Supporting coastal community resilience through leadership development and training in Thailand

Abstract

Thailand faces pressing environmental challenges, including coastal land loss, pollution, and increased vulnerability to extreme weather events. While environmental engineers, scientists, and ecotourism operators play key roles in addressing these challenges, long-term resilience requires more than technical solutions. A deeper focus on leadership training and capacity building, which are subsets of human and workforce development, is essential for sustainable coastal protection and community resilience. This inquiry examines the landscape of leadership development and training in coastal resilience in Thailand. Through an initial conceptual analysis of literature, organizational reports, and policy documents, it explores the intersection of human and workforce development, community resilience, and coastal preservation. Findings reveal a fragmented yet promising network of governmental agencies, nonprofit organizations, community organizations, higher education institutions, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) involved in human resource development (HRD)-related coastal initiatives. Thus, this provocation argues that human and workforce development must be elevated as a central pillar of coastal protection, with greater emphasis on training community leaders, fostering adaptive learning, and integrating local knowledge into resilience-building efforts. Implications are discussed, with a call for more interdisciplinary collaboration to bridge the gap between technical solutions and human-centred resilience strategies.