Adjunct Research Fellow Dr. Andrea Haefner is passionate about water governance and water resource management, and will be working for the next 12 months with the National University of Laos in Vientiane. She will work as Academic and Curriculum Development Officer in the area of water resource management. The focus of Andrea’s work will be to assist the newly established Water Resources Engineering Department in improving teaching and curriculum. This is important as water resource management is a key priority for Laos. Her work will focus on increasing staff teaching capacity and research capabilities, as well as the connection of the faculty with other national and international organisations and agencies active in water resource management in Laos and the region.
Andrea will be part of the Australian Volunteers for International Development (AVID) program, an Australian Government initiative. The goals of the program are the understanding of Australia’s international role and commitment to integration with the Indo-Pacific region; working to improve the economic livelihoods of people in developing countries; and to build capacity in priority areas of governance, health, social infrastructure and education. Andrea is looking forward to moving back to Laos where she previously lived in 2013 while she worked with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ).
Article written by Dr. Andrea Haefner, Adjunct Research Fellow, Griffith Asia Institute.