Dr Laura Richards from Manchester University is collaborating with Dagon, Kalay, Loikaw, Maubin and Mandalay universities in research related to drinking water. She writes:

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"Since 2015, I have really enjoyed building nascent links with academic contacts in Myanmar at a number of universities including Dagon, Kalay, Loikaw, Maubin, Myitkyina and Mandalay Universities and the Yangon University of Distance Education, with the support of the eTekkatho Digital Library.

For us, building strong local relationships is essential for both developing our scientific research on the environment and for developing meaningful and effective capacity building programs. The input and insight of local partners gives important context to our research into water quality, water remediation and resource management, facilitates logistical aspects of fieldwork (e.g. access, translation, local transport and field support) and promotes mutual knowledge exchange. Through such partnerships, we and our partners are opened up to many opportunities which would not be otherwise possible and together we become better equipped to address important and challenging research questions. We hope that our collective experience, including of such partnerships in Cambodia (CALIBRE EU-AsiaLInk, UK NERC GOAM) and India (British Council/UKIERI PRAMA) will lead to successful efforts to help meet the challenges of environmentally sustainable development in Myanmar.

Personally, I find it very rewarding to work with academics in Myanmar – their dedication and enthusiasm is very motivating. I hope that by working together, we will improve our shared space in the world by creating new knowledge and building multi-directional capacity.

My colleagues and I are incredibly grateful to the eTekkatho Digital Library team for helping us to make connections and for providing ongoing support, which enables us to make our visions a reality."

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​May 2017

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The image above shows academics from Myanmar (Dagon, Loikaw, Pathein and Kalay Universities) and researchers from the University of Manchester (School of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Tyndall Center for Climate Change Research in the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering) discussing field work plans in Myanmar after a busy week of workshops and capacity building in Cambodia in December 2016.