The SEACAP 19 project is part of the wider South East Asia Community Access Programme (SEACAP), whose strategic theme is ‘livelihoods of poor and vulnerable people in SE Asia improved sustainably’. The core concept in SEACAP was defined at the SEACAP Practitioners Meeting in Phnom Penh in June 2006 as “…maximizing input of local resources, which are materials, labour, enterprise and ingenuity, which ensures affordability”.
SEACAP builds on existing knowledge, but also provides a research resource for filling gaps in knowledge, particularly in the local environment. Mainstreaming ensures that these solutions are accepted, adopted and applied on a large scale. This involves a process of participatory workshops, guideline development, demonstrations, dissemination, training and implementation.
SEACAP 19 has contributed to the overall SEACAP theme by continuing the development and mainstreaming of local resource-based standards for rural roads by carrying forward research into cost-saving, sustainable and locally appropriate techniques in road construction, and by contributing to appropriate capacity building.