Date & Time: December 10, 2022 15:00-17:30
Venue: Inamori Memorial Building Room 201 (Tonantei), Center for Southeast Asian Studies

Speaker: Prof. Saw Pyone Naing
　　　　Rector (retired), Ministry of Education
　　　　Chairman, Myanmar Environmental Innovation Foundation (MEIF)

Please RSVP to nakayosi[at]cseas.kyoto-u.ac.jp.

Abstract:
This is a comparative study on environmental awareness and perception of rural people living in villages of different geographical settings in Myanmar. The study villages are selected from different geographical and ecological zones of Myanmar, representing inland fresh water lake area, delta area, and dry zone area respectively. Among these three study villages, one is located in Inle Lake (Southern Shan State), one is in Maubin (Ayeyarwaddy Delta), and one is in Popa Mountain (Central Dry Zone). The findings of the study highlighted that environmental images of rural villagers are more strongly related to their intimate physical and social environment than that of urban dwellers. Environmental awareness of rural people primarily based on intimate physical features, climatic conditions, ecology of flora and fauna, development cultural and religious functions and various social changes. Although types of occupation and level of education are important in environmental perception and environmental awareness of rural people, some basic systems such as belief, tradition and culture still strongly influenced on villagers’ cognition processes of their environment. Conservation on physical environment and preparedness for natural disasters are closely related to environmental awareness of these native dwellers, and it is solely important for future planning related to the environmental conservation and the use of land for various economic activities in regional development. This research will also be continued to study the recent impact of information technology, especially the use of mobile phones, on daily life style and culture, and the environmental awareness of local villagers.