Mr. Udom Pokpongbowornkul, Chiang Khong District Chief, gave an opening speech and presented certificates to the second generation of Mekong Youth Program.
Mekong School: Institute of Local Knowledge invited schools participating in the Mekong Youth Program and other partner schools and teachers from the three Mekong districts of Chiang Rai Province to Chiang Khong on 21-22 February 2025. About 200 students from 14 schools met to share their projects, studies, research, films, art, and lessons learned during the 2024-2025 programs.
Youth projects included school waste and waste water management, Mekong ecological management board game, a Mekong alphabet associating Thai letters with a Mekong ecology and culture, youth artwork and crafts, and local eco-cultural documentary filmmaking. Activities for youth included bookmaking with Mekong River weed paper covers, a Mekong needlepoint group art project, participatory food and craft projects hosted by youth, and live music, including players from the Mekong Youth Program.
Dialogue sessions brought together education officials from Chiang Rai provincial and district offices, local administrators and teachers, and youth for presentations and discussions about “outdoor school learning” – or outdoor, experiential, ecological, and traditional knowledge programs offered through Mekong School and the Mekong Youth Program. Youth were invited to ask questions and offer feedback. Officials clarified their understanding and support for developing “outdoor school learning” at the provincial level. For many students, the experience of participating as peers in processes typically reserved for adults was transformative.
Mekong School and community partners seek a shared future through research and studying lessons learned from the protection of Mekong River resources. Year two of the Mekong Youth Program built on more than a decade of a variety of youth programs, many community-based projects related to infrastructure development in the Mekong River and cumulative impact on Mekong River communities, creation of the Mekong School’s Digital Library, and the creation of media to enhance awareness and knowledge about development. Mekong Youth Program provides mentors and opportunities for youth to develop critical thinking and systems thinking skills; understand their role in local, regional, and global ecological systems; and develop skills and habits necessary for informed and engaged participation in civil society and democratic processes.
The next steps are to continue expanding and developing the Mekong Youth Program to include more schools and more experiential learning types and document implementation strategies and practices. Per the statements of provincial and district education officials, Mekong School will work to support the development of Provincial “outdoor school learning” curriculum guidelines. Support and models are available through Mekong School’s Outdoor School partners in the United States at the district and state levels.
Summary Report Mekong Youth Program 21-22 February 2025, By Andrew Stone
Watch the seminar “Outdoor School Learning by Citizens Sciences: “
Learning about nature in the wider world with citizen science” The seminar “Learning about nature in the wider world with citizen science” at the Mekong Youth Voices event “Citizen Science for the Future of Youth and the Future of the Mekong Community” on February 21, 2025 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Mekong River Learning Hall. The event features learning project booths and learning media about the Mekong River, expressing love for the Mekong River by knitting words on woven cloth, paper from Kai and Kai maps, handmade books, learning project booths from Home School family and booths from Chiang Khong Wittayakom School CK Ranger, Huai So Wittayakom School, Thung Sai School, Hua Wiang Kosan Wittaya School and Chiang Khong Kindergarten School, Ban Huai Meng Prasat Wittaya School, Ban Thung Na Noi School. Importantly, Mekong Youth of both generations, please follow, and watch and listen.
For more information, chiangkhongconservationgroup@gmail.com
