SERVIR-Himalaya grantees share research progress at workshop

A special workshop was held 22 and 23 December 2014 in Dhaka, Bangladesh, for beneficiaries of the SERVIR-Himalaya Small Grants program to present research outlines, methodologies, and preliminary findings for their projects. The grants, intended to encourage innovation in addressing issues related to environmental and disaster management, were awarded to eight organizations from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan in July 2014. Selected projects address flood forecasting, forest fire management, landslide hazards, agriculture, and biomass estimation.

“All the presentations were encouraging, and an impressive amount of work was done within a short time,” said Birendra Bajracharaya* of the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)/SERVIR-Himalaya.

Waqas Ahmed Qazi from the Institute of Space Technology in Pakistan noted, “It was a great opportunity to share our preliminary results with other grantees. The feedback we have received will help us improve our research approach.”

Hasha Meenawat of India’s Energy and Resource Institute (TERI) agreed, stating “The presentations of our fellow grantees helped us understand how geospatial techniques are being applied in the HKH region.”

Sailesh Ranjitkar of Helvetas Nepal said, “It was a great opportunity to learn about ongoing research in the region. I feel the output of this grant program can be replicated in other parts of the world.”

The grantees as well as about 40 representatives from various government and non-government organizations in Bangladesh attended the workshop, hosted by ICIMOD and the Institute of Water Modelling (IWM) in Dhaka’s Hotel Sarina.

Notes:

*Bajracharaya is Program Coordinator for SERVIR-Himalaya and Regional Program Manager for the Mountain Environment Regional Information System at ICIMOD.

The Small Grant Program is implemented by ICIMOD under the framework of the SERVIR-Himalaya Initiative. The SERVIR project was established through a joint partnership of USAID and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

List of grantees:

• Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), partnering with Japan Institute of Disaster Prevention and Urban Safety (JIDPUS)
• Institute of Forest in Nepal (IOF)
• South Asian Forum for Environment (SAFE)
• Institute of Space Technology (IST) (Islamabad)
• HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation Nepal, partnering with the Center for Mountain Ecosystem Studies at Kunming Institute of Botany
• Institute of Water Modeling (IWM)
• Centre for Environmental and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS) (Dhaka)
• Energy and Resource Institute (TERI) (India)

Read the full ICIMOD/SERVIR-Himalaya source article, written by Chimi Seldon, on ICIMOD.org:  SERVIR-Himalaya Grantees present their preliminary findings.