The Centre for Water and Climate Adaptation (CWCA) at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), in association with the Global Water and Climate Adaptation Centre (ABCD-Centre), the Center for Water Resources Studies (CWRS) at the Tribhuvan University (TU) Nepal, the Department of Water Resources and Irrigation (DWRI) Nepal, and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) successfully organised a 3-day transfer seminar-cum-workshop on ‘Climate and water-induced disasters: From risk to resilience’ on 30 April – 02 May 2024 in Kathmandu, Nepal.
The opening session was attended by the Honorable Minister of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation (MOEWRI) of Nepal, Mr. Shakti Bahadur Basnet. He stressed the importance of collaborative actions against water-induced disasters in the face of climate change. Prof. Vishnu Prasad Pandey, Deputy Director of CWRS at the Institute of Engineering (IoE), Tribhuwan University, delivered the welcome remarks to workshop participants from Nepal and abroad. Prof. Mukand S. Babel from AIT presented the objectives and expectations of the workshop. Additionally, Mr. Madhav Belbase, Member of the Public Service Commission; Ms. Sarita Dawadi, Secretary of MOEWRI; Mr. Sushil Chandra Tiwari, Secretary of MOEWRI; and Mr. Keshab Sharma, Secretary of Water and Energy Commission Secretariat (WECS), also delivered opening remarks. The workshop was attended by over 150 participants representing government organizations, international organizations in Nepal, NGOs and INGOs, development partners, donors, funding agencies, and universities and research institutes.
The transfer workshop aimed to contribute towards building resilience of communities and infrastructures against climate and water-induced disasters through disaster preparedness, mitigation, and management. The workshop’s objectives were to enhance the understanding of multi-dimensional risks for climate- and water-induced disasters, share learnings, promote collaboration, and develop actionable ideas for potential projects in disaster risk management. The workshop was solution-oriented and highly interactive, featuring plenary sessions, discussions, and group activities.
The first session of Day 1 of the workshop took place in a seminar format. It featured three keynote presentations by Prof. Juergen Stamm from TU Dresden, Dr. Sanjay Srivastava from UN ESCAP, and Ms. Alka Subedi from DWRI, Nepal. These presentations brought global and local perspectives on climate and water-induced disasters. Day 1 also included 12 presentations from local and international experts who shared their research and experiences on broader workshop themes. These themes ranged from the impacts of disasters on water infrastructure and societal implications to disaster risk assessment and response to disasters.
Day 2 featured three primer presentations on three themes of the workshop, namely, (i) Understanding and addressing challenges of multi-hazard risk: State-of-the-art, (ii) Building and translating resilience strategies and adaptation measures to practice, and (iii) Promoting sustainable solutions and policy interventions for addressing loss and damage. Each presentation was followed by panel and group discussions involving over 50 participants. The discussions continued on Day 03, focusing on developing actionable ideas. Participants agreed to follow up on the discussions to create a full concept note that could potentially be used in a call for proposals.
During the closing of the event, Mr. Sanjeeb Baral, Director General of DWRI, emphasized the importance of collaboration among government agencies, research institutions, academics, and all stakeholders involved in addressing the challenges presented by water and climate-related disasters in Nepal. Prof. Juergen Stamm from TU Dresden expressed his gratitude to the experts for actively participating in the workshop and expressed hopes of continued collaboration with local agencies and regional partners. The transfer workshop effectively engaged local and international experts on climate and water-induced disasters, facilitated two-way knowledge transfer, and encouraged networking among participants.
