Southeast Asia is one of the most dynamic regions in the world. It has experienced decades of strong economic development, averaging GDP growth of around 5 per cent over the years. However, its rapid economic advancement has also caused drastic, large-scale harms to the environment. Further, the region’s development has been very uneven, engendering new social inequalities and undermining sociopolitical stability.
Southeast Asia is also a site of intense geopolitical positioning – shifting between cooperation and tension – among regional and world powers, especially China and the US. At the same time, it has experienced a great deal of domestic political change in individual countries.
Research focuses
Our studies and regional initiatives have one common goal: supporting development pathways that are socially and environmentally just. We conduct research on Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia, seeking to provide robust evidence and channel it into public debates on land and natural resource governance. This includes a key emphasis on co-creation and analysis of geospatial data together with our local partners. Our research includes:
- Assessments of landscape (agro)biodiversity and multifunctionality
- Analysis of the type and quality of natural resource use and international land investments
- Co-creation of landscape-related sustainable investment solutions
- Assessment of inequality vis-à-vis land tenure and employment
- Policy studies of land governance and spatial assessments of land tenure regimes
- Spatial assessments of initiatives for agroecological transitions and assessments of climate risk and the resilience of family farmers
- Analysis of the socio-economic effects of mega-infrastructure projects
