcare in South and Southeast Asia through energy access and ICTJay Evans, Medic Mobile, Nepal
Keynote 2 (Education): Opportunities and challenges to enhance village level education in South and Southeast Asia through energy access and ICTSowirin Chuanprapun, UNESCO Bangkok, Thailand
Keynote 3 (Health): Experiences of the health-energy interaction at village levelAvishek Malla, Sunfarmer, Nepal
Keynote 4 (Education): Experiences of the education-energy interaction at village levelFarid Khan, IEEE Smart Village, India
Keynote 5 (Integrating energy-health-education): Experience of the interaction at village levelMike Rosenberg, Aleutia Energy, UK
Plenary discussion: ICT as an enabler, attracting staff, synergies, need for holistic/welfare outcomes approach, evaluating outcomes, roles of different players Dr Bernie Jones, Smart Villages Initiative
Parallel session: Health 1. Chaw Chaw Sein, Forest Research Institute, Myanmar

2. Nguyen Hong Hanh SNV, Laos

3. Jay Evans, Medic Mobile, Nepal
Education
Parallel session: Education 4. Clémentine Vignault, Slate2learn, UK & India

5. Dil Bahadur Shrestha, National Resource Center for Non Formal Education, Nepal
Day 2, Wed 8 March:
The role and view-point of young scientists on science-policy issues related to smart villages
Welcome and Introduction of the Global Young AcademyDr Almas Awan and Dr Moritz Riede, Global Young Academy
Keynote presentation: Challenges and Opportunities for International Collaboration in Green Science, Technology and Innovation Prof Mohamed Hassan, TWAS Executive Director a.i., Italy, President of the Sudanese Academy of Sciences, Past President of IAP
Women and their potential role in Smart villages, using Science and TechnologyDr Sohasini Sudtharalingam, International Development Consultant, UK
Education and Development in Rural CommunitiesDr Aftab Ahmad, National Academy of Young Scientists (NAYS), Pakistan
Plenary Discussion Dr Sohasini Sudtharalingam
Dr Aftab Ahmad
Energy Innovations as a Major Factor for Transition to Smart VillagesDr Bart Kolodziejczyk, Business Development Director, H2sg Energy Founder and Managing Director, Scientists-in-Residence, Australia
Smart Villages: the power of Innovation and Human Centred DesignDr David Ireland, Chief Innovation Officer, ThinkPlace, Australia
Technology & Open Science in Smart VillagesDr Christa Hasenkopf
Key messages for policy makers, development organisations, entrepreneurs and other stakeholdersDr Almas Awan
Dr Moritz Riede
Day 3, Thu 9 Mar: Learnings from South and Southeast Asia
Summary of day 1 and 2Bernie Jones, Smart Villages Initiative
SVI: review of findings of engagement programmes in South and Southeast AsiaJohn Holmes, Smart Villages Initiative
Keynote 1: Issues and opportunities for rural energy access for development in South and South East AsiaRustam Sengupta, BOOND Engineering & Development Pvt. Ltd, India
Keynote 2: Issues and opportunities for rural energy access for development in South AsiaDebajit Palit, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), India
Keynote 3: Issues and opportunities for the water-energy-food nexus in AsiaSP Wani, ICRISAT, India
Keynote presentation 4: Clean/sustainable cooking in South and Southeast Asia: how do we make it happen?Nguyen Hong Hanh, SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, Lao
Peter Johnston, Environmental & Energy Consultants Ltd., Fiji Peter Johnston, Environmental & Energy Consultants Ltd., Fiji
Panel discussion: How can off-grid energy support productive enterprise.
1. Karen Jacob, World Bank, Philippines
2. Citra Savitri, Wobe, Indonesia
3. Nafees Ahmad Khan, Pakistan
4. Farid Khan, IEEE Smart Village, India
Breakout Sessions: identify key messages for policy makers, development organisations, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders Bernie Jones, Smart Villages Initiative
Next stepsJohn Holmes, Smart Villages Initiative
Moritz Riede, Global Young Academy
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