Environmental Knowledge and Information Workshop

On 26 February 2015, Mr. Cheng Vichet, Assistant for the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs, represented The University of Cambodia at an environmental workshop sponsored by the Ministry of Environment. The workshop was presided over by H.E. Sabo Ojano, Secretary of State for the Ministry of Environment, and was held at Tonle Basac II Restaurant in Phnom Penh.
The purpose of this workshop was:

  • To provide information to the public about the general structures and publications of the Ministry of Environment.
  • To share knowledge related to environmental issues today, as well as in the future.
  • To get to know more about the current state of climate change, and its affects in  Cambodia and in the world at large.
  • To propose the coordination and mainstreaming of effective mechanisms to combat climate change and other environmental issues on the sub-national planning level.
  •  To brainstorm ways to manage rubbish effectively so sewers and rivers are not damaged.

By: Mr. Cheng Vichet, Assistant for the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs

Firstly, H.E. Sabo Ojano expressed his profound thanks and appreciation to the organizers, presenters, moderators, participants, and all those involved in making this meaningful event happen. He pointed to the fact that participants range in background and expertise, and how this singies the vast commitment, across disciplines, of those committed to environmental conservation. He commented that cleaning up the rubbish in the cities and cleaning the sewers is an incredibly important aspect to national development and economic growth. He expressed his hope that all participants would actively participate in this workshop and provide good concepts for the Ministry of Environment. Additionally, he noted that it is important to act as role models by changing our own habits regarding rubbish, and to actively clean up our own communities to inspire others to do the same. After his opening remarks, the workshop consisted of

presentations, group discussions and a feedback session on the following topics:

  1. Good governance and management: effective administration, financial management and full budget implementation.
  2. Village Information Services: building and producing reports on the environmental situation, village information service management, and updated layer data.
  3. Dissemination of information to the public on the progress and status of environmental projects
  4. Environmental protection and awareness advertisement campaigns to help change the habits of society to respect the environment.
  5. Resource Efficiency
  6. Rewarding and Encouraging: mechanisms on staff and societal incentive programs.
  7. Decentralizing work on environmental education and the effectiveness of using natural resources.

In his closing remarks, H.E. Sabo Ojano, appreciated the contributions of all the participants, and thanked the presenters and organizers of the workshop. Moreover, he noted that this was a very meaningful workshop, and he believes that participants have learned a lot. He hopes that from this workshop, all institutions in both the private and public sectors will help in the effort to mainstream environmental knowledge in sub-national levels and above, in order to keep our cities and rural areas clean and green.