18 August 2017, Mandalay

The Mayor of Mandalay City, Myanmar and Minister for Development Affairs of Mandalay Region Dr. Ye Lwin has envisioned the city to be resilient and go on a path of sustainable development to achieve its goal to be a ‘Garden City’.

Mandalay City Development Committee (MCDC) with support from Department of Urban and Housing Development, Ministry of Construction, Myanmar, AIT Alumni Association and Authentic Group of Companies-Myanmar co-organized a seminar on Urban Resilience and Sustainable Development on 18 August 2017 in Mandalay.

The seminar was organized in the backdrop of the rapid urbanization being witnessed in Myanmar and the consequences as well as impacts from other development activities, and increasing climate change/ environment-related risks.

The seminar brought in perspective the limitations of basic infrastructure and services in cities, for which there is an ever increasing demand. Key presentations by AIT faculty and alumni covered during the seminar included: Concepts and Applications of Urban Resilience and Sustainable Development, Urban Resilience and Water Related Issues, and Mainstreaming Resilience in Urban Infrastructure Planning and Development in Myanmar.

In order to gauge the current understanding of urban resilience by the participants as well as to know the key challenges that they are facing, the participants were formed into groups representing their core functions. The ensuing dialogues and discussions among the participants which comprised of urban professionals and engineers from MCDC, Ministry of Construction, Myanmar, Myanmar Engineering Society, as well as NGOs and private companies highlighted several points, some of which included: needs for strengthening capacity and capability of various stakeholders, increased dialogue with communities, having community based approach, and cross-cutting issues involving several sectors and units.

AIT was represented by Dr. Vilas Nitivattananon, Associate Professor, Urban Environmental Management Program, Dr. Oleg V. Shipin, Associate Professor, Environmental Engineering and Management Program, and Mr. Justin Finch, Manager-Business Development, AIT Solutions.

Mandalay City Development Committee with AIT representatives

Mandalay City Development Committee with AIT representatives