Last April 23 – 28, 2023, the Fellows of KASYP batch 13 met in Siem Reap, Cambodia for their 3rd training module on “Local Governance and Development”. Our KAS office in Cambodia welcomed the KASYPers with a presentation on the work of the Foundation in the country, which was presented by Ms. Melanie Gerster, Head of Program Department and Ms. Chanbormey Long, Program Manager. Their presentation focused on how the office in Cambodia is empowering the Khmer youth in terms of civic engagement.
To provide the appropriate content for the core topics, Dr. Marcelino Pandin, Adviser to the United Cities and Local Governments in Asia and Pacific (ASPAC), facilitated a discussion on regional trends in local governance and development in the region. He pointed out four key issues affecting local governance and development namely employment, digitalization, insecurity, and health/disaster preparedness. This was followed by a simulation game conducted by Mr. Rey Padit. It was the first time for KASYP to employ simulation game as a learning tool. Mr. Padit adopted the Nexus Game for Sustainability which is a simulation game on solving water related problems within the intersection of food, development and energy.
For the elective topic, the 3rd module offered System Thinking Approach to Design Thinking as an innovative process in crafting effective and impactful governance and development interventions. Mr. Stephen Lin from Haines Center for Strategic Management facilitated a workshop where he presented the complementarity of system or strategic approach and design thinking. He showed the step-by-step process on how to implement the five design thinking process: empathize, define, ideate, prototype and test within the five phases of system approach: output, internal feedback, input, throughput and external environment.
When it comes to local governance and development, political leaders always face the challenge in balancing trade-offs between different policy options and finding win-win solutions with various stakeholders. Thus, KASYP provides negotiation training to these young politicians so they can be equipped with the necessary skills in facilitating collaborations instead of competition among varied interests. For this training, we had Ms. Shruti Singh, an expert on multi-stakeholder engagement. She provided the participants the basic fundamentals of negotiation, explored the negotiation canvas and practiced some relevant cases to local governance and development.
The third aspect of the KASYP training programme is the democratic leadership component. To complete this three-session framework, Dr. Ryan Guinaran facilitated the workshop on co-creation which includes creative thinking, design innovation and coaching for performance.
To complement this leadership training, the participants had the opportunity to meet with local leaders in Siem Reap and exchange with them regarding sustainable tourism as it is the main source of income for the province. First, they visited Artisans Angkor where they observed how a local livelihood program is reviving local arts and culture through tourism. They also had the opportunity to visit government offices such as the Siem Reap Tourism Office and the Provincial Government. The KASYPers were fortunate in their visits as they had a dialogue with H.E. Hun Dany, a KASYP alumnus and currently an Undersecretary for Tourism of the Cambodian Government. They also visited Angkor Wildlife and Aquarium to understand the challenges and opportunities for foreign investors interested to do business in Cambodia. Lastly, the group was treated to an evening of cultural appreciation as they enjoyed their dinner while watching Aspara dance, a traditional Khmer dance.
After a successful third module, the batch will now prepare for their final module in Germany in coming months.
