Environmental Research across Asia
Politics, Justice and Accountability
Te Herenga Waka | Victoria University of Wellington, 14 April 2026
Organised by Associate Professor Alice Beban and Dr. Nayantara Sheoran Appleton
Environmental issues across Asia are shaped by rapid ecological, social, and political change. From climate-driven displacement and river basin governance to urban pollution and struggles over land and livelihoods, research on the environment is deeply entangled with histories of colonialism, capitalism, and resistance
This one-day symposium brought together scholars researching environmental issues in Asia to share research and build connections across disciplines and institutions in Aotearoa New Zealand and beyond. The symposium was discussion-focused and generative, anchored by keynote contributions from scholars whose long-term, engaged research on the Mekong River and ancestral wetlands in Aotearoa New Zealand foregrounds environmental justice and creative knowledge-making.
In addition to sharing empirical research, the symposium created a space to reflect on what it means to conduct Asia-focused environmental research while based in Aotearoa New Zealand. Participants considered questions of relationality and accountability, including how Te Tiriti o Waitangi might guide research practices for scholars researching Asia from Aotearoa New Zealand. We had the privilege of visiting Ngati Tūkorehe in Ōhau (Horowhenua) to share kai and to learn about long-term efforts to restore the whenua (land) and wai (water).
Keynote contributors
Assistant Professor Apisom Intralawan
is an interdisciplinary researcher at Mae Fah Luang University in Chiang Rai, Thailand. His work focuses on environmental governance and ecological economics in the Lower Mekong, grounded in long-term collaboration with rural communities affected by environmental change.
Associate Professor Amanda Flaim
is based at Michigan State University, where her work centres on statelessness, citizenship, and environmental justice. She works collaboratively with artists, scholars, students, and community partners along the Mekong River to make environmental injustice visible to wider publics.
Professor Huhana Smith
Postgraduate contributors
Bunny Yorth — Massey University
Sustaining an Indigenous environmental movement in a contested forest: A case study of the Prey Lang Community Network in Cambodia
Lwin Swe — Te Herenga Waka | Victoria University of Wellington
Myanmar rebels’ climate initiative – a hopeful space amidst challenges
Amata Jantarangsee — Te Herenga Waka | Victoria University of Wellington
Managing the floodplain complex: Citizen strategies for living in the military-led housing
Dipayan Dutta — Te Herenga Waka | Victoria University of Wellington
Living Unequal Ecologies: Risk, Accountability and Participation in the Aravalli
Luthfi Eddyono — Te Herenga Waka | Victoria University of Wellington
Advancing Environmental Democracy: Implications of Indonesia’s Constitutional Court Ruling No. 119/PUU-XXIII/2025
Hilary Reinhart — Te Herenga Waka | Victoria University of Wellington
Diversity as Resources: The Geological Heritage Regime and Tourism Development in Gunungsewu UNESCO Global Geopark, Indonesia
Jyoti Sedhain — Lincoln University
Revisiting Nepal’s Community Forestry for Building Social-Ecological Resilience: A Case Study of Chitwan District
Mary Jean Camarin — Lincoln University
From regenerative principles to regenerative practices: A framework for embedding regenerative tourism in community-based settings
Hediyeh Mirbabayi — Te Herenga Waka | Victoria University of Wellington
Interplay of Climate Change and Water Management Practices in Isfahan, Iran
Aruna Karki — University of Auckland
Rethinking Environmental Knowledge in Asia: Climate Displacement, Sovereignty, and Relational Agency in Amitav Ghosh
Chun Cheng — Te Herenga Waka | Victoria University of Wellington
The Wisdom of Water: A Study of River Imagery and Philosophy of Life in Shen Congwen’s Literature
Hang Thai — University of Auckland
Everyday Food and Environmental Politics: Rethinking Nước Mắm
Yueke Li — University of Otago
Beyond “Environmental Action”: Everyday Negotiations and Emergent Ecologies in Southwest China’s Food Forests
Dini Mariska — University of Auckland
From Tsunami 2004 to Floods 2025: Young Adults Resilience in Post Disaster Tourism Development in Aceh, Indonesia
Yi Li — University of Otago
Migrants’ eco-creative practices and climate adaptation on islands
Nurussaadah Mokhtar — University of Otago
Food, Land and Supermarket Dominance in Greater Kuala Lumpur
Nachapol Kalpravidh — Lincoln University
Determinants and Impacts of Good Farming Management Adoption in Indigenous Chicken Farming: Evidence from Thailand
Prabodha Rathnayaka — Lincoln University
Climate Vulnerability, Adaptation, and Multidimensional Well-Being: Evidence from Tea Smallholders in Sri Lanka
Uma Ritsri — Lincoln University
Beyond Compliance: The Extent and Evolution of GHG Disclosure among Thailand-Listed Companies
Malathi Hansa Rambodageadara — Massey University
Living with Climate Uncertainties in a Changing Socio-Ecological System: Water-Dependent Agrarian Communities in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka
Supported by the Marsden Fund Council from Government funding, managed by Royal Society Te Apārangi.
Co-sponsored by the Political Ecology Research Centre (Massey University) and the Sociology and Social Policy Programme, Te Herenga Waka | Victoria University of Wellington.
