The Mekong program on water, environment and resilience (M-POWER) improving governance in the Mekong region

M-POWER—the Mekong Program in Water, Environment and Resilience—is a programme of action research that aims to improve the quality of water governance in ways that support sustainable livelihoods in the Mekong Region. The acronym is a play on the verb “empower,” as this is an apt one-word description of motivation for engaging in action research about governance with a view to bringing about progressive changes.

By Mekong this means the broad region of mainland Southeast Asia, not just the Mekong river basin, but an area that also includes the Irrawaddy, Salween, Chao Phraya, Red and other smaller river basins in between. The idea of a programme is that is a coherent set of action research activities that extend beyond a single project or grant. The focus is on inland water, where water is treated as: a multipurpose resource to be enjoyed for livelihood activities; a threat or a disaster, as in the case of unexpected floods; a resource for generating energy; or an important medium for aquatic life.  By environment, interest is being signalled in both biological and non-living aspects of the world.  Finally, the idea of resilience is introdued because it describes the concern for maintaining capacities to adapt and cope with change in a context where human society and the environment are seen as dynamic, multi-scale, and interrelated. The Programme will be pursued for at least four years: 005–2008.