Client: EU-FP6 and the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
NVE Mandate: i) Implement the SPLASH project. ii) Develop, execute and manage the sub-project “Water and Energy: Sustainable development of hydropower involving the private sector in research collaboration in the Lower Mekong region” (short name: SPLASHMekong project).
Contract Value/ Duration:€ 109.649 for NVE from EU-PF6 (above task i)), and € 150.000 from the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (above task ii)). The two tasks have start - end years as follows: Task i) 2007 – 2010, with 1 year extension to Dec 2011; Task ii) 2009 – 2010 .
Type of Activities: Data collection, project development, preparation of project documents, workshops, seminars, reviews, technical advisory and supervision, project management.
Work Completed 2010: The SPLASH-Mekong project was completed in 2010.
Work in Progress 2010: Provide support to and reporting on the SPLASH project implementation. Participate in preparation for the extension of SPLASH into Phase 2.
Background
Established in 2007, SPLASH is part of the European Union Water Initiative Research Area Network (EUWI Era-Net), working towards strengthening research in Europe. The Concept Note 14, entitled “Water and Energy: Sustainable development of hydropower involving the private sector in research collaboration in the Lower Mekong Region” (SPLASHMekong), was developed by NVE jointly with other SPLASH members.
Activities and Outputs:
i) In coordination with the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, SPLASH hosted the “Good Practice Workshop – Sharing our Learning and Planning our Future” in Brussels from 27- 29 October. The workshop served the dual purposes of sharing findings and good practice between SPLASH and research and develop ment partners; and engaging these relevant stakeholders to discuss and refine the future plans for SPLASH beyond December 2010.
ii) The SPLASH-Mekong project activities consisted of assessing the research, knowledge transfer and capacity building at the academic level and in the private sector on various topics related to hydropower development, organizing an interactive workshop with participation of academics, decision-makers, private sector and NGOs in order to get their recommendation on how to improve the cooperation among various stake holders, to achieve sound private sector involvement in sustainable hydropower development, and to facilitate the application of scientific research findings/ results at practical and policy levels. Specifically, the project activities and outputs are as follows:
- National and regional consultants were contracted.
- Four academic reviews on the status of research, knowledge transfer and capacity building were done for the 4 Lower Mekong Basin (LMB) countries, namely Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, and published in the project final report.
- The regional review entitled “Mekong hydropower development: a review of governance and sustainability challenges” was completed and published in the project final report.
- Internet questionnaire and interviews related to multi-criteria decision analysis were completed and published in the project final report.
- The regional workshop entitled “Regional Workshop for Coordination of Research on Hydropower Development in the Lower Mekong Basin” took place on 14-15 September 2010 in Vientiane, Laos with 63 participants, who mainly came from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. The workshop report can be downloaded at http://www.splash-era.net/ news_events3.php
- The project’s final report was ready at the end of December 2010 and available for download at http://www.splash-era.net/ news_events3.php . Besides the reviews, the findings from internet questionnaires, and interviews related to Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA), the report is also presenting outlines of themes for North-South-South collaborative activities.
- The proposed themes’ focus is on research projects and capacity building programmes related to sustainable hydropower and funding opportunities. The outlines aims at facilitating cooperation among the Southern researchers and NGOs by providing information on research topics of relevance to sustainable hydropower development in the LMB and potential funding opportunities.
- Fact-sheet and policy brief (in the form of Learning Note) related to hydropower development in the LMB were produced and widely distributed as hard copies as well as internet download.
Results/Outcome:
The SPLASH-Mekong workshop set up a forum for discussions and networking among academics, NGOs, decision-makers and private sector. It hopefully sets a basis for future North-South-South cooperation in research and capacity building related to sustainable hydropower development in the LMB.
Based on the results and recommendations of the SPLASH-Mekong project, a Concept Note entitled “Launching of a Joint Call for a Collaborative Research Programme on Sustainable Hydropower Development in the Lower Mekong Basin” was made by NVE in collaboration with Danish Water Forum and presented at the SPLASH workshop in Brussels in October 2010.
The proposed actions are currently pending, awaiting a decision on the SPLASH project’s extension into the second phase. It is intended during the SPLASH second phase that financial supports will be solicited from various funding agencies in order to carry out research as set out in the Concept Note.