Reporters: Naruemon Saengduangkhae, Asst.Prof.Dr.Arrisa Sopajarn, Piriya Soikaew, Asst.Prof.Supitchaya Boonkuer
Evidence Date: during 2024 Jan-Dec
Related SDGs:
Related Indicators: 16.3.3
Details: Supporting details and pictures
On 26 March 2024, the Program Management Unit on Area Based Development (PMU‑A) (PMU-A), led by Dr. Kitti Satjawattana, Director of PMU-A, attended the academic seminar titled “RMUT Appropriate Technology Symposium 2024 – Applying Appropriate Technology to Create a Sustainable Quality of Life” held during 26–27 March 2024 at the Crystal Hotel, Hat Yai, Songkhla Province. The event was opened by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Suwat Thanyaros, Acting President of Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya (RMUTSV), and was attended by more than 260 executives and staff from a network of nine Rajamangala universities.
This event was organised as a collaboration between PMU-A and the network of Rajamangala universities nationwide, aiming to establish mechanisms for peaceful cooperation among government agencies, educational institutions, and communities. The initiative seeks to develop knowledge and appropriate technologies to reduce inequality, address poverty, and raise quality of life for people. It falls under the research programme “Application and Scaling of Appropriate Technology to Build Capacity and Social Opportunities for Targeted Poor Groups in Strategic Research Areas”, covering seven provinces: Lampang, Kalasin, Roi Et, Mukdahan, Phatthalung, Pattani, and Yala.
The project emphasises a research process that engages all stakeholders, and strengthens “mechanisms for resolving community conflict” by using knowledge, science and innovation to create employment options, raise incomes, and diminish social and economic conflict factors in a sustainable manner. To date, it has collected over 1,000 ready-to-use innovations, and developed a database of appropriate technologies for further scaling to other areas.
Dr. Kitti Satjawattana, Director of PMU-A, delivered a keynote speech on “The Role of PMU-A in Supporting Appropriate Technology to Create Social Opportunities”, explaining that area-based development must comprise four core components: the locale, civil society, market, and knowledge. Universities function as the central axis in building a Knowledge Platform and learning mechanisms to develop peaceful solutions, enhance careers, and elevate the social status of target groups, thereby contributing to the creation of a peaceful and just society.
The seminar also featured exhibitions of research outcomes from the seven strategic-area provinces and from researchers in the university network and government agencies, reflecting strong and sustainable collaboration for building “social mechanisms that use knowledge instead of conflict”.
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