press release “A Journey Inspired by The King” Project’s 9 years of work achieve widespread recognition in applying the King’s philosophy & local wisdom through any crises in the long run

“The Power of Human Energy: A Journey Inspired by the King” Project wrapped up its nine-year operation (2013 – 2021) with astounding achievements, from creating like-minded volunteers, networks, and learning centers as planned to successful showcases of collaborative farming session or ‘Aou Mue’ activities at various pilot lands that attracted substantial audience and interest. The project brought the Philosophy of the Late King and local wisdom to practical use in 22 watersheds nationwide; it generated awareness and excitement among different stakeholders to join forces, resulting in policy changes.

The project’s closing ceremony was held at Sufficiency Economy Learning Center: Suan Lom Sri Rin, Saraburi province – the area where volunteers worked on in the first year of the project. The event was attended by Dr. Wiwat Salyakamthorn, chairman of World Soil Association and advisor to the Agri-Nature Foundation, Artit Krichphiphat, Business Support general manager, Chevron Thailand Exploration and Production, Ltd., and representatives of the government and networks within and outside of the Pa Sak watershed. The event featured booths, selling both fresh and processed agricultural products, as well as Kok Nong Na training and other learning bases.

Dr. Wiwat Salyakamthorn, chairman of World Soil Association and advisor to the Agri-Nature Foundation, said, “On 3 April 2013, our Late King Bhumibol Adulyadej expressed his concerns regarding draughts and floods around Pa Sak watershed, inspiring us to set off on this “The Power of Human Energy: A Journey Inspired by the King” project in 2013. We applied the King’s philosophy and local wisdom in sufficiency economy and new theory agriculture to tangible development results with the objective of stopping draughts and floods in Pa Sak watershed as a long-term solution. Today, we have modeled success cases, including people, communities, and schools, in 22 watersheds nationwide.

The project ran for 9 years, which can be divided into 3 phases:

• Phase 1 (2013-2015) – Laying the foundation was focused on generating awareness, building various success cases including building the capacity of people, communities, and schools, while building learning centers. In Phase 1, more than 8,000 people volunteered and participated in the  running-walking-cycling events across 900 kilometers in 5 provinces.
• Phase 2 (2016-2019) – Multiplying was focused on multiplying the results of phase 1 by contributing to human development among teachers and people while building tools to elevate learning centers further into life-long learning  (e.g. at home, temples, schools, etc.). Phase 2 was concluded with 8 pilots in 8 provinces with more than 10,000 volunteers and 11 learning centers in 7 provinces.
• Phase 3 (2019-2021) – Networking was focused on policy changes. 7 national stakeholders – government, academics, private sector, civil society, public, religion, and media – joined forces in sharpening the competitiveness, laying strong foundation for human capital development, and restoring natural resources in 22 watersheds across the country.

Summary of the achievements of “A Journey Inspired by The King” in its 9 years of operation with cooperation from every sector:

• “Building People” – 489,984 people participated in training and learning at the learning centers of Agri-Nature Foundation in Pa Sak area and 826,280 people did so in other watershed areas, totaling 1,316,264 participants.
• “Building Educators” – 124 educators were trained in Pa Sak area, while 9 others were trained in other watershed areas, resulting in 133 educators trained.
• “Building Learning Centers” – 11 learning centers were built; 8 of which were in Pa Sak area and others were in other 3 watershed areas.

Artit Krichphiphat, Business Support general manager, Chevron Thailand Exploration and Production, Ltd., summarized the success, “Chevron has worked on this project for 9 years. Tangible results came through in both quantity and quality and showed that this project lent a hand in educating, modeling, and inspiring millions of people across the country to preserve our natural resources and live in harmony with forests. We were focused on applying the Late King’s Philosophy and local wisdom to generate self-sufficiency, as well as building a total of 11 learning centers in 7 provinces. On another note, we also built online knowledge sharing centers and online networks amassing more than 246,900 followers through website, Facebook, Instagram, and Line.

For those interested to learn more about “The Power of Human Energy: A Journey Inspired by the King” project, please visit www.facebook.com/ajourneyinspiredbytheking or visit https://ajourneyinspiredbytheking.org for more information.