
Myanmar is in a critical time in its energy transition. To be able to attract investors in the renewable energy sector and re-investigate the governments RE targets, enhancing access to energy and electrification, as well as reducing CO2 emissions and environmental pollution from fossil fuels there is a dire need for nationally grounded energy expertise. In the quest of developing energy self-sufficiency to detach from fossil fuel based energy infrastructure while improving energy access and security requires skilled experts, cross-sectoral cooperation and understanding of the multifaceted implications in long-term. The project aims to contribute to the Myanmar energy sector development via capacity enhancement in partner institutions by providing future oriented environment and sustainable energy planning and energy entrepreneurship, participative teaching methods, innovation and business development, sustainable energy engineering tools and approaches, environmental impacts of energy, research skills, and quality project management through training of trainers approach. Further, MEEE will establish and strengthen cooperation with critical actors in the sector for more integrated and holistic impacts. The project also engages stakeholders from ministries, civil society and the private sector for modernizing and enhancing relevance in energy education and meeting the needs of the sector as a whole.The overall objective of MEEE is to ensure that the Myanmar partner HEIs are better able to provide quality education on environment and sustainable energy for growing societal needs through 1) Improved Knowledge and skills of partner HEIs to provide up-to-date teaching and research on sustainable energy and environment by 2022 2) Improved institutional capacities of partner HEIs through up-to-date curricula, methods, tools and equipment to provide expertise needed in the energy sector in Myanmar by 2022 and 3 ) Internationalisation of partner HEIs
The project aims at supporting higher education institutions in Vietnam and Myanmar in order to:1) Increase attainment levels opening new Undergraduate/Master courses on Waste management which can support the easier entering in the labour market of students; 2) Improve the quality and relevance of high education promoting a cross-border cooperation through the close exchange of knowledge and trainees and endorsing the mobility of the best students;3) Enhance the quality of Asian education system through professor/researcher visiting and sharing experience in the area of waste management and lessons learned from the European university system/universities; 3) Spread a new recycling culture and the importance of differentiated collection within the Universities. The main objective of the project is to establish 6 new courses on Waste Management, Green Policies for Sustainability and recycling processes in 3 Universities in Vietnam and 2 Universities in Myanmar. The courses will be based on an innovative approach that includes the respect of both European and local quality standards, the promotion of students and professor’s mobility, the internationalization of education and the promotion of the recycling culture. Specific goals are:1. increase the local competences on Waste Management and recycling processes;2. promote the dialogue between European and higher education (universities) in Vietnam and Myanmar in order to facilitate the reciprocal recognition of competences and credits;3. inform Asian Universities on European University system: Bologna Process, Quality Evaluation and Internationalization;4. make comparable the education and training quality of Asian Universities and European Universities, elaborating 6 courses which respect the quality parameters of all countries;5. promote the mobility of students and professors/researchers/staffs and the Universities cooperation;6. promote waste recycling and spread awareness to society.
Progress in early warning to tackle the threat posed by increasing coastal hazards is uneven across Asia, with some high-risk, low-capacity countries falling behind. Many countries are calling for regional multi-hazard early warning (MHEW) systems as an effective means of sharing scientific knowledge and applications, sharing costs and addressing trans-boundary disasters.CABARET aimed to promote international cooperation at the regional level, between Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) in Asia and Europe, and among Asian HEIs themselves, to improve MHEW and increase resilience among coastal communities. CABARET brought together a partnership of fifteen HEIs from ten countries in Europe and Asia, in cooperation with the IOC-UNESCO Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System (IOTWMS) and the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center. Five selected partner countries in Asia – Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Philippines and Sri Lanka – were the target for capacity building and included communities that are highly exposed and vulnerable to the threat posed by multiple coastal hazards. CABARET has achieved the goals by: Identifying intra and inter regional cooperation capacity needs across partner country HEIs for the development of more effective MHEW; Creating an innovation hub for resilient coastal communities, promoting scientific cooperation and knowledge transfer in Higher Education within Asia, and between Asia and Europe on MHEW; Developing a capacity building roadmap to address regional gaps and priorities; Exploring, promoting and initiating opportunities for fruitful university partnerships with socio-economic actors in coastal communities; Developing innovative multi-disciplinary training courses tailored for rapid skill (knowledge, qualifications,) acquisition for professional teams involved in multi-hazard early warning at the national and regional level; Publicising the capacity building progress, successes and outcomes as far as possible, and raising awareness across the field of HE about capacity building for MHEW and increased disaster resilience in coastal communities.Collectively, the partnership:•Organised 6 international meetings and four multi-disciplinary, capacity building workshops involving 319 participants•Supported a regional survey of tsunami capacity among twenty countries, in cooperation with the IOC-UNESCO IOTWMS•Published five national position papers and a regional position paper on MHEW preparedness•Published over fifty multi-institution, international and multi-disciplinary research papers on tsunami and multi-hazard early warning, and coastal resilience•Facilitated seven EU-ASIA and ASIA-ASIA exchanges involving thirty-five people from HEIs•Formed seven special interest groups that facilitated fourteen capacity building activities and provided a platform for further cooperation •Held a mentoring programme for early career researchers and developed six open educational resources on multi-hazard early warning•Organised special sessions on tsunami and multi-hazard early warning in six international conferences and events•Secured four externally funded spin-off projects and submitted numerous research proposalsThese activities have changed the understanding, awareness and attitudes among national and subnational actors on the critical areas of capacity for effective end to end tsunami early warning. CABARET has helped to enhance regional and trans-boundary cooperation for MHEW, and empower individuals and organisations with the skills, competencies and credentials needed to promote and sustain regional cooperation within Asia and Europe, and within Asia itself, aimed at reducing the likelihood and impact of disasters in coastal communities.
The primary goal of NEXUS project is to enhance research capacities of HEIs in the southeast Asian region, by strengthening relationships between Education, Research and Innovation in GIS, SID and remote sensing, for applications that are related to environment, agricultures and natural hazards. The project will develop a common nexus between various actors of research and innovation (HEIs, research centers, spin-off companies) in three neighboring countries: Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar where specific strategy for innovation transfer are convergent with EU developments in accordance with Europe 2020 strategy and Smart specialization initiatives.The goal was to generate synergies that would boost R&D growth and subsequently job opportunities and business creation through GIS/RS initiatives. The project expected to improve the transfer of innovation from universities to local and regional enterprises, enhancing the potential for social innovation through generating new applied research with spatial data. The main objectives of NEXUS were to:• Develop conceptual framework and structure for smart specialization and innovation in GIS/remote sensing in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries• Support the research capacity of partner institutions in emerging topics that contribute to university study programs• Design strategy for imparting ‘hand-on’ practical training of delivering applied research outputs and working with identified business companies• Create innovation network and hub that enhances the use of GIS/remote sensing for societal uses.Practical studies were made to understand the gap in technology transfer in the SEA HEIs. NEXUS will organize intensive technical trainings for HEI teachers and researchers in defined areas. Physically six new GIS/remote sensing labs were set up or reinforced. Exemplary seminars in spin-offs with core activities related to RS/GIS and workshops with roundtable discussions between academia, business and governments were held in Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar. A hackathon in third year served to bring together companies and students. 7 awards were distributed among best teams. Due to Covid-19 situation only Thai partners were able to participate.
The goal of this project is to create innovative curriculum in smart agriculture by integrating the latest GIS/remote sensing (RS) technology. Remote sensing integrated with wireless sensors implemented in an GIS environment can provide valuable information (soil moisture, crop phenology, nutrient deficiency, crop disease, pests, etc.) for innovative crop management. We have included neighboring partner countries from Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia. The economy of these SEA countries relies heavily on primary production and all have a large predominantly rural population.The project enhances the concept of smart agriculture with the use of information and technology-based agricultural management system to improve crop production efficiency by adjusting farming inputs to specific conditions within each area of a field. Precision farming can be achieved by utilizing remote sensing technologies which capture and measure the health condition of soil /crops obtained from Earth Observation satellites and airborne drones. Biomass within the field can be measured, and crop development can be monitoring during varies seasons to control fertilizer application.Outputs: Comparison of established practices in smart agriculture in EU countries; report on bachelor/master curricula best practices in EU partners and catalogue of competencies to transfer to SEA partners; : design of training program and delivery of 6 train-the trainer sessions; purchase of equipment; Mobilities for at least 21 teachers to Europe (21 in year 1 and 21 in year 2) to be able to master new teaching/learning methods on the use of GIS/RS. Installation of state-of-the-art equipment hardware and software. Delivery on professional transferable curriculum on entrepreneurship for smart agriculture with online and blended learning methods. Joint initiatives with private sector through use of GIS/RS on agriculture and support of smart agriculture ecosystem with involvement of ministries of agriculture and farmers