On 17 – 18 August 2012, in Chiang Mai, the Mekong Migration Network (MMN) held the First Consultation Meeting for the research project: ‘Climate Change and Migration: Exploring the Impacts of Climate Change on People’s Livelihoods and Migration in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS).’

The project is funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and is being undertaken in partnership with the Asian Migrant Centre (AMC). It aims to explore linkages between climate change and migration in the GMS.

Attendees at the First Consultation Meeting were representatives from MAP Foundation, Karen Environmental and Social Action Network (KESAN), Foundation for Education and Development (FED), Burma Environmental Working Group (BEWG), Ecodev Myanmar, the Climate Change Coordination Office of Cantho City, Vietnam (CCCO), the Southern Institute of Sustainable Development in Vietnam (SISD), and the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, Japan.

The two days of meetings focussed on: sharing of expertise and experiences in climate change and/or migration in the region; mapping the impacts of climate change in the region; mapping of related migration flows; discussions regarding the impact of climate change on livelihoods, the links between climate change and socio-economic development, links to migration, and other factors that may influence livelihoods and migration; proposed research methodology; and definition of key terms.

Key outcomes of the meeting included a refinement of the project objectives; selection of research partners; development of a joint work plan; and identification of case study communities in Magway Division in Myanmar’s ‘Dry Zone’, and Vinh Thanh District in Cantho City, Vietnam.

Primary research in the selected communities in scheduled to take place in October and November 2012, and a Second Consultation Meeting to consider initial research findings will take place in early 2013.

Please contact Ms Jessica Marsh (jessica@mekongmigration.org) for further information about the project.