Munasinghe Institute for Development

Present-Ongoing Projects

Research and Training Programmes

C3D Phase II

Member of a consortium spanning Africa, Asia and Europe, which has undertaken a wide range of research and training activities to build capacity on climate change and sustainable development in developing countries. MIND is recognised as a UN centre of excellence in Asia.

Nanotechnology, Poverty and Sustainable Development

Carrying out research on practical applications of nanotechnology for poverty alleviation and making development more sustainable, in areas such as energy, environment and water.

Research studies

Sustainable Recovery and Resilience Building in the Tsunami Effected Region in SL

A program on sustainable recovery and resilience building in the tsunami affected region, coordinated by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI). The overall objective of the program is to ensure sustainable livelihoods and build the long term resilience of coastal hazards among vulnerable communities.

Integrating Science and Technology Policy Within National Sustainable Development Strategy

Assisting the Government of Sri Lanka in developing and implementing a practical science and technology policy, which is fully integrated within the national sustainable development strategy.

Agriculture & Climate Change

This research study examines the effect of climate change on agriculture in Sri Lanka using the Ricardian method to look at how net revenue varies across climatic zones in Sri Lanka. The Ricardian method accounts for the direct impacts of climate on yields of different crops as well as the indirect substitution of different inputs, introduction of different activities, and other potential adaptations by farmers to different climates. Two separate models were estimated to capture changes in the net revenue of paddy and plantation crops due to climatic changes in 24 districts in the country.

According to the projected changes in rainfall and temperature in 2050, revenues of paddy cultivation decrease very significantly in 2050 -- this negative impact is mainly due to the change in rainfall. In contrast, there will be an overall gain in plantation revenues due to the increase rainfall in the central hill areas. However, the overall impacts on agricultural production and GDP in 2050 are negative.

Integrating Environmental concerns into the I-O Table-2000 of SL

MIND is engaged in upgrading the fourteen sector Input Output Table for 2000 of Sri Lanka with the depletion, pollution and environmental degradation of land, water and forests resources, which took place due to the economic activities in the year. The input-output structure in which the outputs of all the economic sectors of the country are divided between inputs into other sectors as intermediate goods and services and final demand, has been identified as a powerful tool for economic modeling since it helps to estimate impacts on the overall economy when there is a change in any sector.

Academic

6th Batch of Scholars - September 2006-Aug 2007

University of Colombo	-	Mr HNCP Kumara	Faculty of Science	-	Ms KMCP Seneviratne
Faculty of Arts	-	Ms KWD Gunarathne		-	Mr WDS Rubunusiri
				-	Ms RKMPP Handakumbura
				-	Ms HAA Priyadarshani
University of Moratuwa	-	Mr DSRTN Gunawardana
	-	Mr WJMPGS Silva
	-	Mr V Prahalathan

University of SJP	-	Mr SA Vanniarachchy
	-	Ms GDS Priyadarshika

Fellowships

MIND awards research fellowships to post-graduate students. Several awards have been made already to Masters and PhD candidates from leading universities around the world.

	Name	University	Nationality	Study area	Period
	Golam Mathbor	Monmouth University	USA	Building social capital for sustainable disaster relief an management	25 May - 24 June'06

MIND Sustainable Support Service (MS3)

MIND initiated a post-Tsunami scheme to offer sustained support to affected students throughout their school career, covering food, clothing and educational supplies. MIND scholars will play an active role in the rehabilitation of Tsunami affected children by participating at the grass root level, with regular visits and supervision. Our scholars also provide emotional support to help these children return to a normal, healthy life.