HIGHLIGHTS

• Regional Academic-Municipal Secretariat: Thammasat University serves as the regional hub for EPIC-Asia, bridging higher education research with municipal governance across Southeast and South Asia in partnership with START International, EPIC-N, and ICLEI.
• Participatory Urban Climate Action in Thailand: Hosted the International Workshop on Climate-Proof and Inclusive City, partnering with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) and community leaders to conduct localized climate-risk assessments and resilient architectural planning in Bangkok’s Lak Si Pattana 99 community.
• Comparative Research and Best-Practice Codification: Conducted cross-border comparative evaluations—including a joint study on Nature-based Solutions (NbS) with Nanyang Technological University (NTU)—and codified standardized frameworks into the open-access EPIC-Asia Best Practices Guide to inform regional policy dialogues.

Rapid urbanization and escalating climate vulnerabilities necessitate structured collaboration between academia, municipal authorities, and local communities. Through the Educational Partnerships for Innovation in Communities – Network in Asia (EPIC-Asia)—hosted by the Thammasat Urban Futures and Policy Research Unit (UFP), Faculty of Architecture and Planning in partnership with the Puey Ungphakorn School of Development Studies, Thammasat University—serves as the regional secretariat coordinating university-local government partnerships across Asia. Partnering globally with START International, the EPIC-N network, and ICLEI Southeast and South Asia, the platform enables participating institutions to review comparative municipal approaches, pilot localized interventions, and establish international best practices for inclusive, climate-proof urban development.

Grounded Climate Interventions in Bangkok

A central focus of the initiative involves translating academic research into concrete municipal planning and community-level action in Thailand. Thammasat University convened the International Workshop on Climate-Proof and Inclusive City, Urban Planning & Architecture, bringing together international researchers, policymakers, and civic practitioners. Organized in close collaboration with the Department of Climate Change and Environment (DCCE), the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), the Community Organizations Development Institute (CODI), the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR), and the National Energy Technology Center (ENTEC), the workshop demonstrated an integrated multi-stakeholder model for local climate governance.

The practical core of the program centered on participatory planning in Bangkok’s Lak Si Pattana 99 community. Academic researchers, students, and municipal officials conducted field assessments alongside local leaders to evaluate exposure to three interconnected climate hazards: extreme heat, flooding, and air pollution. Through collaborative scenario planning, the team produced baseline risk assessments and architectural design interventions tailored to low-income settlements, providing actionable blueprints for localized climate adaptation and community-level carbon reduction.

Cross-Border Comparative Analysis and Nature-Based Solutions

Simultaneously, Thammasat University advanced international comparative research on Nature-based Solutions (NbS) through a joint study with the Resilient and Inclusive Cities Lab at Nanyang Technological University (NTU). Titled “Investigating the Value of Nature within Urban Settlements in Bangkok,” the study examined how urban ecological infrastructure can be integrated directly into subsidized housing projects for vulnerable populations. These Thai case studies were comparatively benchmarked alongside regional water-management models in Vietnam and circular agricultural projects in Indonesia, isolating critical governance factors for transferrable urban resilience.

Codifying Best Practices and Informing Policy Agendas

To ensure lasting regional utility, EPIC-Asia codified these grounded findings into open-access operational toolkits, including the EPIC-Asia Best Practices Guide and specialized training modules for faculty and community practitioners. These resources establish standardized protocols for embedding real-world municipal problem statements into accredited university curricula and structuring local adaptation finance. Furthermore, empirical insights from the Bangkok municipal partnerships were channeled directly into intergovernmental forums, including the United Nations ESCAP Multi-Stakeholder Forum and Asia Pacific Climate Week, bridging high-level international policy frameworks with empirical municipal realities.