YSI Event

Sustainability


Call #15 - Challenges and Opportunities on the Utilization of Natural Resources in Asia

The Young Scholars Initiative (YSI) Sustainability Working Group is accepting paper submissions for the YSI Asia Regional Convening in Da Nang (Vietnam), May 06-09, 2019.

Asia is a diverse region rich in natural resources. However, access to the heterogeneous array of energy sources and ecosystem services is controversially insufficient for a large population within this region. Asia is home to about 60% of the global population and is (1) is the world’s driest continent with less than half of the global average availability of freshwater (Chellaney, 2012); (2) contains more than half of the world’s population that is undernourished (~483 million) (FAO, 2018); and (3) 439 million residents have no access to electricity and 1.8 billion do not have access to sanitary biomass for activities such as cooking (utilizing alternatives wood, dung, and crop waste) (IEA, 2017).

Asia is home to some of the fastest growing economies, which implies in turn a rapidly growing demand for productive inputs. The ecosystems providing these natural resources are being threatened by overexploitation and unpredictable climate patterns. Access to environmental resources is restricted and skewed in favor of generating economic output over realizing basic sustenance for local residents. A narrow focus on economic growth and urbanization pressure communities in the periphery of the more modern economies to adapt. Impoverished populations existing on the fringe—outside more urbanized communities—suffer from a lack of utilization and access to affordable supplies. This access challenge requires unique economic and policy perspectives in order to develop more sustainable solutions.

Our working group will critically explore the complexity of resource access, utilization, and sustainable development in Asia. We invite participants with research related to these and other aspects within the frame of sustainability.

Ideas for submissions:

  • Access / utilization (energy, water and/or food)
  • Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus
  • Energy poverty
  • Sociotechnical sustainable transitions
  • Community led practices for sustainable development
  • Techniques for assessing the environmental impact (EIA)
  • The political economy of the environment and society
  • Environmental policy instruments
  • Climate resilience and adaptation
  • Extractivism and Resources Dependence
About the Sustainability Working Group

The Sustainability Working Group explores how new economic thinking can contribute to the issues of environmental challenges, such as climate change, pollution, and the management and distribution of finite resources.

HOW TO APPLY

To submit your abstract to this call, go to https://ysd.ineteconomics.org/rc. In your abstract, please clearly identify your research question, elaborate on methodology, and list your preliminary findings and/or tentative conclusions.

Apply here: https://ysd.ineteconomics.org/rc
Note: you must be logged into the YSI website to apply.
Deadline: 17 March 2019
Contact: [email protected]

References

  • Chellany, B. (2012): Asia’s worsening water crisis. Survival 54: 143–156.
  • FAO (2018) Asia and the Pacific Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition 2018 – Accelerating progress towards the SDGs. Bangkok. License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
  • IEA (2017) Energy Access Outlook 2017. From Poverty to Prosperity. World Energy Outlook Special Report. OECD/IEA, 2017