Report on SEAGA 2004
7th Southeast Asia Geographers Association (SEAGA) International Conference 29 Nov - 2 Dec 2004
The Southeast Asian Geography Association (SEAGA) together with the Research Centre for Mekong Regional Tourism, Khon Kaen University, Thailand organised the 7th SEAGA international conference on geography from 29 Nov - 2 Dec 04. The theme of the conference was "Southeast Asia: Development and change in an era of globalisation". Professor Sekson Yongvanit and I were the co-chairs of this conference.
About 150 participants from more than 20 countries participated and paper sessions included Population and Health, Migration, Urbanisation & Economic Issues, Environmental Issues, Rural and Agricultural Geography, Geography and Environmental Education, Tourism, Techniques, Minorities, Mekong Basin & Coastal Developments. Some highlights of the conference were:
- Keynote papers by Prof Jonathan Rigg, University of Durham ' Land, Livelihoods and Poverty in Southeast Asia" and by Professor Dr. Hans Gebhardt, Department of Geography, University of Heidelberg, Germany 'The impact of internationalization processes on the region of Isan - the examples of international migration and transnational tourism'
- Special panel sessions on 'Water Resources Governance' and ' The Mekong Region' led by Prof Philip Hisrch, University of Sydney, and 'Heritage, Politics and Identity' led by Brian Shaw, University of Western Australia and Ooi Giok Ling, Nanyang Technological University.
- A special presentation on "Expedition Mekong 2002" by Reinhard Hohler, Tour Director Expedition Mekong 2002
This series of biennial conferences started in 1990 and conferences have been held in Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore. We are exploring the possibility of Vietnam hosting the next, 8th conference in 2006.