Papers

• Art-based Storytelling as a tool in interpreting Environmental Justice of Mae Ngao River: the case study of the Bhumibol Reservoir Inflow Augmentation Project in Mae Ngao Village Manapee Khongrakchang Chiang Mai University

  This research aims to use an art-based storytelling method (drawings) in interpreting the place-based meaning of environmental justice in Mae Ngao village in Mae Hong Son Province, located near the border of Thailand and Myanmar; it is a melting pot of diverse people Karen-Northen Thai people have fostered intercultural social connections. The community has developed unique local ecological knowledge (LEK), blending Ethnic Karen traditional beliefs and livelihoods with the area’s environmental history, including past mining activities. The people in Mae Ngao village have faced the insecurity of injustice from the Bhumibol Reservoir Inflow Augmentation Project in Thailand, one of Southeast Asia’s economic-led and water-energy-food security-focused development projects that often overshadow local needs. While villagers have resisted techno-political environmental impact assessments (EIAs), they still face challenges in articulating their vision for a sustainable future. Therefore, they use storytelling as a tool. Art has become a powerful medium for the community to express their demands for justice, advocating for a life in harmony with nature. Through their artistic expressions, they interpret justice not just procedurally but also through the lens of the capability approach and Indigenous ideology of environmental justice, seeking recognition and a voice in shaping their future.

• From Assessment to Afterlife: Intergenerational Loss and Visual Storytelling at Pak Mun Dam, Thailand Kanokwan Manorom Ubon Ratchathani University

  This paper examines visual storytelling as a methodological and political tool for documenting the long-term and intergenerational impacts of the Pak Mun Dam in Thailand. Moving beyond conventional impact assessments, the study draws on community-produced drawings, narrative scripts, and a short visual story to foreground forms of loss that extend across time, memory, and generations. While early feasibility studies and environmental assessments prioritized technical and economic indicators, they largely erased the socio-cultural, ecological, and intergenerational dimensions of river-dependent livelihoods. Through visual storytelling, villagers reconstruct past worlds of abundance, rich fisheries, reciprocal economies, and culturally embedded river practices while juxtaposing them with present realities of ecological decline, livelihood erosion, and fragmented social relations. These narratives reveal how loss is not only material but deeply generational: elders remember and embody river knowledge that is no longer transferable, while younger generations grow up estranged from the river, its rhythms, and its cultural meanings. This “intergenerational loss” reflects a slow, ongoing disconnection from ecological knowledge, identity, and belonging. The paper argues that visual storytelling functions as both an analytical and political practice. It enables communities to reassemble fragmented histories, render invisible losses visible, and challenge dominant development narratives that confine impacts to measurable indicators. By situating visual methods within debates on environmental justice and post-impact assessment, the study highlights how community-generated knowledge can reframe the “afterlife” of infrastructure, demanding more accountable, inclusive, and temporally sensitive forms of governance.

• Visualizing water struggles: Using Photovoice for research and community empowerment in northwest Vietnam Lan Nguyen Center for Water Resource Conservation and Development, Vietnam Linh Nguyen Center for Water Resource Conservation and Development, Vietnam Nga Dao York University Thanh Pham Freelance photographer

  To enhance community representation and to assess power inequalities and gendered struggles in resource governance, we use photovoice as a participatory research method to create tangible ways to empower communities impacted by unjust water development in northwest Vietnam. As co-researchers, villagers took charge of the research; they collected data using photography and qualitatively analyzed the data individually and collectively. Through photovoice, villagers were able to reflect on their strengths and examine their resource (in)justice concerns. Villagers then used their knowledge—the photovoice product—to promote dialogue among themselves and with water/dam developers as well as to reach out to policymakers and the wider public to advocate for their rights and offer recommendations for change. In this paper, the authors elaborate on the photovoice implementation process as an important tool for empowering villagers, especially women, and examine how photovoice participants’ photographs provide a powerful argument for action toward more sustainable development in their communities.

• Weaving Resilience: Arts-Based Research on Ethnic Minority Women’s Responses to Small Hydropower Impacts in Northwest Vietnam Hue Le Vietnam National University Lan Nguyen Center for Water Resources Conservation and Development

  Arts-based research is a participatory practice defined by the creation of art to generate, interpret, or communicate research knowledge. This approach amplifies participants’ voices in research outputs through its iterative and participatory nature, fostering meaningful dialogue between researchers and participants.
  This paper explores the integration of arts-based research within a case study examining ethnic minority women’s daily strategies and livelihood resilience against small hydropower impacts in Sa Pa, Northwest Vietnam. Sa Pa, located in the buffer zone of Hoang Lien National Park is home to eight ethnic minority groups, with Hmong, Tay and Dao comprising the majority. While traditionally peaceful and small-scale, Sa Pa now struggles with the proliferation of dozens of small hydroelectric plants that not only disrupt the area’s tranquility but also damage its tourism landscape. We investigate how traditional handicrafts, specifically brocade weaving and indigo dyeing, function as ecologically friendly practices that enable women in the buffer zone of Hoang Lien National Park to sustain their traditions and resist unwanted changes imposed upon them. Our findings highlight the value of this innovative arts-based approach in providing insights into broader vulnerabilities and livelihood resilience, while also contributing to our understanding of local responses to environmental change.

Abstract

Keywords

• Indigenous knowledge
• Northwest Vietnam
• Pak Mun Dam
• art-based methods
• arts-based research
• empowerment
• environmental change
• environmental justice
• ethnic minorities
• handicrafts
• hydropower impacts
• intergenerational loss
• livelihood resilience
• photovoice
• post-impact assessment
• representation
• resource governance
• storytelling
• visual storytelling
• vulnerability
• water development