ERSM Field Work Topics

During the 5th month of ERSM training, students return to their home countries for a month to put their new skills to work in field research. They each engage in field-based fact finding on an EarthRights issue, and use their research to compile reports and make tangible recommendations on how to safeguard local communities and the environments on which they depend. A selection of papers, written between 2006 and 2009, were published in the December 2009 publication, "I Want To Eat Fish: I Cannot Eat Electricity."

2008 Field Research Topics

(Student from Vietnam) Impacts on Local Livelihoods and the Environment from the Song Bung 4 Hydropower Project, Quang Nam Province

(Vietnam) A Study of Advocacy Processes of National Media and Local People on Livelihood and Ecosystem Impacts from the Huyndai Vinashin Ship Factory in Vân Phong Bay, Khánh Hòa Province

(China) A History of the Relationship between the ADB and the Chinese Government with Emphasis on Safeguard Policies: a Case Study of Dachaoshan Power Plant in Yunnan Province

(China) Leave the Last Living River to Our Children: the Liuku Dam’s Impacts on the Environment and Livelihoods of Nu River Communities

(Cambodia) The Lower Sesan 2 Hydropower Dam: Resettlement and Compensation Issues

(Cambodia) The Local Response to Impacts from the O’Yadav Gold Mine on Land Use and Livelihoods: a Case Study from Ratanakiri, Cambodia

(Cambodia) Involuntary resettlement and the World Bank Safeguards policy: a Case Study of Sihanoukville Airport Construction

(Thailand) An Udon Thani Community’s Response to Impacts from the Lao-Thai Power Transmission Line

(Thailand) Use and Access Rights over the Mekong River Ecosystem: A Case Study of a Community Affected by the Ban Kum Hydropower Dam Project

(Lao PDR) Local Wisdom in the Use of the Mekong River: A Case Study of Lao Communities Affected by the Ban Koum Dam Project

(Lao PDR) An Assessment of Potential Livelihood Impacts from the Ban Koum Dam Project on Communities in Ban Koum Noi, Xanasomboun District, Champasak Province, Lao PDR

(Burma) Nickel and Gold Mining in Namtu Township, Shan State Burma: Human Rights Abuses and Environmental Destruction