RCE Trang is Reorganized to Tackle Current Challenges

After a decade of existence, since its official acknowledgement by UNU in 2007, RCE Trang, Thailand had been admirably active in carrying out ESD/SD activities and its collaborations with other RCEs in the Asia-Pacific region. Recently the RCE’s stakeholders moved to reorganize and strengthen RCE Trang, to broaden the network, and make it more inclusive and responsive to the needs of the communities. 

Since its inception, the Office of the Mayor of Trang Municipality has acted as the Secretariat of RCE Trang. The new Governor of Trang Province, Mr. Siriphat Phathakul, made efforts to revitalize RCE Trang, organizing a key stakeholders’ meeting to discuss the reform of the RCE. Prof. Mario Tabucanon of UNU-IAS joined the meeting as Regional Advisor to the RCE community in the Asia-Pacific region. The following key stakeholders attended the meeting: the Office of the Provincial Governor, Office of the Municipal Mayor, the Administrative Council of Trang Province, the Andaman Foundation, the Industrial Council of Trang, the Chamber of Commerce of Trang, the Education Office of Trang Province, and the Provincial Environment Office. The National Research Council of Thailand and officials of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment were also present.

Plans to move forward

Governance and Management: The Governor will create and chair the new RCE Steering Committee. The Office of the Municipal Mayor will host the RCE secretariat, integrating it as a constituent unit of the office. The Governor’s Office will invite other provincial municipalities and sub-municipalities (80 of them) to join RCE Trang. Each municipality will have one unit to liaise with the RCE secretariat. More stakeholders at the provincial level, especially the education sector, such as universities and schools, will be invited to join.

Scope of Collaboration:  The geographical scope will go beyond the city of Trang; the RCE aims to engage other municipalities and neighboring provinces.

Strategy and Action Plan: The RCE will focus on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Public awareness and developing best practices for curriculum development in schools will be major fields, as each locality can add local content into basic education curricula in accordance to the national education policy. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment supports the RCE activities in line with the Ministry’s policy on technical training and public participation.  Since Trang Province is a touristic zone, the RCE will be involved in utilizing existing best practices on eco-tourism and coastal zone management in its training programmes.

According to the Governor, the vision of Trang Province shall be “to provide better quality of life, economic prosperity and sustainable development”. The RCE hopes to host a future Asia-Pacific RCE Conference/Meeting. The contact of RCE Trang in the interim is the Head of the Education Unit of Trang Municipality. All communications should be addressed to:  Rakkiat2512@gmail.com.