2-day Workshop at Thammasat University, Bangkok: March 31st to April 1st 2023
It didn’t take long, after arriving in Bangkok in the evening of March 29 via Train from Aranyaprathet at the Cambodian border, to deliver our first workshop in Thailand. We met with our partners from the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and SDG Move at the University of Thammasat in the north of Bangkok to prepare the workshop on 30th of March in the sweltering heat of the hottest month of the year in Thailand.
The Spirit team was very impressed by the workshop location. It was a perfect workshop delivery space that made our team dream of one day having such a space and a Spirit of Football community centre to deliver workshops in. The workshop took place in the so-called SDG Lab, in a very sophisticated modern building named Puey Park for People and Sustainability located directly in the heart of Thammasat University, Thailand’s second oldest University. On top of this building, where we later played FairPlay Football, is the largest green roof urban farm in Asia.
Our team was impressed by the 30+ participants, who included University professors from the Economics, Education and Agriculture faculties as well as experts on Gender and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDG Research and Support Programme (SDG Move) was established in 2016, after the ratification of Agenda 2030 by the Thai government, to review progress of SDG research and implementation at a global level, identify gaps, and propose research issues that should be funded. Professors and other faculty from SDG Move collaborated with SOF in the delivery of workshop modules – providing useful insights into climate change and climate facts for Thailand.
Not only professors were well versed in the SDGs however, so too were many of the participants. More than half of the participants came from the impressive Thai Youth for Sustainable Development Association (YSDA), including some very articulated and knowledgeable high school pupils. YSDA, run by youth for youth, takes it upon itself to train youth in many locations in Thailand to acquire knowledge and understanding of sustainable development. YSDA systematically organises local sustainable development volunteer activities by coordinating with government agencies, private sector, civil society or other charitable organisations.
Special thanks to Ploy, Bay and Vesna from the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (the project’s funder) as well as Kiriya, Chol and Kay from SDG Move for their fantastic support.