Background

In 2011, Khon Kaen University, through the Research Group on Well-being and Sustainable Development (WeSD), in collaboration with the USAID Sapan Program, initiated the project “Building Civic Consciousness for the Promotion of Democracy and Local Good Governance.” The study revealed that although public political awareness had increased, civic engagement in local public affairs remained limited. Civil society practitioners often lacked essential skills in organizational and project management, and faced shortages of human resources, particularly in finance and accounting. Moreover, there was a lack of continuity in recruiting new staff, while graduates from higher education institutions showed little motivation to work with civil society organizations.

These findings sparked discussions on the need to establish a dedicated center or institute to provide leadership training for young professionals, strengthen organizational capacity, and offer consistent support for civil society initiatives. Considering global trends, it became evident that civil society was playing an increasingly vital role, often complementing or even replacing state functions in the provision of public services, while the role of the state was becoming more limited.

Khon Kaen University, with its vision to become a world-class institution and a leader in regional collaboration, saw this as an opportunity to take the lead in training a new generation of leaders in civil society and nonprofit management. The establishment of such a center would also strengthen the university’s collaboration with partners in the Mekong subregion and within ASEAN.

To formally launch this initiative, the university provided institutional support and, in 2013, issued University Announcement No. 2259/2556 (dated October 9, 2013), officially establishing the Center for Civil Society and Nonprofit Management (CSNM) under the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. The CSNM was designed as a professional institute to build the capacities of civil society leaders, nonprofit organizations, and social enterprise managers in both civil and business sectors.