The Heinrich Böll Stiftung - Southeast Asia Regional Office

The Heinrich Böll Stiftung is part of the Green political movement that has developed worldwide as a response to the traditional politics of socialism, liberalism, and conservatism. The headquarters of the Heinrich Böll Stiftung is located in Berlin, Germany, yet we are an international actor in both ideal and practical terms. Our international program is implemented through 28 offices worldwide, six of them in Asia. Our namesake, the writer and Nobel Prize laureate Heinrich Böll, personified the values we stand for: freedom, civic courage, tolerance, open debate and the appreciation of art and culture as independent spheres of thought and action.

The Southeast Asia Regional Office in Bangkok carries out programs in Thailand and Myanmar/Burma:
»The Media for Democracy Program aims to promote freedom of expression through various forms of media, including community radio and internet.
»The Climate Change and Energy Policy Program promotes a sustainable energy policy based on social and gender justice and responsive to our joint climate change responsibility.
»The Myanmar/Burma Program focuses on the scholarship program and alumni network and on the cooperation with Burmese artists.

For us gender democracy is a guiding political principle, a social vision, and an organizational directive all at once. To that end we have made the systematic integration of a gender perspective into all aspects of our work and that of our partners a cross-cutting task.

PROPOSAL

Community Radio Fund: the Proposal to the Broadcasting and Telecommunication Research and Development Fund of Thailand (2012)

April 29, 2013 - Nowadays, the committee of broadcasting and telecommunication research and development fund, under National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission (NBTC), does not clearly set up the pattern and method for supporting community broadcasting. Therefore, this article collects the opinion of community radio operators, who are member of the National Federation of Community Radio of Thailand (NFCR), about supporting role of the fund. And these opinions will be proposed to the committee of broadcasting and telecommunication research and development fund. more»

Workshop/Training

Myanmar Leadership Institute on Climate Change

- March 17, 2013 - In February 2013 Partnerships for International Strategies in Asia (PISA), Yangon-based NGO ALARM, and Heinrich Böll Stiftung Southeast Asia joined forces to offer a week-long Myanmar Climate Change Leadership Institute (MLICC) in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. Suzanne Kelly-Lyall more»

PUBLICATION

Computercrime? Impact of the Computer-related Crime Act 2007 and State Policies on the Right to Freedom of Expression

- January 15, 2013 - The new publication by Sawatree Suksri, Siriphon Kusonsinwut and Orapin Yingyongpathana  from iLaw aims to explore implications of the enforcement of the Computer Crime Act (CCA) since it came into force in July 2007 until December 2011 vis-a-vis sate policies as well as public reaction towards he law and its enforcement in comparison to the situation abroad. It includes key findings and recommendations.
»full publication in Thai (3,88 KB 714 pages) with English abstract

SEMINAR

Thai Media Forum “A broad societal coalition for a democratic media framework”

- In Thailand external and internal deficits challenge the media sector to perform its vital functions in the democratic process, namely to provide orientation to enable deliberation, and to blame and shame wrongdoers to control decision-makers. Challenges such as (self-) censorship, political and economic pressure, physical threats to and poor education of journalists, hate speech and character assassinations need to be addressed and discussed. The legal framework of the media sector needs to strike a balance between freedom of expression, consumer rights, and social responsibility. The seminar took place on May 24, 2012 in collaboration between Heinrich Boell Stiftung SEA and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. 

more»

ARTICLE

Bangkok Climate Talk 2012: On the Road to Repeat Copenhagen?

December 18, 2012 - During the informal talks in Bangkok in last August, animosities between developed and emerging countries rose to the surface once more. While negotiations happened mostly behind closed doors, Asian farmers and fishermen are already reporting how climate change has impacted on their harvests and livelihoods. A reports on the meeting, which was supposed to pave the way for the COP 18. Sakhon Songma, Wanun Permpibul and Jost Pachaly more»

PUBLICATION

Privatizing the Governance of "Green Growth"

- November 26, 2012 -

Multilateral governance and emerging corporate governance regimes are promoting a harmful development model through various new fora and institutions. The paper describes some of the most important new actors and fora and focus on a) the promotion of PPPs and b) the promotion of new market mechanisms to protect nature as two fundamental and critical aspects of the "Green Growth" debate.

Nancy Alexander and Lili Fuhr more»

ARTICLE

Green Sins – How the Green Economy Became a Subject of Controversy

- November 9, 2012 - Large-scale wind farms and solar power plants are springing up everywhere one looks. That’s good for the climate, but small-scale farmers and the poor are becoming the pawns of hard-nosed business interests around the world. Barbara Unmüßig more»

Publication Series on Ecology, Volume 26

International Resource Politics

- June 22, 2012 -  Natural resources are back on the agenda. This paper underlines a new dimension of international relations and pleads for new approaches, called international resource politics, which can be used for ongoing debates concerning green economy and transition strategies more»

INTERVIEW

"We need human rights-based, social development without depleting limited resources"

- June 22, 2012 - Barbara Unmüßig, president of the Heinrich Böll Foundation argues that because of the limited nature of our planet and the ecological challenges facing us, the fundamentals of our economy have to be reconsidered. In that respect, she thinks, the existing blueprints for a green economy do not go far enough.  more»

Publication Series on Ecology, Volume 22

Critique of the Green Economy - Toward Social and Environmental Equity

- June 15, 2012 -  The idea of growth as the way to end poverty and escape economic and financial crisis remains largely undisputed and is currently reflected in the concept of the green economy. But not everything that is “green” and efficient is also environmentally sustainable and socially equitable. This essay outlines a policy of less, of wealth in moderation, to enable the Earth’s resources to make a life of dignity and without need possible for all. more»