The Sustainable Mekong Research Network (SUMERNET) is a network of organizations committed to the sustainable development of the Greater Mekong Region. Launched in 2005, SUMERNET supports policy-relevant research and outreach activities to inform and engage policy-makers, planners and stakeholders. Within this context, it pursues an evolving agenda in response to questions and policy issues that arise in the region. Current research themes are climate-compatible development, regional economic integration, and ecosystem services and local development. The network works on a range of issues including natural ecosystems governance, floods and natural disasters, climate change and adaptation, and transboundary resource flows. Origins and Foundations SUMERNET was launched in 2005, financed by the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida). Since then, SUMERNET's work has also attracted support from the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) and from partner institutes across the region. Membership has grown from the 14 organizations, to more than 50 affiliated organizations now. SUMERNET was conceived at a time of accelerated development in the region. Major roads and other infrastructure projects were being planned and built; bilateral and multilateral economic and trade agreements were being made, and there was a vigorous debate going on about the future of the Mekong Region. Many development agencies expressed concerns and called for an integrated approach that would incorporate a greater diversity of views and perspectives into regional planning and policy. SUMERNET was established to help meet that need by supporting and promoting the use of scientific evidence in policy-making, with the overarching goal of contributing to sustainable development in the Mekong Region. In the seven years since its inception, SUMERNET has sponsored a wealth of policy-relevant research and worked to create an "enabling environment" for researchers and decision-makers to engage with one another. The SUMERNET Secretariat, at the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) Asia Centre in Bangkok, actively supports the network's activities, drawing on both regional and global intellectual resources. Mission SUMERNET's mission is to "inform and influence sustainable development in the Mekong Region by supporting credible, collaborative research; stimulating independent discussions on key regional issues, and engaging with decision-makers and stakeholders to foster more effective and sustainable policies and programmes." A key aspect of SUMERNET's work is to bridge science and policy; SUMERNET does this by choosing research questions that are directly relevant to current policy debates, engaging decision-makers in all aspects of our activities, and building capacity for sustainable development through workshops and other