[Tutorial 1] Reflections on developing a hypothetically, 10 million USD Project

My experience in developing projects for hypothetically, 10 million USD in solving peri-urbanisation issues in Ayutthaya, Thailand exposed me to the amount of research needed to justify a project to be implemented by the government. Research in financial cost of project, technologies made for developing countries, current government issues, environmental context and many more are factored into making a well-rounded and persuasive project. Some teams researched into financial projection of a whole waste management facility, different types of water treatment technologies, expanding road mitigation and rerouting, GIS to track migrant workers, incentives for migrant workers to register with the government and case studies from other countries that can relate and strengthen their projects. A well-rounded project also considers both the hardware and software components. For example, my team worked on tackling water supply management issues in Ayutthaya. Our solution consisted of the hardware of implementing water management technologies such as rainwater catchment swells to be placed on rooftops, desalination station, and super sand to filter out toxins in water. On the other hand, we needed to consider the issues of decentralized policy that has made the government network in Ayutthaya fragmented, resulting in more pressure on local agencies to work on issues with insufficient funding and resources. We worked on the software of devising a three tier government network, where there is an extra level of agency in the middle to connect the national government to the local government agencies. As a result, better communication and inter-dependence between the national level and local level can be established. In addition, research can come from many disciplines of studies. Such as, from design, we have the idea of think tanks where individuals gather together to collaboratively work on issues and problems. I suggested to the group, that the middle agency could act like a think tank, where they receive issues and feedback from the national government and local agencies and they would work as a workgroup to find solutions. Therefore, solutions from local agencies may be reported or filtered to the national level or the national government solutions and resources maybe infiltrated to solving local issues. In creating a well-developed project, there needs to be sound research into diverse factors, technologies, knowledge fields, disciplines and case studies from other countries that can strengthen the project idea. It is not only about implementing physical solutions, but also taking account of social issues and influences.