Southeast Asia Environmental Systems (SEAES) Workshop

From June 17–20, 2025, the Southeast Asia Environmental Systems (SEAES) Workshop was hosted at Chulalongkorn University’s School of Integrated Innovation, convening 127 participants from 10 countries and 52 institutions.

Co-designed and facilitated by Systainability Asia (Robert and Nong), together with partners Pierre Echaubard (NatureMind-ED) and Brian Carraway (AIT Yunus Center), this regional workshop was organized by the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD). Through a mix of expert panels, scientific presentations, cross-sector roundtable dialogues and interactive systems mapping, the 4-day workshop focused on how to best address the urgent and interconnected challenges facing Southeast Asia’s aquatic socio-ecosystems—rivers, deltas, coasts, and oceans—amid intensifying climate change, pollution, biodiversity loss, and unsustainable development.

Anchored around six core themes—ranging from climate systems and biodiversity to health and emerging diseases—the process featured expert panels, interactive systems-mapping, and cross-sector dialogues. Participants used the PESTLE framework to analyze root challenges to priority cross-cutting issues, and co-create practical, regionally grounded solutions. The result: a dynamic synthesis of transdisciplinary insights, shared priorities, and strategic leverage points for future action, all contributing to a forthcoming IRD White Paper aimed at guiding collaborative regional research, investment, and policy for resilient, healthy, and just aquatic futures in Southeast Asia.