Workshop Syllabus

Systems Thinking and Endangered Natural Areas in Vietnam: the Case Study of the Song Bong Dam Project

This is a atelier workshop organized in collaboration with the American Museum of Natural History and several partners in Vietnam.

The Song Bong Dam is one of the many projected construction sites in Vietnam that are developed for hydro power. There may be a significant impact of this construction on the natural resources, both aquatic and terrestrial, in this area. Several thousand people are to be relocated into other places because of the flooding created by the reservoir. During the course students will travel to Hanoi and then to Hue province, where the workshop will take place. It will be organized as an atelier workshop with local stakeholders participating. The students will participate in field studies, and interviews with local people. They will learn about the species in this area and will apply their knowledge of systems thinking to design scenarios of possible change as a result of the dam constructions. We will also consider various alternatives for the project.

There will be a strong systems and modeling focus of the workshop. We will learn to build conceptual models, develop scenarions and formulate simple dynamic models in Stella. We will review available data sets and look at spatial models that can be built for the study area.

The travel part of the course will start: 03/18/06 and end: 03/26/06

Tentative travel plan

Day Activity
Day 1. Trip to Hue, and then to Tam Ky.
Day 2. First day of workshop:
9 - 9:30. Welcome and Overview of the workshop - Ned Horning
9:30 - 10:15. Meeting with other participants, introductions.
10:15 - 10:30. How atelier workshops work? - Alexey Voinov
10:30 - 11:00. Break
11:00 - Background lectures. Meeting with local state officials. Defining issues.
  • Broad overview of the study area including institutional landscape - FPD or MOSAIC
  • Overview of the Song Bung #4 Dam project including work done to date - EVN or ADB
  • Flora and fauna in the study area including trends and threats - FPD, IEBR, or MOSAIC

(Need names and topics)
13:00 - 14:00 - Lunch
14:00 - 14:45 - Introduction to systems thinking - Alexey Voinov
15:00 - 15:45 - Introduction to Stella - Van PD Tri
16:00 - 16:45 - Exercises
17:00 - 17:15 - Forming workgroups.
17:15 - 18:00 - Work in groups.
18:00 - DInner
Day 3. Second day of workshop: Lectures in Tam Ky. Models and systems. Building conceptual models.
9:00 - 11:00 - Background lectures.
  • Data layers available for modeling - Institute of Geography, ADB, or MOSAIC
  • Identification of threats/problems in the study area - Group discussion lead by UVM, ADB, MOSAIC, FPD
11:00 - 12:00 - Alternative systems for energy production - Apisom Intralwan
12:00 - 13:00 - Lunch
13:00 - 14:30 - Participatory modeling:
  • Modeling as a process for decision making - Alexey Voinov
  • Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and modeling - Van PD Tri

14:45 - 16:00 - Exeercises - Building conceptual models
16:00 - 18:00 - Work in workgroups - Building simple models
Day 4. Third day of workshop: Site visit. Forest trip.
Field trip leader(s) - FPD, MOSAIC, ADB
Day 5. Forth day of workshop: Reviewing data available. Working in workgroups.
Day 6. Fifth day of workshop: Spatial modeling. Dynamic and static models. Reports from workgroups.
Day 7. Return to Hanoi.

The study area:

The site will be the watershed for the planned "Song Bung #4 (or Song Boung #4) dam".. The study area includes the northern portion of the Song Thanh Nature Reserve. The dam will inundate portions of the following two districts: Tay Giang and Giang and the following communes: Lang, Zuoih, Ta Bhing, ChaVal. The watershed will include additional communes and districts.

The issues:

The primary biodiversity-related issues identified by FPD personnel in Quang Nam are:
  • Illeagal logging
  • Forest fires
  • Shifting cultivation
  • Infrastructure development (in particular, roads and dams)
  • Gold mining

Recommended readings: