Category Archives: Countryside

Guest Post: Electoral District Demographic Analysis

Posted on June 16, 2020 by Julian Dierkes

By Robert Ritz The current election saw a switch back to the block voting system used in 1992 and 2008. This system has both positives and negatives, and this system has much larger election districts than the previous single-member districts of … Continue reading →

Posted in Countryside, Demography, Employment, Ikh Khural 2020, Inequality, Infrastructure, Mining, Population, Robert Ritz, Social Issues, Ulaanbaatar | Leave a comment

The Demos Party: Women Candidates, Multi-Ethnic Mongolia, and Third Party Rural Strategy

Posted on May 26, 2020 by marissa smith

By Marissa J. Smith Among the four independent parties we are following, the Demos (ЗОН) Party has an interesting mix of most sophisticated web presence (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, website, and even Wikipedia page!) and its fielding of candidates in every … Continue reading →

Posted in Countryside, Democracy, Elections, Ethnic Groups, Gender, Geography, Ikh Khural 2020, Marissa Smith, Party Politics, Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

Book Review S Ruhlmann “Inviting Happiness: Food Sharing in Post-Communist Mongolia”

Posted on October 18, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Jade Marie Richards Sandrine Ruhlmann. 2019. Inviting Happiness: Food Sharing in Post-Communist Mongolia. Leiden: Brill, 2019. 288pp. ISBN 978-90-04-41063-3 So much recent work in the anthropology of Mongolia focuses on broad scale politico-economic transformation, urbanisation or the divisive mining … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropology, Change, Countryside, Food, Jade Marie Richards, Publications, Research on Mongolia, Reviews | Leave a comment

Change in the Countryside June 2019

Posted on July 16, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes For some years, I have now taken notes about visible changes in Ulaanbaatar on my periodic visits. I’ve kept a similar list for countryside changes, somewhat more regular as extended visits to the countryside don’t come nearly … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, Countryside, Curios | Tagged | Leave a comment

Addressing Meat Prices through Policy not Populism

Posted on June 2, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes A very curious spectacle recently to see meat warehouses raided by the General Intelligence Agency. I have seen little discussion of the legality of such raids which look a bit like the action taken against a mining … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Countryside, Diversification, Employment, Herding, Public Policy | Tagged | Leave a comment

Challenges Arising from Growing National Herd

Posted on February 27, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes On an August 2018 trip to Western Mongolia, I heard a lot of countryside reports that the value of animal products, especially meat, is rapidly declining, exacerbating poverty, unemployment, migration to towns and cities, etc. When you … Continue reading →

Posted in Countryside, Diversification, Flooding, Grassland, Health, Infrastructure | Tagged | Leave a comment

Camping Nomads

Posted on November 25, 2018 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Historically, Mongolians are a nation of “campers”. While perhaps less than a third of them still are mobile pastoralists, and even they are less mobile than they once were, nomadism and the movable home still play large … Continue reading →

Posted in Countryside, Curios, Social Change, Tourism | Tagged | Leave a comment

Tourism Clusters, Domestic Tourism, and RVs

Posted on October 29, 2018 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes When I actually visit Mongolia (not often enough, but 1-4 times/year over past dozen years or so), I have many conversations where I learn more and more about Mongolia, but that also raise other questions. If I … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Countryside, Development, Diversification, Tourism | Tagged | Leave a comment

Technology Assessment Needed: Solar Power

Posted on October 18, 2018 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes To: PM Khurelsukh CC: Minister of Energy Davaasuren; Min of Science Tsogzolmaa; Min of Environment Tserenbat, Officer of Intl Cooperation, Min of Environment, G Tsogtbaatar; Min of Light Industry Batzorig; Dir, External Affairs, Green Climate Fund Oyun Climate … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Climate Change, Countryside, Development, Diversification, Environmental Movements, Geography, Gobi, Infrastructure, Renewables, Russia, Sovereign Wealth Fund | Tagged | Leave a comment

Locating Mongolian Towns

Posted on October 9, 2018 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes I’ve been touring through the Mongolian countryside periodically for over ten years now, having recently visited my 17th aimag, just four more to go. 17 aimags visited and counting… Can you guess where I’ve made it to? … Continue reading →

Posted in Countryside, Geography, History, Settlements, Ulaanbaatar | Tagged | Leave a comment

Closed Mines as Sites of Learning and Engagement in Japan

Posted on October 5, 2018 by D.Byambajav

By Byambajav Dalaibuyan Introduction* Japan is well known for its lack of mineral resources. However, interestingly, the Japanese domestic mining industry played a crucial role in the nation’s industrialization and modernization in the 19th and the first half of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Countryside, Education, Environment, Japan, Mining, Museums, Nalaikh | Tagged | Leave a comment

Reducing Garbage by Re-establishing Bowl Use

Posted on September 23, 2018 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes In recent workshops we asked participants to list the most pressing policy challenges that Mongolia faced. A relatively small number of problems were listed repeatedly, by participants based in Ulaanbaatar as well as those from other aimags. … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, Countryside, Curios, Garbage, Social Change | Tagged | Leave a comment

Employment

Posted on August 30, 2018 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes I have been encountering “unemployment” as a political challenge in Mongolia for many years. Most recently, in a set of six workshops on policy-making and political parties organized by the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation Mongolia for the Mongolian People’s Party youth organization (НАМЗХ) and the Trade Union … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Countryside, Diversification, Economics, Employment, Policy, Public Policy | Tagged | Leave a comment

Guest Post: Flooding in Mongolia

Posted on August 17, 2018 by Julian Dierkes

By Jangar Ts Recent floods in Mongolia have brought about a lot of discussions. Continuous heavy rains all over the country quickly resulted in multiple floods, destroying communication lines, affecting some villages and infrastructure. In the northern part of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Countryside, Environment, Flooding, Gobi, Grassland, Jangar Tsembel, Natural Disaster, Ulaanbaatar | Leave a comment

Sounds of a Ger

Posted on May 5, 2018 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes For any visitor to Mongolia who has the chance to sleep in a ger, that is probably a highlight. I enjoy it every time I have a chance. One of the aspects that often makes it a … Continue reading →

Posted in Countryside, Curios, Tourism | Tagged | Leave a comment