Fieldwork

July 4, 2018

DFW 2018 participants visited Ichinomiya city for pre-survey. We got a lot of useful information! We look forward to visiting there again in October.

DFW2018の参加者で愛知県一宮市に事前調査に伺いました。たくさん情報を頂くことができました！10月に再び訪問するのが楽しみです。

May 31, 2017

Balanced development is considered the key to education development of Japan. Dr. Jing Liu, shared his understanding and experience in Japan’s education system. In the first half of the lecture, he reviewed the trajectory of education development of Japan. Then, in the secondy half of the lecture, he raided the discussion of what kind of education does rural area of Japan need? and how to take education as a means for s sustainable development of rural area of Japan.

May 31, 2017

It was the 2nd lecture which Dr. Sopheak Keng gave us during her stay at GSID. Today, Dr. Keng talked about education development and issues in Cambodia. She gave detailed review of the achievemnet of EFA and MDGs in this country’s education sector. Also, she addressed the issues, such as drop-out and teacher quality, in education setor of Cambodia. She also shared her own experince of manager of private school.

Dear all,

Good morning.

I am pleased to announce an open lecture about Cambodia by Mr. Keo Rottanak. Please find the details below.

Mr. Rottanak originally comes from Pursat Province. And he has been closedly involved in the development of this province in the past years. OFW teams are highly recommended to join the seminar.

Date & Time: Tuesday, June 13, 2017, 16:30-18:00

Venue: Auditorium, GSID

About the seminar:

Cambodia’s is growing at a rapid pace. This development is partly powered by a more robust power sector that lubricates the modern economic structures. Poverty reduction, social mobility, political freedom and various types of opportunities are on the rise.  Mr. Keo Rottanak is a public-sector player at the heart of some of these changes. He has successfully enabled the transformation of the power sector and has run for elected office. He has brought about change that most can only talk about. How does he manage that?  What are some of the practical lessons that can be learned from technical, institutional, social and political perspectives? What does the recent election mean for his sector and Cambodia as a whole?  Is Cambodia at a crossroad?

Brief Biography of Mr. Keo Rottanak

Born into a teacher’s family in Pursat province of Cambodia, Mr. Keo Rottanak is currently the Managing Director of the country’s biggest electric company known as the Electricite du Cambodge or EDC.  He plays a vital role in helping transform a power sector that used to suffer from a chronic short supply and high cost into a currently robust sector that is powering the fast social, economic and political transformation of Cambodia.  A normal rolling blackout across the nation upto late 2009 is no longer the case.  Electricity cost now ranges from US$0.11 to US$0.19 per kilowatt hours compared to more than US$1 in early 2000.  EDC that was making financial losses to the one that is making huge contribution to the power sector growth in particularly in the fast expansion of rural electrification in Cambodia.  With new financial success, EDC is creating a special fund that helps provide thousands of scholarships to many young Cambodians especially women who would otherwise not be able to attend colleges in the Capital.

Always wishing to be a champion for the poor, Mr. Rottanak works in Kroko district in Pursat where his steadfast commitment to local people’s rights to land & natural resources use, equal educational opportunities for the poor, and responsive local governance earned him a landslide electoral win in the 2013 general election thus giving him a parliamentary seat for Pursat province constituency. Already a household name, he continues to serve this community he dearly loves.  He expects to do well again in this upcoming June 4^th 2017 local election.

His success to date is partly due to a perfect Cambodian-USA-Japanese blend of professional trainings at Columbia University as a Fulbright Scholar, the International University of Japan as a Monbusho scholar, and the Royal University of Phnom Penh. His non-degree courses span from Harvard University, the University of Canberra, and Lee Kwan Yew of School of Public Policy.  His hobbies range from books, social work to music and movies.

See you all there!

With best regards,

Jing Liu

May 26, 2017

Prof. Tetsuo Umemura, who is a specialist in tourism economics, gave us a lecture about the theories, trend and development of this field for DFW participants. He also introduced the concept of sustainable touriusm development for sustainable develompent and current trend of Japan’s tourism development.

May 24, 2017

SATOYAMA is very unique view which can be observed in rural area of Japan. In today’s lecture, Prof. Masao Takano from Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University gave us a detailed explanation of SATOYAMA system and the key concepts of this system. Moreover, he talked about the relationship between the SATOYAMA system and economic development and population change. Then, he introduced lifestyle of young migrants in rural area of Japan and why they got interested in life of rural community.

May 24, 2017

Today, we were pleased to have Dr. Teilee Kuong to give us a lecture about contemporary history and administration system fo Cambodia. Dr. Kuong briefly introduced history of contempary Cambodia. Then he gave more detailed review of institutional, political and legal reforms for a more open economy in Cambodia. He also led the discussion about some sustaining problems in legal and political reforms, the roles of civil society and issues for future development.

May 17, 2017

We were very pleased to invite Prof. Satoru Kobayashi from Kyoto University to give us a comprehensive lecture about Cambodian rural society. Prof. Kobayashi introduced production-oriented and life-oritented viewpoint of development in Cambodia, basic information of rural livelihoods in Cambodia, particularly in Pursat Province where OFW team will visit in August 2017. He also introduced basic social structure, and the intersections between buddhist activities and rural development in Cambodia. The lecture gave us many important information and hints for students to prepare for their research plan.

May 10, 2017

Today we were pleased to have Mr. Tatsuyoshi Suzuki, Director of Toyota Oiden Sanson Center to give us an introductary lecture about what the Center did in the past 4 years to promote local vitalization through alternative approach. He introduced many cases for us to further understand the situation in rural area of Toyota City.

Special thanks to our TAs who kindly served as interpreters for this lecture. You did an excellent job! Thank you very much!

Today, we were pleased to invite Dr. Chansopheak Keng from Royal University of Phnom Penh to give us the 1st session of OFW preliminary seminar.

Dr. Keng’s talk which linked the history with the social change in Cambodia was very helpful for us to understand the country which they will visit. Her personal experience shared in the lecture was also helpful for us to understand more detailed and vivid history and situation of Cambodia.