This class explores the concepts of environmental sustainability and transboundary resource flows, management and governance, focusing on the Mekong Basin /Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). This region includes the states of: China (Yunnan, Guizhou), Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. Home to more people than live in the US, the GMS is rich in biological and cultural diversity and is one of the worlds’ most rapidly developing regions. Yet, virtually all critical resources--water, food, energy-- are shared across nation state borders. Future resource management is dependent on cooperation evolving between state actors at many different scales, yet, so far, few frameworks are in place to facilitate such relationships. Management and governance issues are further complicated by unequal relationships between countries. For example, China is an economic and geopolitical powerhouse while Laos and Cambodia are two of the poorest countries in the world. China also sits upstream of the other GMS countries; in fact, it controls most of the water flowing downstream into an area where some 20% of the global human population dwells. Because of these and other factors, the GMS is a dynamic ecological, economic and political laboratory within which to examine 21st century problems, a place to explore the nature of sustainability, environmental resource flows and how to share across national borders. And, since China sits at the center of these debates, this class will also yield insights into that countries’ future role -- in the region, in Asia, and in world affairs.
The first week of this course will provide multiple definitions and overviews of sustainability and transboundary resource management; we will build a theoretical framework to use over the rest of the course. We will then proceed to a sector-by -sector examination of specific resource issues. We will begin with regional infrastructure, trade and energy flows. Biodiversity issues across boundaries will provide insights into problems with protected area management and maintaining shared environmental services. Water resources will introduce linked themes of hydropower, integrated river basin assessment, flood control, and agriculture. A focus on transboundary agriculture will help us to see the connections between food, energy and water. After working through a series of livelihoods case studies (urban/rural migration, cash crops, eco-health concerns), we will take a four day field trip to southern Yunnan to look at rubber production and its cross border impacts. We will end the class by exploring projections of climate change impacts on resource flows with a look into new models for environmental governance and decision making in the GMS.
Prerequisites:
None
Learning outcomes:
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
Develop and debate various sustainability and transboundary governance theories and frameworks.
Identify and understand the roles of key actors in the region (both governmental and non-governmental stakeholders) that influence environmental sustainability.
Map and link together inputs from multiple, transboundary sectors-- water, energy, food, economic policy, environmental services, governance, etc.
Conduct first-hand analysis of the impact of China’s geopolitical rise on prospects for transboundary governance and integration throughout the GMS, Asia, and the world.
Method of presentation:
The course will be a three credit, ten week classroom-based seminar, meeting for nineteen sessions for 2 hours with lectures, required readings, in-class discussions and occasional guest speakers. Students will have ample opportunities for engaged learning and class participation. Readings are comprised of primary and secondary literature on class themes as well as regional documents from research institutes and NGOs. There will be a 4 day field trip to the southern Yunnan/ Laos border during the latter part of the course.
Required work and form of assessment:
In-class participation (20%).
Two quizzes (each 10%): First quiz on basic knowledge of geography and GMS transboundary issues. Second quiz on potential solutions to resource flow issues in the GMS.
In -class small team oral report (20%): Students will choose from one of 4 class themes and give 15 minute presentations with 1-2 other students. Students will submit notes from report (1000-1500 words).
Field trip written summary (8-10 pages) (20%): Students will review the field trip and produce a report summarizing the issues encountered as well as their personal reaction to what they discover. This will require them to draw on course materials from throughout the semester.
Final paper (12-20 pages) (20%): Students will choose from one of 4 class themes and write an overview of the issue using class materials and outside reading.
Attendance policy: Attendance for all classes and field study trips is mandatory for the completion of the course. Each unexcused absence will count for a deduction of one-third of a student’s final letter grade.
content:
Class 1 9/10 Definitions and frameworks: What is environmental sustainability?
Ostrom, E. 2009. “A general framework for analyzing sustainability of social-ecological systems”, pp. 419-422.
Grumbine, R. E. 2010. “Where the Dragon Meets the Angry River”. (Intro, Chapter one, pp. 1-22).
Evans, J. 2012. “”Environmental Governance”. (Intro, pp. 1-21).
Class 2 9/12 Ways to understand transboundary resource management
Howlett, M. and Joshi-Koop, S. 2011. “Transnational learning, policy analytical capacity, and environmental policy convergence”, pp. 85-92.
Ogden, S. 2011. “China’s controversial role in developing the Mekong River basin”, pp. 32-38.
Evans, J. 2012. “Env. Gov.”. (Chapter one, pp. 21-45).
Class 3 9/17 Economics and infrastructure of GMS transboundary resource flows
Gautum, P. 2011. “Mapping Chinese oil and gas pipelines”, pp. 595-612.
Gadde, B. et al. 2012. “Status of energy use, power sector expansion… in the GMS”, pp. 435-448.
McCartan, B. 2011. “China outward bound..”. 4 pp.
Evans, J. 2012. “Env. Gov.”. (Chapter 45-76).
Class 4 9/19 Energy flows in the GMS
Ward, J., et al. 2012. “Mekong Energy Metabolism: Connecting Energy Demand into the Nexus of Food-Water-Energy Security”, pp. 355-377.
Kaish, H. and Kakonen, M. 2012. “Actors, interests, and forces shaping the energyscape of the Mekong Region”, pp. 47-58.
Evans, J. 2012. “Env. Gov.”. (Chapter 6, pp. 123-148).
Class 5 9/26 Biodiversity: Hotspots and protected areas
Grumbine, R. E. 2010. “Where the Dragon Meets the Angry River” (Chapters 3- 4, pp. 40-81).
Dinesh, D., et al. 2012. “Promoting upstream-downstream linkages through integrated ecosystem management in the Greater Mekong Subregion”, 13 pp.
Class 6 9/28 Biodiversity and provision of environmental services
Xu , J., Grumbine, R.E. et al. 2009. “The melting Himalayas: Cascading effects of climate change on water, biodiversity and livelihoods”, pp. 520-530.
Chazdon, R. 2008. “Beyond deforestation: Restoring forests and ecosystem services on degraded lands”, pp. 1458-1460.
Grumbine, R. E. 2010. “Where the Dragon Meets…”. (Chapter 2, pp. 23-40).
Class 7 10/8 Water flows in the GMS: rivers and dams
Grumbine, R., Dore, J. and Xu, J. 2012. “Mekong transboundary hydropower drivers and governance issues”, 91-98.
Keskinen, M. et al. 2012. “Mekong at the crossroads: Next steps for impact assessment of large dams”, pp. 319-324.
Class 8 10/10 Water: Science, politics, governance
Su Liu. 2011. “Risks of intensification of hydropower development in southwestern China: Urgent issues to be addressed”, pp. 1-19.
Ziv, G. et al. 2012. “Trading off fish biodiversity, food security and hydropower in the Mekong Basin”, pp. 5609-5614.
Evans, J. 2012. “Env. Gov.”. (Chapter 4, pp. 76-104).
Class 9 10/15 Food: Current and future production needs
Dugan P. et al. 2010. “Fish migration, dams, and loss of ecosystem services in the Mekong Basin”, pp. 344-348.
FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization). 2010. “State of food and agriculture in the Asia Pacific Region”.
Evans, J. 2012. “Env. Gov.”. (Chapter 5, pp. 104-123).
Class 10 10/17 Food: Regional and global links
Rerkasem, B. 2011. “Climate change and GMS agriculture”. (Chapter 2, pp. 35-77).
Sneddon, C. and Fox, C. 2012. “Inland capture fisheries and large river systems: A political economy of Mekong fisheries”, pp. 279-299.
Class 11 10/22 Livelihoods: Urban/rural links and disconnects
Rogers, P. 2012. “Water-energy nexus: Sustainable urbanization in the Greater Mekong Subregion”, pp. 138-148.
Warr, P. 2012. “Economic growth and poverty reduction in the Greater Mekong Subregion”, pp. 97-112.
Evans, J. 2012. “Env. Gov.”. (Chapter 7, pp. 148-170).
Class 12 10/24 Livelihoods and environmental justice in the GMS?
Xu, J. and Daniel R. 2011. “Linking climate change risks and rights of upland peoples in the Mekong”. (Chapter 10, pp. 217-245).
Stahl, M. and Warner, K. 2009. “The way forward: Researching the environment and migration nexus”, pp. 1-15.
October 28-31 Field Trip to Xishuangbanna, southern Yunnan. Equivalent to three class sessions
Ziegler, A. et al. 2009. “The rubber juggernaut”, pp. 1024-1025.
Xu, J. and Grumbine, R. E. In press. “Landscape transformation and the use of ecological and socioeconomic indicators in Xishuangbanna, Southwest China, Mekong Region”. 15 pp.
Grumbine, R. E. 2010. “Where the Dragon..”. (Chapters 5-6, pp. 83-108).
Class 13 11/5 Projections of future climates in the GMS
Scheffran, J. and Battaglini, A. 2011. “Climate and conflicts: The security risks of global warming”, pp. S27-39.
Evans, J. 2012. “Env. Gov.”. (Chapter 8, pp. 170-187).
Class 14 11/7 Climate change and transboundary flows in the GMS
Keohane, R. and Victor, D. 2011. “The regime complex for climate change”, pp. 7-23.
Baumuller, H. 2010. “Aligning climate and development agendas in the Mekong Region”, pp. 3-18.
Class 15 11/12 Frameworks for transboundary environmental governance: Pros and cons
Underdahl, A. 2010. “Complexity and challenges of long-term environmental governance”, pp. 386-393.
Young, O. 2011. “Effectiveness of international environmental regimes: Existing knowledge, cutting-edge themes, and research strategies”, pp. 19853-19860.
Evans, J. 2012. “Env. Gov”. (Chapter 9, pp. 187-210).
Class 16 11/14 Chinas’ role in transboundary issues
Shambaugh, D. 2011. “Coping with a conflicted China”, pp. 7-27.
Morton, K. 2008. “China and environmental security in the age of consequences”, pp. 52-67.
Grumbine, R. E. 2010. “Where the Dragon… “. (Chapter 7, pp. 108-123).
Class 17 11/19 Defining environmental security in the GMS
Floyd, R. 2008. “The environmental security debate and its significance for climate change”, pp. 51-65.
Grumbine, R. E. “Environmental security in the upper Mekong: Strategies and risks”.
Grumbine, R. E. 2010. “Where the Dragon…”. (Chapter 8, pp. 123-144).
Class 18 11/21 Three scenarios for a sustainable future in the GMS
Mainuddin, M. et al. 2010. “Adaptation options to reduce the vulnerability of Mekong water resources, food security and the environment to impacts of development and climate change”. (online).
Pittock, J. 2010. “Better management of hydropower in an era of climate change”, pp. 444-452.
Grumbine, R. E. 2010. “Where the Dragon..”. (Chapter 9, pp. 144-160).
Class 19 11/26 Summary and conclusion
The Stanley Foundation. 2011. “Rivalry and partnership--the struggle for a new global governance leadership”, 10 pp.
Evans, J. 2012. “Env. Gov.”. (Chapter 10, pp. 210-220).
Required readings:
Baumuller, H. 2010. Aligning climate and development agendas in the Mekong Region. Energy, Environment and Development Programme Paper: 2010/03. Department for International Development, Chatham House, London, UK.
Chazdon, R. 2008. Beyond deforestation: Restoring forests and ecosystem services on degraded lands. Science 320:1458-1460.
Dinesh, D., et al. 2012. Promoting upstream-downstream linkages through integrated ecosystem management in the Greater Mekong Subregion. United Nations Environmental Programme, Policy Brief 8, Nairobi, Kenya. 13 pp.
Dugan, P. et al. 2010. Fish migration, dams, and loss of ecosystem services in the Mekong Basin. Ambio 39: 344-348.
Evans, J. 2012. Environmental Governance. Routledge, London.
FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization). 2010. State of Food and Agriculture in the Asia Pacific Region. Thirtieth FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific. Seoul, Korea. www.fao.org/docrep/012/i0876e/i0876e00.htm.
Floyd, R. 2008. The environmental security debate and its significance for climate change. The International Spectator 43: 51-65.
Gadde, B. et al. 2012. Status of energy use, power sector expansion plans and related policies in the GMS. Pages 435-448 in Maclean, J. (Ed.) GMS 2020: Balancing Economic Growth and Environmental Sustainability. Asian Development Bank, Manilla.
Gautum, P. 2011. Mapping Chinese oil and gas pipelines and sea routes. Strategic Analysis 35: 595-612.
Grumbine, R. E. 2010. Where the Dragon Meets the Angry River. Island Press, Washington, DC. (selections).
Grumbine, R. E. Environmental security in the upper Mekong: Strategies and risks. Paper in preparation.
Grumbine, R., Dore, J. and Xu, J. 2012. Mekong transboundary hydropower drivers and governance issues. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 10: 91-98.
Howlett, M. and Joshi-Koop, S. 2011. Transnational learning, policy analytical capacity, and environmental policy convergence. Global Environmental Change 21: 85-92.
Kaish, H. and Kakonen, M. 2012. Actors, interests, and forces shaping the energyscape of the Mekong Region. Forum for Development Studies 39: 47-58.
Keskinen, M. et al. 2012. Mekong at the crossroads: Next steps for impact assessment of large dams. Ambio 41: 319-324.
Mainuddin, M. et al. 2010. Adaptation options to reduce the vulnerability of Mekong water resources, food security and the environment to impacts of development and climate change. CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Organization), IWMI (International Water Management Institute), MRC (Mekong River Commission).
McCartan, B. 2011. “China outward bound through Myanmar”, in Asia Times (8 January, 2011). 4 pp.
Morton, K. 2008. China and environmental security in the age of consequences. Asia-Pacific Review 15: 52-67.
Ostrom, E. 2009. A general framework for analyzing sustainability of social-ecological systems. Science 325: 419-422.
Pittock, J. 2010. Better management of hydropower in an era of climate change. Water Alternatives 3: 444-452.
Rerkasem , B. 2011. Climate change and GMS agriculture. Pages 35-77 in: Rayanakorn, K. (Ed.). Climate Change Challenges in the Mekong Region. Chiang Mai: Chiang Mai University Press.
Rogers, P. 2012. Water-energy nexus: Sustainable urbanization in the Greater Mekong Subregion. Pages 138-148 in Maclean, J. (Ed.) GMS 2020: Balancing Economic Growth and Environmental Sustainability. Asian Development Bank, Manilla.
Scheffran, J. and Battaglini, A. 2011. Climate and conflicts: The security risks of global warming. Regional Environmental Change 11: S27-39.
Shambaugh, D. 2011. Coping with a conflicted China. The Washington Quarterly 34: 7-27.
Sneddon, C. and Fox, C. 2012. Inland capture fisheries and large river systems: A political economy of Mekong fisheries. Journal of Agrarian Change 12: 279-299.
Stahl, M. and Warner, K. 2009. The way forward: Researching the environment and migration nexus. Research Brief, Institute for Environment and Human Security, United Nations University, Bonn, Germany.
Su Liu. 2011. Risks of intensification of hydropower development in southwestern China: Urgent issues to be addressed. Civic Exchange, Hong Kong.
The Stanley Foundation. 2011. Rivalry and partnership--the struggle for a new global governance leadership. Policy Dialogue Brief, Princeton University, January 14-15, 2011. 10 pp.
Underdahl, A. 2010. Complexity and challenges of long-term environmental governance. Global Environmental Change 20: 386-393.
Ward, J., et al. 2012. Mekong Energy Metabolism: Connecting Energy Demand into the Nexus of Food-Water-Energy Security. Pages 355-377 in Maclean, J. (Ed.) GMS 2020: Balancing Economic Growth and Environmental Sustainability. Asian Development Bank, Manilla.
Warr, P. 2012. Economic growth and poverty reduction in the Greater Mekong Subregion. Pages 97-112 in Maclean, J. (Ed.) GMS 2020: Balancing Economic Growth and Environmental Sustainability. Asian Development Bank, Manilla.
Xu, J. and Grumbine, R. E. In press. Landscape transformation and the use of ecological and socioeconomic indicators in Xishuangbanna, Southwest China, Mekong Region. Ecological Indicators.
Xu, J. and Daniel, R. 2011. Linking climate change risks and rights of upland peoples in the Mekong. Pages 217-245 in: Lazarus, K., Badenoch, N., Dao, N., and Resurreccion, B. (Eds.). Water Rights and Social Justice in the Mekong Region. London: Earthscan.
Xu , J., Grumbine, R.E. et al. 2009. The Melting Himalayas: Cascading effects of climate change on water, biodiversity and livelihoods. Conservation Biology 23: 520–530.
Young, O. 2011. Effectiveness of international environmental regimes: Existing knowledge, cutting-edge themes, and research strategies. Proceedings of National Academy of Science, USA (PNAS) 108:19853-19860.
Ziegler, A. et al. 2009. The rubber juggernaut. Science 324: 1024-1025.
Ziv, G. et al. 2012. Trading off fish biodiversity, food security and hydropower in the Mekong Basin. PNAS 109: 5609-5614.
Brief Biography of Instructor:
R. Edward Grumbine earned a PhD. in environmental policy from the Union Institute and has worked on bringing conservation science into resource management policy and planning since the late 1980s. Currently, he holds the position of senior international scientist at the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yunnan Province. Present projects include work on defining transboundary environmental security on China’s western borders, hydropower development impacts in the Mekong River, and biodiversity conservation issues in China. Dr. Grumbine is the author of numerous academic papers and two books on US biodiversity protection. His third book, Where the Dragon Meets the Angry River: Nature and Power in the Peoples Republic of China (Island Press, 2010), surveys conservation issues in China.
Environmental Sustainabilty And Transboundary Resource Dilemmas In The Greater Mekong Subregion
This class explores the concepts of environmental sustainability and transboundary resource flows, management and governance, focusing on the Mekong Basin /Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). This region includes the states of: China (Yunnan, Guizhou), Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. Home to more people than live in the US, the GMS is rich in biological and cultural diversity and is one of the worlds’ most rapidly developing regions. Yet, virtually all critical resources--water, food, energy-- are shared across nation state borders. Future resource management is dependent on cooperation evolving between state actors at many different scales, yet, so far, few frameworks are in place to facilitate such relationships. Management and governance issues are further complicated by unequal relationships between countries. For example, China is an economic and geopolitical powerhouse while Laos and Cambodia are two of the poorest countries in the world. China also sits upstream of the other GMS countries; in fact, it controls most of the water flowing downstream into an area where some 20% of the global human population dwells. Because of these and other factors, the GMS is a dynamic ecological, economic and political laboratory within which to examine 21st century problems, a place to explore the nature of sustainability, environmental resource flows and how to share across national borders. And, since China sits at the center of these debates, this class will also yield insights into that countries’ future role -- in the region, in Asia, and in world affairs.
The first week of this course will provide multiple definitions and overviews of sustainability and transboundary resource management; we will build a theoretical framework to use over the rest of the course. We will then proceed to a sector-by -sector examination of specific resource issues. We will begin with regional infrastructure, trade and energy flows. Biodiversity issues across boundaries will provide insights into problems with protected area management and maintaining shared environmental services. Water resources will introduce linked themes of hydropower, integrated river basin assessment, flood control, and agriculture. A focus on transboundary agriculture will help us to see the connections between food, energy and water. After working through a series of livelihoods case studies (urban/rural migration, cash crops, eco-health concerns), we will take a four day field trip to southern Yunnan to look at rubber production and its cross border impacts. We will end the class by exploring projections of climate change impacts on resource flows with a look into new models for environmental governance and decision making in the GMS.
None
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
The course will be a three credit, ten week classroom-based seminar, meeting for nineteen sessions for 2 hours with lectures, required readings, in-class discussions and occasional guest speakers. Students will have ample opportunities for engaged learning and class participation. Readings are comprised of primary and secondary literature on class themes as well as regional documents from research institutes and NGOs. There will be a 4 day field trip to the southern Yunnan/ Laos border during the latter part of the course.
Attendance policy: Attendance for all classes and field study trips is mandatory for the completion of the course. Each unexcused absence will count for a deduction of one-third of a student’s final letter grade.
Class 1 9/10 Definitions and frameworks: What is environmental sustainability?
Class 2 9/12 Ways to understand transboundary resource management
Class 3 9/17 Economics and infrastructure of GMS transboundary resource flows
Class 4 9/19 Energy flows in the GMS
Class 5 9/26 Biodiversity: Hotspots and protected areas
Class 6 9/28 Biodiversity and provision of environmental services
Class 7 10/8 Water flows in the GMS: rivers and dams
Class 8 10/10 Water: Science, politics, governance
Class 9 10/15 Food: Current and future production needs
Class 10 10/17 Food: Regional and global links
Class 11 10/22 Livelihoods: Urban/rural links and disconnects
Class 12 10/24 Livelihoods and environmental justice in the GMS?
October 28-31 Field Trip to Xishuangbanna, southern Yunnan. Equivalent to three class sessions
Class 13 11/5 Projections of future climates in the GMS
Class 14 11/7 Climate change and transboundary flows in the GMS
Class 15 11/12 Frameworks for transboundary environmental governance: Pros and cons
Class 16 11/14 Chinas’ role in transboundary issues
Class 17 11/19 Defining environmental security in the GMS
Class 18 11/21 Three scenarios for a sustainable future in the GMS
Class 19 11/26 Summary and conclusion
R. Edward Grumbine earned a PhD. in environmental policy from the Union Institute and has worked on bringing conservation science into resource management policy and planning since the late 1980s. Currently, he holds the position of senior international scientist at the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yunnan Province. Present projects include work on defining transboundary environmental security on China’s western borders, hydropower development impacts in the Mekong River, and biodiversity conservation issues in China. Dr. Grumbine is the author of numerous academic papers and two books on US biodiversity protection. His third book, Where the Dragon Meets the Angry River: Nature and Power in the Peoples Republic of China (Island Press, 2010), surveys conservation issues in China.