Outside academia, there is a resurgence of alternative ideas and practices. At the grassroots level, people are focusing on sustainable practices and addressing problems arising from imbalanced development. Communities around the world are subscribing to the common ideological goals of sustainable living, security of the human environment and the management of natural resources.

Currently in the Thai context, the King's Sufficiency Economy exists in harmony and with strong conceptual links to other alternative strands of development thinking and practice. It has become a movement which provides an inspiration for people from all walks of life, from those whose dreams of wealth collapsed during economic crisis a decade ago, to those whose practices of moderation have long been part and parcel of their livelihood.

Sufficiency thinking has re-emerged, igniting all sorts of debates, research and social experimentation. In some Thai universities, degree programs in sufficiency economy have begun. University-community partnerships are utilizing local knowledge as a resource to organize meaningful and relevant education programs.

Higher education institutions that embrace a spirit of collaboration in designing Sufficiency Economy curriculum aide in engaging Universities to become sites of direct and active social engagement. These efforts – to reinvent the structure, process, and intervention of higher education – encourage a transformative community for learners, teachers, thinkers and actors to co-exist and work side by side towards a sustainable and inclusive society.

There is now an opportunity for stakeholders to collectively contemplate alternative theories and explore the possible roles that higher education has to play in this process of participatory development.
It is hoped that the conference will be the site where constructive changes can be explored, where universities and partners of development can fruitfully engage in the social change agenda.

Objectives

• To provide the opportunity for collaborative dialogue among partners of social development, academics, and higer edcucation administrators on the roles of university in participatory development
• To identify directions, goals and means, as well as future possibilities in strengthening the role of higher education institutions as development alliance within the philosophical framework of sufficiency economy and participatory development paradigm

Resources:

• View the official website
  
• Download the brochure of the event (pdf, 1.4mb)