(SPACE) Space for Policy and Actions through the Co-production of Knowledge for Empowerment

The SPACE program advances empirical understanding of how communities, academics, and frontline defenders navigate shifting civic space, protection risks, and structural socio-political pressures across Myanmar, Thailand, and the broader region. The project is anchored by three core pillars, or “3C:”

1) Co-production of Knowledge (CPK),
2) Co-creation of inclusive spaces, and
3) capacity building.

These pillars are the basis for social change and a more democratic, inclusive, and resilient regional future.

Theoretically, the project helps facilitate indigenous peoples, local communities, civil society actors, and academic partners to collectively reimagine and redefine their shared spaces, values, and aspirations, laying principles of social justice, equity, and inclusive development.  

The project takes a two-fold approach, (re)generating knowledge and action while tackling structural challenges such as authoritarianism, restricted civic freedoms, extractive environmental and economic policies, fragmented governance, legal precarity, militarism, and constrained humanitarian access. This is achieved through interconnected activities: facilitating inclusive dialogue platforms and spaces, both physical and digital, strengthening local capacities, fostering community-centric initiatives, and co-producing knowledge with local knowledge holders and frontline defenders. ​​The project implement these interventions in several key thematic areas, including civic space, environmental justice, local governance, social and legal protection, and the development of robust humanitarian models.