SERVIR-Mekong grantees showcase research on geospatial applications for resilience

On March 8 to 9 SERVIR-Mekong organized a final workshop for the Small Grants Program, a 10-month program that supported organizations and institutions that use Earth observations to address environmental management challenges in the Mekong Region. 

At the workshop, grantees presented their work, which included topics such as monitoring drought, gender equity and forecasting floods. Representatives from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) spoke  about the importance of the research conducted under the program.

“We are proud to partner with NASA and the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center because we share in the belief that the best science, technology and data are only valuable if they help make life better for people and the planet. I'm thrilled to see that many of your projects reflect that vision,” said Jenny Frankel-Reed, Senior Climate Specialist from USAID.

“SERVIR-Mekong’s tagline is to connect space to village, taking advantage of space based data and making it actionable on the ground. This is exactly what you all have done through your projects in the areas of gender, drought management, climate resilience, and flood monitoring,” said Daniel Irwin, SERVIR-Global Program Manager from NASA. 
 
During the workshop, grantees shared their experiences and challenges, from working with government to field work with beneficiaries, including ethnic minority groups in northern Vietnam and Cambodia. Grantees also discussed how to sustain their projects beyond the grant as well as strategies for communicating their work to target audiences.

Grantees also expressed their appreciation in becoming part of the SERVIR network, as well as the opportunity for peer-to-peer learning. “Being a part of the SERVIR network enabled us to learn new development concepts such as theory of change that is applicable to our work, as well as interact with others. Continuing this relationship could result in future collaboration with other grantees’ projects," said Sutee Anantsuksomsri from Chulalongkorn University. 

SERVIR-Mekong’s grants program is managed as a partnership between the SERVIR-Mekong Hub based in Bangkok, Thailand, and the SERVIR Support Team based in Washington, DC.