<div class="embed-block"><a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/issue/133">							<img width="762" height="261" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150236/63fe11c39c7e80680e0da4f5jpeg.jpg" alt=""></a>
											Issue #133 21-27 February 2003</div>
The obsession of our leaders with Singapore is unmatched. Every prime minister we have had in the 30 years (some of them serial prime ministers) has promised to turn Nepal into a Singapore one too many times. Why not just build a Nepal that is just and fair for everyone?
Many readers are going through a withdrawal syndrome after the Ass formally stepped down, including the author his-self. This week we revisit one of the earlier <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=4308#.Y_guAy8w1KM">‘Under My Hat’ columns</a> which takes a dig at our Singaporean aspirations.&nbsp;
Excerpts from <a href="https://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/nepalitimes/pdf/Nepali_Times_133.pdf">issue #133 21-27 February 2003</a> 20 years ago this week:
If, one day, we want to become filthy rich like the Singaporeans, it is pretty clear that we must institute stiff fines for all major and minor misdemeanours and also turn ourselves into a penal colony.
But let’s be realistic: do our army, navy and air force have the capacity to instill fines on every non-flushing Nepali? Sadly, the answer is an unequivocal “no”. So, unlike Singapore, which penalises offenders with fines, we must use positive enforcement by rewarding those who do things right. In Nepal, instead of taking money away from those who litter, we must give money to those who don’t.
Cash prize of Rs 2,000 for the lone pedestrian who actually used the overhead walkway at Bhotahity in the last fiscal year. To be presented at a public felicitation ceremony chaired by the Mayor of Kathmandu or the MP of Kathmandu, whoever is elected first.
The Honest Cop Award in Cash or Kind for the pre-embarkation security check personnel at Tribhuvan Intercontinental Ballistic Airport who doesn’t ask you to open your wallet during the mandatory body search and contribute generously to the Free Lunch Fund for Kathmandu’s Finest.
The columnist who adheres to the highest standards of personal hygiene by not grooming his nostrils in full view of the rest of his staff during the course of writing the above column. This award carries with it a permanent residence certificate for Singapore. Terima Kasi.
From archive material of Nepali Times of the past 20 years, site search: <a href="http://www.nepalitimes.com/" target="_blank">www.nepalitimes.com</a>

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Singha Darbar, not Singapore

<figure><img width="1200" height="489" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101120/637209299c7e80680e0b5527jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>There are many examples to prove that, given the right opportunities, Nepali women can perform as well as, if not better than, their male counterparts. Nepali women professionals have proven this time and again despite a persisting gender gap in all the fields. And it is in science and technology that the representation of women has been low. However, Nepal’s women scientists have been making their mark in fields as diverse as medical research, engineering, genetics and even astrophysics. On International Day of Women and Girls in Science on 11 February, we bring you five women scientists who between them have pioneered in forecasting droughts, developing climate-friendly agriculture, the diagnosis and treatment of congenital diseases. These Nepali researchers were internationally recognised with the ‘Early Career Fellowship’ award worth $50,000 by UNESCO’s Organisation for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD) between 2018-2020. OWSD was set up in 1987 to encourage women in developing countries in the field of science and research so that their work can create an impact at the regional and international levels. Shobha Paudel <figure><img width="2048" height="1152" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101120/6372092c9c7e80680e0b5528jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/post-monsoon-rain-ruins-nepals-crops/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Unseasonal downpours last October</a> decimated much of Nepal’s paddy fields and reduced harvest. This was one of the impacts of the climate crisis on food productivity. Agriculture is also one of the most energy intensive sectors of the economy, thus contributing to global warming.Which is why ‘Smart Agriculture' is the new buzzword and researchers around the world are working to develop technologies that allow for crop production that does not add to climate change. One such researcher from Nepal is Shobha Paudel.Born to a family of farmers in Chitwan, it was only fitting that Paudel would continue her ancestral profession but at an entirely different level. Following the completion of her PhD from Kyoto University, she has been looking into advancing <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-villages-learn-to-cope-with-climate-crisis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">environment-friendly agriculture practices</a> in Nepal.First, she closely studied a village in Nawalpur declared as climate-friendly and its farming methods that produced less carbon but increased productivity, and in turn income for the farming families.She picked eight research areas including organic fertilisers, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/harnessing-the-sun-to-pump-water/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">solar-powered irrigation</a>, jab planter for corn, and other zero-emission technologies. She then proposed to analyse environment-friendly farming systems in the Gandaki Watershed region.Her research showed that solar-irrigated crops were more expensive but the use of organic fertilisers and jab planters led to higher yield as well as reduced emissions. She also identified systems applicable to places with similar topography like Nepal.Paudel has now opened an online platform and an app for farmers to reach consumers directly with their products and in the future, she aims to scale up Nepal’s smart agriculture system in other Asian countries.Hemu Kafle <figure><img width="1200" height="700" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101124/637209309c7e80680e0b5529jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Last year, the mountains of Nepal suffered one of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/wildfires-ravage-nepal-mountains/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">longest droughts of recent times</a>. Since the majority of farmers in Nepal depend on rain-fed agriculture, information on precipitation patterns and forecast of impending drought can help prepare farmers. This is where Hemu Kafle’s research can prove useful.Kafle obtained a Master's degree from the Ben Gurion University in Israel and her PhD in remote sensing from Nagoya University in Japan. After returning to Nepal, she joined NAST but soon after that in 2014, she set out to open the ‘Kathmandu Institute of Research Sciences’.For her OWSD proposal, Kafle decided to continue her research on drought estimation in Israel and Japan using photos taken by remote sensing satellites in Nepal. Kafle was unable to continue her study in Nepal due to relatively fewer ground stations in the country.“Nepal has varying geography and climates which makes it difficult to set up meteorological stations in remote areas,” says Kafle. But with her grant money, she built her own low-cost mobile meteorological station in a van to study <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/how-the-climate-crisis-adds-to-child-marriage-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">drought patterns in remote Nepal</a> by analysing satellite imagery.Kafle’s study also records air pressure and humidity which can help predict weather, estimate farming capacity and drought patterns of the area. She has found that most of Nepal will experience drier March and April in the coming decades.For now, Kafle is trying to secure a patent for her meteorological station and find a way to set up a fleet of similar stations across the country. “The government does not support researchers financially and it is costly to buy equipment on your own, so we have to find ways around it,” she adds.Tista Prasai Joshi <figure><img width="1292" height="888" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101124/637209339c7e80680e0b552ajpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Nepal has one of the lowest figures for access to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/do-not-fail-students-in-wash/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">safe drinking water</a> among developing nations with some 71% of all water sources contaminated with Escherichia coli, a leading cause of gastric infections among children.Tista Prasai Joshi’s proposal in 2019 aimed to purify water using organic arsenic which was the subject of her PhD in China’s University of Science and Technology. Her research into arsenic, (which can be a poison if it is of a different chemical composition) is to see if it could be a water purifying compound is unique and could have implications for other developing countries.With the grant money, Joshi bought a nanoparticle analysing equipment ‘Zeta Potential,’ which came in handy also for fellow researchers who previously did not have access to such a tool to help with their studies.“Science has never been prioritised by our government,” says Joshi who is currently with the NAST. “In fact, when I came back I had a few pieces of equipment that I could use for my study.”Such blatant disregard for the field has meant that Nepal has not been able to retain young and promising researchers who have left for the US or Europe in search of better opportunities.Prativa Pandey <figure><img width="1680" height="1120" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101124/637209379c7e80680e0b552bjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Prativa Pandey always dreamt of one day becoming a biological engineer. She fulfilled it by getting a degree in chemistry and mathematics from Northwestern University in the United States before doing her PhD in nanotechnology chemistry.By 2015 she was working as a semiconductor scientist, and she decided to return to Nepal after the earthquake. But she had no idea what she would do next and she travelled all over the country trying to identify her next venture.“I saw potential in medicinal herbs and plants. Although it had nothing to do with my studies, it is an important area but with little to no research,” says Pandey, who then started researching plants.At the time, she was with the Research Institution for Bioscience and Biotechnology, to find ways to increase the value-added products of acidic fruits such as oranges, lemons, and jams.When she heard about the OWSD fellowship, she sent her proposal which aimed to process waste citrus and turn them into cosmetic and medicinal products.Pandey has three focus areas: extracting oil from the citrus waste, developing power and decomposing the bark for bacteria on the fruit, forming a basis for her research which will take place in Rupandehi, Palpa and Gulmi districts with their abundant citrus production.After the project ends, she plans to use the waste to develop cosmetics for commercial sale and has in fact, already set up a company. She hopes she can source raw products domestically and for a country where farmers are unable to sell their produce in lack of transport or due to low market value, reusing them for value-added products can be a good alternative.Jyoti Bhandari <figure><img width="1190" height="695" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101124/6372093a9c7e80680e0b552cjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Jyoti Bhandari is an associate professor at the Institute of Forest Studies in Pokhara and has been involved in the conservation of bats since her time at China Agricultural University as a PhD student. During this time, she got an opportunity to tour grasslands and forests across Nepal and came to a swift realisation that the country lacks proper documentation of its <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/rare-anti-cancer-tree-on-verge-of-extinction/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">plants and herbs</a>. Which is why for her 2020 OWSD proposal, she decided to extend her research work into <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/medicine-goes-back-to-its-roots/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal’s traditional herbs</a> to conserve them and also find ways to farm them sustainably so that it can raise living standards of farmers. This meant training local farmers in the scientific commercial farming of herbs, and this is exactly what Bhandari has been doing since receiving the grant in 2020. She has also concentrated her study in the Annapurna region and she frequently visits Sikles, Ghandurk, Lamjung and Lower Mustang to document the herbs found in the region, what they are used for and whether they are commercially produced. Bhandari had previously received the Plant Conservation Fellowship, Rufford Small Grant and WWF Russell Eton Fellowship.

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Sky is the limit for Nepal’s women scientists

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141156/636d03419c7e80680e0a36c1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="1190"/><figcaption>Illustration: DIWAKAR CHETTRI</figcaption></figure>In 1763, Scottish inventor James Watt was given a steam engine to repair. Developed by Thomas Newcomen, it would turn water into steam to run a water pump. The Newcomen pump used the same chamber for heating and cooling steam, and was slow and consumed lots of coal. It was expensive.Dagogo Altraid in his book New Thinking: From Einstein to Artificial Intelligence, the Science and Technology That Transformed Our World tells us that Mr Watt conceptualised an improvement during a Sunday afternoon walk in Glasgow. He proposed a separate chamber that would condense the steam. It would improve efficiency and reduce cost.Subsequently his steam-run piston connected to levers and cogs would move wheels in locomotives, ships and textile factories. James Watt took a walk, and the world changed forever -- the first industrial revolution was set in motion.About eighty years later the mass extraction, processing and commercial use of petroleum to fuel these engines began in the United States. The second industrial revolution was on its way. The availability of petroleum products helped develop the internal combustion engine, improving mobility on a far greater scale than steam power – later revolutionising the use of automobiles, ships and aircraft.Energy generated from coal, petroleum, diesel and gas thus industrialised the West, and became the prime mover of its socio-economic system, and subsequently spread to every country in the world which followed the same development path.Human beings had unprecedented mobility, the world achieved progress, but use of fossil fuels over the next two centuries and half accumulated carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increasing its concentration from less than 300 parts per million (ppm) in the pre-industrial era to 418 ppm today. This and other greenhouse gases trapped more heat and amplified anthropogenic climate change.In the early 19th century scientists were already examining the relation between the sun, earth and atmosphere. French physicist Joseph Fournier in the 1820s postulated that the Earth's atmosphere might face a ‘greenhouse effect’. British physicist John Tyndal later explored this idea further, and in 1859 demonstrated that a greenhouse effect would trap the sun’s reflected radiation in the earth’s atmosphere – increasing the average surface temperature of the planet.The First World Climate Conference organised by the World Meteorological Organisation in 1979 had formally identified increased atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases as the leading cause of global warming. The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/un-climate-report-declares-planetary-emergency/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/un-climate-report-declares-planetary-emergency/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1632793832912000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG5KO1XmWfvCd3JQIreEIvlrvl09w">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)</a> established in 1988 to study climate change and its impact has been warning for the past three decades that a hotter planet posed a threat to humans and other life forms.It has been known for decades that a warming earth will disturb the water cycle resulting in frequent heavy precipitation, floods, and drought, cyclonic storms, and coastal inundation. Heat waves and forest fires would be more devastating. In fact, the IPCC’s Assessment Report 6 (AR6) issued in August 2021 reported that from 2011-2020 the global surface temperature was already ~1.1oC higher than the baseline of 1850-1900.The Paris Accord of 2015 aimed to limit average temperature rise from 1.5 to 2 oC  warmer compared to pre-industrial levels to minimise the risk of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/climate-climax,3651" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/climate-climax,3651&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1632793832912000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGg1f7MjDygQNSsOoABK_DhRH9UBw">a planetary climate disaster</a>. Member countries agreed to work on Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) that would set their own targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by cutting coal and petroleum use.Even these pledges will not meet the 1.5 to 2oC Paris target, warned the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in a synthesis report on NDCs. In fact, at the current rate of emission reduction, global average temperature is unlikely to be limited to 2oC increase by 2050. The report warned that national emission reductions pledged in the NDCs should increase by an additional 80% if the target is to be met.If the current level of emission continues, by 2100 the world will be at least 2.7oC warmer. Earlier, the IPCC had predicted that the 1.5o C threshold would actually be exceeded in 2040. Sadly, institutional barriers, path dependencies, lack of actions, and denying of climate change science in developed countries act as barriers to faster decarbonisation.For Nepal, as elsewhere in the world, the loss and damage from the climate emergency is already a part of daily life. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/first-drought-then-downpour/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/first-drought-then-downpour/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1632793832912000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFpzE9obZKPOn8iozib-zgjtAvfKA">Droughts</a> leading to unprecedented <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/wildfires-ravage-nepal-mountains/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/wildfires-ravage-nepal-mountains/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1632793832912000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFAZV0Kauf850haiih8DYv_r_QDxQ">wildfires</a>, record-breaking rainfall, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/disasters-in-nepal-come-in-waves/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/disasters-in-nepal-come-in-waves/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1632793832912000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG1DVkUqSSJ15kG7LZ_omJrvp0M0Q">extreme weather events</a>, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/on-thin-ice-in-the-khumbu/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/on-thin-ice-in-the-khumbu/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1632793832912000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGFcAtH18vGuvAx8RPbhAWSOV431Q">receding snowlines</a>, shrinking glaciers, and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepals-silent-emergency-springs-going-dry/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepals-silent-emergency-springs-going-dry/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1632793832912000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFsextCf2VRpjOw-ROgboe7cUZvKg">springs going dry.</a> In Glasgow, world leaders have to commit to drastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, and pledge help to countries like Nepal to cope with the climate crisis.It is indeed symbolic that the UN’ Climate Change summit (called COP26) in November is being held in Glasgow, the same city where James Watt took a walk during which he came up with the idea that made more efficient coal fired steam engine 258 years ago. Perhaps world leaders should also take a walk while in Glasgow to come up with an urgent plan to undo the planetary crisis unleashed by Watt’s steam engine. Time has run out.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepals-silent-emergency-springs-going-dry/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepals-silent-emergency-springs-going-dry/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1632793832912000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFsextCf2VRpjOw-ROgboe7cUZvKg">Ajaya Dixit</a> is Senior Advisor of Kathmandu based ISET-Nepal. He contributes this regular commentary Climate for Change in Nepali Times.

Ajaya Dixit

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Back to Glasgow, where it all began

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108181148/636a96ff9c7e80680e05dc9bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>Photo: MONIKA DEUPALA</figcaption></figure>Leading wildlife, environment and development agencies are teaming up for an international film showcase to highlight conservation to reduce risk of unprecedented extinction from human overexploitation.The Film Showcase will be among global events that will anchor next year’s UN World Wildlife Day (3 March) on the theme Sustaining All Life on Earth. Winners and finalist films in the competition will be shown throughout 2020, which has been dubbed the Biodiversity Super Year around the world."This gives us a unique opportunity to raise awareness of the multitude of benefits of wildlife to people, the threats they are facing and the conservation success stories through motion pictures and story-telling," said <a href="https://www.cites.org/">CITES</a> (Convention on Illegal Trade in Endangered Wildlife, Flora and Fauna) Secretary-General Ivonne Higuero. "We urgently need to bend the curve of species and biodiversity loss before we reach the tipping points from which we may not recover, with dramatic consequences for all life on the planet."Added Susan Gardner of United Nations Environment Program (UNDP): “The science tells us that a million species could go extinct if we don’t change the way we live on the planet. Storytelling reconnects people and nature. We hope this event will build the groundswell of support needed to drive the transformation and courage that our leaders need to demonstrate in 2020 to secure a prosperous future for people and nature,” said.The Film Showcase will be organised jointly by CITES and the <a href="https://www.cbd.int/">Convention on Biological Diversity</a>, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme (<a href="https://www.unenvironment.org/">UNEP</a>) and Jackson Wild. The call for entry will close on 4 January 2020 and finalists will be announced in early February 2020.Winners will be presented at a high-level event to coincide with the global celebration of UN World Wildlife Day at UN Headquarters in New York on 3 March 2020. During the event, best films will be awarded in categories Science, Innovation and Exploration, Issues and Solutions, People and the Wild, Stories of Hope, Global Voices, Short and Micro.“Wildlife and biodiversity underpin the well-being, safety, and resilience of all societies. The World Wildlife Day 2020 film showcase will raise awareness of the importance of investing in nature in ways that help accelerate progress across the Sustainable Development Goals,” noted Midori Paxton of UNDP.Said Lisa Samford, Executive Director of Jackson Wild: " As growing numbers of species edge toward extinction we must act quickly and decisively. We believe in the power of story to inspire awe at the wonders of our natural world and ignite the critical changes that will be required to restore and protect it.”

Wildlife film showcase in 2020

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171148/6369374c9c7e80680e03fe2ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="933"/><figcaption>Monika Deupala</figcaption></figure>Now that school <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=464#.XBImEVUzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">enrolment</a> in Nepal is approaching 100%, attention has turned to upgrading the quality of instruction and keeping the curriculum in tune with the times with a stronger focus on science and mathematics.This is because STEM education that integrates science, technology, engineering and mathematics in experiment-based learning is now needed in everyday life, and in every profession.With the convergence of technology, all appliances and applications need hands-on technical experience. However, most education in Nepali schools is still light years <a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/education-sector-neglected-in-mountain-communities,3690" target="_blank" rel="noopener">behind</a> with <a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/not-catching-them-young-schools-in-rural-nepal,3773" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rote-based text book learning</a> of stultifying and irrelevant content.“A focus on STEM education can unleash students’ creativity, and it begins with small steps,” explains Irina Sthapit who was involved in STEM education in Nepal is now at Stanford University. “Hands-on STEM learning is not about fancy equipment, but how we can use the simplest of materials to encourage students to think and create. “Sthapit used paper cups to make rudimentary robots that could make sketches, and says STEM instruction is missing an ‘A’ for art, and the acronym should actually be STEAM. She says future careers will depend on students being fluent with technology, arts and humanities, and they have to be able to adapt for jobs of the future.Robotics Association of Nepal’s Manoj Lekhak agrees: “Even if students make simple lamps, they can learn about electricity, design-thinking, and create useful products.” Starting schooling with the basics of science, technology and mathematics can radically improve learning. And adding ‘art’ in STEAM encourages students to enhance their 4Cs: creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and communication.By working on projects like designing automatic street lights using photoresistors, or wearable tech with solar-powered LEDs, school-going children come up with solutions for real-life problems such as <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/how-they-kept-nepal-in-the-dark-ages/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">load-shedding</a> and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/from-a-fossil-past-to-an-electric-future/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">energy</a> efficiency.In recent years, research has shown that STEM education must start early, from primary school or even younger, to lay foundations of necessary thinking skills and learning culture.The Nepal government has been talking about creating child-friendly schools, which also entails an engaging learning process. But in most government schools, especially in remote areas, teachers are unable to align learning with experimental activities, and are often unaware of the latest technological advances. Moreover, there is pressure on them to finish a rigid course for the supposed supreme measure of success: exams.Read also:<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Learning-from-experience,2038" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Learning from experience</a>, Beth Norford<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/after-quantity-nepals-education-needs-quality/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">After quantity, Nepal's education needs quality</a>, Prakriti KandelThe process of change must start with a new government strategy to prioritise STEM learning, experts say. Teachers need to receive experiential training, and teaching-learning processes in classrooms must change. Scientists and teachers agree that instead of simply listening to lectures, children would learn more by making and inventing, using their hands to expand their minds and come up with solutions to real world problems.Suyog Shrestha, a Nepali particle physicist at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, notes that Nepal’s schools need to attach a premium to hands-on experimenting in the classroom. “Nepali education puts a lot of emphasis on deriving and memorising formulae, applying them to get an answer, and to pass exams,” Shrestha said in an interview. “There is not enough emphasis on experiments. For example, I never had any exposure to laboratory work till Grade 11.”Beyond this, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/school-mismanagement-committee,3123" target="_blank" rel="noopener">school leadership</a> plays a vital role to envision the philosophy of learning, provide support to teachers and ensure accountability. Most government schools that have done well have done so because of the activism of their leadership.In Dhading’s Bhubaneswori School, principal Ram Chandra Acharya worked consistently to foster responsibility in teachers for quality education so that the school even succeeded in attracting students from private schools.But Acharya also realises that Nepal is behind on STEM education, and is concerned that teachers themselves may not have adequate training to pass on that knowledge. He thinks there should be a provision to compulsorily post undergraduate and graduate science students to public schools as temporary support teachers to improve the quality of instruction.STEM education is urgently needed for innovation and Nepal’s sustainable economic future as well. The country has a lot of catching up to do, and the  few Nepalis who have achieved notable scientific breakthroughs have done so after going abroad.Moreover, with unprecedented growth in all STEM sectors, there is rising concern about how Artificial Intelligence will affect the future job market, removing options available today and creating new ones that do not even exist yet.The fact that there are young Nepalis involved in cutting-edge scientific research across the world proves that given the opportunity, they could be  contributing to STEM-related fields back home. Many brilliant Nepali scientists have gone on to work in organisations such as NASA and CERN, or have made breakthroughs in transplant surgery or astrophysics.If students had more opportunities starting at a young age in school in Nepal, many more could in future achieve even greater success. STEM education is not an absolute solution to the crisis in Nepal’s education, but it is a significant gap which if filled can empower students to find jobs, and be innovators.<h2>Innovating in Nepal</h2>Mahabir Pun does not just talk about science education, the Magsaysay Awardee has been working hard to retain Nepali technical talent in Nepal through his <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/drones-to-the-rescue/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Innovation Center</a>.Just like he returned to Nepal from America, he wants Nepali scientists to come back to nurture science and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/lifting-livelihoods-by-lifting-water/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">engineering graduates</a> to become entrepreneurs and bring economic growth. Pun’s Centre still lacks adequate funding but is already supporting a range of projects in science, engineering and technology which include medical drones, alternative animal protein resources for poultry and an <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-budding-e-commerce-ecosystem/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">e-commerce</a> platform.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171148/636937509c7e80680e03fe2bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="933"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Pun says reversing the brain drain is a tough task, but there are measures that can be taken without much money to improve the chance of retaining Nepal’s science-minded students. “There have to be laboratories, equipment and tools for professionals to work in. Mentoring is another important element to help youth to reach their potential, but the main ingredient is transferring your passion to the students,” Pun told Nepali Times.Suyog Shrestha, a Nepali scientist at the particle research station at CERN in Geneva also notes that the least policymakers can do is to create policies at the national level to invest in science and technology and to relate those investments to development goals.“I know several Nepalis, all world-class scientists working abroad, who want to return to Nepal but will not because there is so much uncertainty and distrust,” Shrestha says, adding that some have returned in spite of initial drawbacks.Still, scientists like Pun have not been deterred by a cynical working environment, bureaucratic hurdles, and discouragement. But if they can overcome those givens, scientists can provide platforms for today’s students to get be a part of, and even initiate, their own state-of-the-art research in Nepal. Pun is a living example that it can be done.<h2>Green STEM</h2>After decades of emphasising environmental education, Nepal’s Curriculum Development Centre under the Ministry of Education is now planning to remove Health, Population and Environment (HPE) as a compulsory subject, and integrating its content into other science and social studies subjects.This controversial move, it is feared, will detach students from environment related-exposure during their high school education, especially at a time when pollution, global warming and water scarcity are such important topics with impacts on health.However, government curriculum developers under pressure from some donor agencies are arguing that HPE has not been very effective because, like other subjects, students had been just memorising concepts like biodiversity and conservation without understanding them -- just so they could write long answers during examinations.Proponents of environmental education, however, say that with <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/on-thin-ice-in-the-khumbu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">climate change</a>, air and water pollution, wetland destruction and rapid urbanisation becoming serious national and global crises, far from removing the subject, Nepali students need to understand it even more in-depth.Reshu Aryal works at Habeli Outdoor Learning Centre outside Kathmandu that gives students an immersive outdoor learning experience.“Children today need radical awareness about building climate resilience. They need to learn about the human rights connection to the environment, and about the natural resourcefulness of Nepal to be innovative and create a sustainable economy,” she told Nepali Times.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171148/636937549c7e80680e03fe2cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="1067"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Incorporating the need for environmental protection as a strong element of STEM would empower students to amalgamate science, technology and engineering to create sustainable solutions, Aryal added.By combining environment and engineering, for example, Nepal’s future professionals would not treat environmental protection as just an after-thought in infrastructure and health projects.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/economy-ecology-of-nijgad-airport/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Economy and ecology of Nijgad airport</a>, Om Astha RaiActivists argue that adding nature and environment studies into STEM will dilute their importance at a time when sustainable development should be Nepal’s primary focus. Instead, they advocate more intense training of teachers for hands-on field instruction of environmental subjects and nature studies.<h2>The World of Science</h2>Nations across the world have recognised the importance of STEM, and have taken steps to include it in their education system.Finland has a strong emphasis on STEM-philosophy in learning. A research-based master’s degree is a prerequisite for all teachers, who in turn work to foster inquiry and problem solving skills. Since 2004, technology was included in the craft curriculum that encourages students to design and create products. Standardised tests do not dominate learning, and teachers are given time to thoroughly plan classes.STEM education is also big in Singapore. In 2015, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said, “In the next 50 years, we need strong STEM capabilities to be what we should be - a vibrant, exciting, advanced society.” Singapore honours its teachers, and only the top 5% of graduates are recruited as teachers.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171148/636937579c7e80680e03fe2djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1150" height="491">South Korea has focused on STEAM (the ‘A’ is for ‘art’) to engage students and inspire creativity. Teachers receive STEAM-specific training and a study by KOFAC revealed that students in STEAM classes showed greater interest in all different elements of science, and demonstrated enhanced creative thinking skills.When he was US president, Barack Obama launched the Educate to Innovate project that worked to train 100,000 STEM teachers and increase federal investment in STEM. Obama said in 2013: “How do we create an all-hands-on-deck approach to science, technology, engineering, and math? We need to make this a priority to train an army of new teachers in these subject areas, and to make sure that all of us as a country are lifting up these subjects for the respect that they deserve.”In China, there is a nationwide effort for a comprehensive STEM education system from policy-making right down to curriculum reform and teaching innovation.STEM education is encouraged in Switzerland and Germany, where students engage in hands-on experiments and activities in class. Ireland released a STEM Education Policy Statement 2017-2026 which presents objectives, actions and implementation of policies for STEM education in the country.

The Science of Learning

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107161116/636922199c7e80680e03a10cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>Bikram Rai</figcaption></figure>Nepal has made dramatic improvements in literacy rates and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/performance-legitimacy,3505" target="_blank" rel="noopener">school enrollment</a> over the past 20 years. The same <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=857#.W5obd84zaUm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cannot be said for the quality of education</a>, however.Teacher training just focuses on how to use existing sloppily-produced text books to prepare for exams rather than the underlying philosophy behind the curriculum. Assessments are used to catch and punish students, rather than to understand if they are learning properly.Though not perfect, educators agree that Nepal’s curriculum is sufficiently good, and includes details about skills students need to learn in every subject. But ineffective implementation of the curriculum impedes true learning, and jeopardises the future of the country's young minds.Most teachers are oblivious of the difference between curriculum and textbooks, so teaching primarily becomes making students memorise these books. Rajendra Dahal of Shikshak magazine says the domination of textbook-learning means that curriculum aims do not reach classrooms.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107161116/6369221c9c7e80680e03a10djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="1027"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Textbooks have now become a part of the problem, perpetuating the gap between classrooms and the curriculum. Experts say a good curriculum should not be driven by textbooks or exams, rather by an overall vision that tries to identify the country’s needs. Learning should be experiential and related to the students’ world, and what they identify with.Says one Nepali teacher trainer: “Present teacher training is only about how to use textbooks, not why and how to realise the goals of the curriculum. Teachers have to know how children learn, as well as the purpose and goal of the curriculum.”Beyond this, textbooks are often <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/school-textbooks-in-Nepal-are-outrageously-bad,2475" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shoddy, full of mistakes and poorly written</a> and produced. When teachers focus primarily on such textbooks, the problem is compounded.Students are therefore <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Learning-from-experience,2038" target="_blank" rel="noopener">deprived of the experiential learning</a> that comes from the world around them. Instead of embracing this, the education system dismisses students’ reality and instills an illusion that rote learning from a textbook and sitting exams is a proper education.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107161116/6369221f9c7e80680e03a10ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="490" height="688"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107161120/636922219c7e80680e03a10fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="340">“Classroom models must now change to better facilitate learning. Students themselves are a rich trove of knowledge, not just the empty vessels we have treated them as ,” explains Lava Deo Awasthi, former Secretary of Education. He adds that teachers went through a traditional learning system themselves and have to unlearn the style they learnt at school.The National Center for Educational Development (NCED) has been launching periodical teacher training programs, bringing teachers up to speed on pedagogy, using of teaching resources and conducting activities.“Many teachers now have access to training, but teachers must also implement what they learn,” says Diwakar Chapagain of NCED. “Teachers can give excellent model classes, but if one happens to stumble into a regular class of the same teacher, then the quality of teaching is not great.”Textbook improvement is just a component of overall quality of education. And teachers alone cannot be blamed, they need more support and training to help understand their roles.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107161120/636922239c7e80680e03a110jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="275">“So the focus must shift to mobilising teacher training materials and library books to promote better learning,” says Shanta Dixit of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19131#.W5ob084zaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rato Bangala Foundation</a>, which is involved in upgrading the capacity of teachers in government schools. “Motivated teachers will not just paraphrase textbooks, but foster critical thinking and creativity to fulfill curriculum aims.”With local governments now in place, the opportunity to improve gaps between classrooms and curriculum is immense. However, Kathmandu has been reluctant to hand over power over education to local governments.<h4>Examining examinations</h4><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107161120/636922259c7e80680e03a111jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="1050"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Every year in June, there are news flashes about who passed and failed the high school SEE tests. But how good are these exams?Evaluation <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/grading-the-grades,3124" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was changed into grading system</a> to make it more descriptive and holistic, but all that happened was that numbers were converted into letter-grades. Exams still fail to capture the true sense of a students’ ability, and SEE questions are still primarily memory based.The curriculum also provides guidelines for evaluation, and to receive an A+, a student must possess exceptional skills of ‘problem-solving, creativity, critical expression and participation’. But exams do not measure any such abilities.Many teachers and parents believe that good exam results indicate quality, so teachers teach to enable students to pass the existing exams, making them memorise facts and practice on past papers. But if exams themselves were to improve to ask analytical questions, students would do even more poorly because they are only taught to regurgitate text book content.“Without teachers being trained to foster skills and thoughts in students, we are now limited to asking traditional questions,” says Chandra Mani Paudel of the National Examinations Board.Paudel says he has started work to change this by improving questions so that they will measure application and thinking skills, beyond what is just memory-based. The Board has already started training teachers on better question-setting.Paudel says he plans to completely change the existing focus by empowering teachers, preparing quality questions and researching about how it affects students. He adds: “This is new and will take time. It will also need support from the Education Ministry to take it forward.”

After quantity, Nepal's education needs quality

Nepal’s only international aviation gateway, at Kathmandu airport, will cut night-time operation hours to allow construction of taxiways, and airlines have been told to curtail flights. This is expected to lead to more than normal chaos during the height of peak autumn and spring tourist seasons at an airport that is congested even at the best of times. The airport will close from 10PM to 8AM from 8 November-31 March 2025. The taxiways will now connect to the thresholds at both ends of the runway, making the airport more efficient in handling higher frequencies of landings and takeoffs. The parallel taxiway extension will allow international flights to land every 4 minutes instead of the current every 7 minutes. At present planes have to wait to land until a plane taking off backtracks along the runway.&nbsp; Kathmandu is Nepal’s only airport with international operations, and it has only one runway that is only one way in from the south over the mountains. With the taxiway improvement, the airport will be able to handle 42 aircraft landings and takeoffs per hour — double the current capacity.&nbsp; The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has been trying to entice international airlines to also start flying to and from the other two international airports at Pokhara and Bhairawa (Lumbini) by slashing landing and handling charges. But so far only Nepal Airlines operates a weekly flight to Bhairawa from Kuala Lumpur.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241018161016_046569e53d1d66cd445cc66c697c0ef724810aec9f54bdf827481e3cd6b80c32.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20241018161016_046569e53d1d66cd445cc66c697c0ef724810aec9f54bdf827481e3cd6b80c32" data-rendition-name="original" width="2356" height="1134" loading="lazy" alt="Kathmandu airport expansion"> <figcaption>Kathmandu Airport Expansion plan with extension of taxiways to the thresholds of runways 02 and 20 that will limit airport operations from 8 November 2024 - 31 March 2025. Areas in blue are existing structures, including the international terminal which in future will be the domestic airport, and the new international terminal near the north end of the runway,</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241018121028_6e17cc2ee87c1b02d78cb54905825b7aa15299b7a00f5eddb01a59579ab85c1a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20241018121028_6e17cc2ee87c1b02d78cb54905825b7aa15299b7a00f5eddb01a59579ab85c1a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1353" height="1328" loading="lazy" alt="Kathmandu airport NT"> </figure>  CAAN has reportedly told international airlines to cut their flight frequency to Kathmandu citing the shorter operation hours and has told budget airlines to shift some of their flights to Pokhara or Bhairawa, or face cuts. Many airlines currently operate regular flights to and from Kathmandu between 10PM and 8AM: Air Arabia to Sharjah, Fly Dubai to Dubai, Jazeera Airways to Kuwait, Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong, Singapore Airlines, several Nepal Airlines flights, and one of four daily flights by Qatar Airways to Doha. Jazeera Airways, FlyDubai, and Thai AirAsia have applied and got permission from CAAN to begin regular flights to Bhairawa’s Gautam Buddha International Airport. Starting 9 November, FlyDubai will start making a stopover in Bhairawa before flying on to Kathmandu. Immigration, customs and security are all fully functional in Bhairawa. In Kathmandu, the next phase of the airport upgrade includes converting the current international terminal for domestic operations, the construction of a new international terminal where the domestic departure area is now, as well as moving the hangars and the Nepal Army Air Wing to the eastern side of the runway. The apron area will also double its parking space for widebody jets. This is part of a Airport Capacity Enhancement Project that was initially funded through a $80 million loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the entire masterplan is expected to cost $800 million. This project is the latest upgrade to Nepal’s only international airport since it saw its first flight in 1949. The current international and domestic terminals are too small to handle the current annual traffic volume of 8.5 million passengers a year that is growing at 20% a year.

Kathmandu airport to cut flight hours

As Kathmandu becomes more congested and polluted, and with remote online work becoming the norm, many professional Nepalis are planning to retire in Pokhara, or move there.&nbsp; With its stunning mountain panorama, balmy winters and proximity to a profusion of wilderness areas, builders are responding to this demand with new townhouses, housing development and apartments. One such block of flats is the 10-storey <a href="https://sungavaapartment.com/">Sungava Apartment</a> located at Phulbari above the Seti River, near the point where it flows into and under Pokhara. The imposing structure near Manipal Hospital is almost complete, and on a recent visit the site was strewn with huge boulders unearthed while digging the foundation.&nbsp; The Seti brought down these boulders during a gigantic flood that geologists estimate happened 800 years ago when a chunk of Annapurna IV broke off and ploughed into the glacier below. Today, Sungava (means ‘orchid’) sits safely on a high terrace, 100m above the blue-green Seti and commands a view of Dhaulagiri, Annapurna South, Machapuchre, Annapurna III and IV.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024102411104_5f8fc736c86ea3c08d7bef43bb727081d3cc1a2caa55ae2b441717e6044de7e9.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2024102411104_5f8fc736c86ea3c08d7bef43bb727081d3cc1a2caa55ae2b441717e6044de7e9" data-rendition-name="original" width="2016" height="1512" loading="lazy" alt="High living below the Himalaya NT"> </figure>  The soil here is conglomerate that has solidified like concrete, and the boulders were extracted by heavy earthmovers. It is intriguing to think that these metamorphic rocks as big as cars, rounded by glacial grinding, were once a part of a much higher Annapurna IV. Even for those with little interest in geology, Sungava is an ideal place to contemplate the tectonic forces that pushed these peaks into the sky to be sculpted into delicate shapes by wind, snow, earthquake and avalanche over millions of years. The view of the Himalayan panorama from Sungava’s many balconies are breathtaking when not obscured by clouds, or the haze that drifts in from across the southern border. On most days, just watching the towering pyramid of Machapuchre (Tamu name: कतासुँ क्लिको) play hide and seek with the clouds is mesmerising. There are rocks aplenty at Phulbari, and it is probably the flowers that grew along the flat terraces e that gave the place its flowery name. The boulders will hopefully be turned into a rock garden while landscaping. An nearby restaurant complex is making the best use of the stones in its design, using flat rocks as outdoor benches and tables. Sungava was designed by the husband-wife architect team of Deepak Sherchan and Jyoti Joshi of <a href="https://thedarkmermaidamarbshrestha.blogspot.com/2013/12/creative-builders-collaborative-cbc.html">Creative Builders Collaborative (CBC)</a>, which also built Heritage Plaza, Indreni Apartment and numerous other projects in Nepal. Sadbhavana retains CBC’s trademark Newari-style masonry and here it borrows from the orange brickwork of the old town of Pokhara, integrating it with modern design elements. A few of those heritage houses are still standing in Ganesh Tole and Ram Krishna Tole in Pokhara’s old quarter.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024102411108_5eb64a4885961b6d30781cefeb1e8a313da313ac5227c7a66b60f0c7d48d6fab.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2024102411108_5eb64a4885961b6d30781cefeb1e8a313da313ac5227c7a66b60f0c7d48d6fab" data-rendition-name="original" width="1362" height="595" loading="lazy" alt="High living below the Himalaya NT"> </figure>  About 400m from the apartment past a bend on the river, and down below three tiers of terraces in the canyon is a suspension bridge. Below it, the Seti is still swollen with post-monsoon flow as it tumbles away in a hurry to head down south.&nbsp; Back at the apartment, it is quiet, far away from the hubbub of Lakeside a 15 minute drive away, and in the lap of greenery. There are 52 units at Sungava and it already has a close-knit prospective community of professionals, including doctors, publishers, engineers, and businesspeople from the renewable energy and IT sectors.&nbsp; Some residents say they opted for a second home in Pokhara to make it a ‘base camp’ to explore the Annapurnas with its many hiking trails made newly accessible with new roads. With the NRN citizenship law, overseas Nepalis can now also buy the flats. &nbsp; The floor plans include options for north and south-facing 3-bedroom apartments with verandas, and the facility has underground parking has EV charging, heated pool, sauna and gym. There are still some unsold apartments with panoramic views of the mountains and one can imagine oneself at the kitchen with its huge window, humming a ditty while preparing breakfast: “खाना पकाउँ हिमाल हेरेर...”

High living below the Himalaya

When the United Nations held its Summit of the Future at its headquarters in New York in September, many world leaders, including Nepal’s Prime Minister K P Oli, highlighted the effect of climate breakdown in increasing the frequency and intensity of natural disasters. What did not get as much attention was the long term impact of the climate crisis on food production. In fact, heat stress, weather extremes and the consequences on rain-fed agriculture is already being felt worldwide, undermining the chances of the <a href="https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/">UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)</a> being met by 2030.&nbsp; The SDG’s 17 targets commit countries like Nepal to reduce poverty and inequality, end malnutrition, protect the natural environment, and ensure that citizens all enjoy health, justice and prosperity without leaving anyone behind.&nbsp; However, besides the impact of climate breakdown on agricultural production, in Nepal the area under cultivation is impacted by urban expansion, falling productivity and the need for expensive inputs like fertiliser and pesticides.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241019041052_626413c5baf4dae407ac9579231b41daeb51510aa636b75aeb7489d94cca6a62.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20241019041052_626413c5baf4dae407ac9579231b41daeb51510aa636b75aeb7489d94cca6a62" data-rendition-name="original" width="999" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> <figcaption>Kathmandu's urban sprawl is eating into its fertile cultivable lands. Photo: TAYLOR MASON</figcaption> </figure>  Now, a new study led by Nepali researcher Prajal Pradhan at the University of Groningen in The Netherlands looks at how urban agriculture may offer a solution to falling food production and meeting SDG targets. The researchers evaluated 1,450 publications exploring the contributions of urban agriculture with both positive and negative effects, and published their findings in the journal Cells Report Sustainability. Urban agriculture can help achieve 17 SDGs, positively influencing 81 targets. However, it could also undermine 51 goals.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-vanishing-land">The vanishing land</a>, Taylor Mason “Urban agriculture offers immense potential for sustainable development, but realising this potential depends crucially on adopting practices that minimise its adverse effects while maximising its benefits,” Pradhan explains. Urban agriculture can substantially enhance urban food security, provide employment to the urban poor, serve as ground water recharge in built-up areas, and preserve open spaces that can serve as safe havens during disasters like earthquakes. However, it also presents problems like the potential health risks from contamination and the need for expensive inputs. &nbsp; “Urban agriculture plays a definitive role in advancing the SDGs, but achieving this requires tailored, context-specific solutions that address the unique challenges of different regions,” says Yuanchao Hu of Wuhan University in China and who is a researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. “But it needs equitable access and rigorous management of environmental risks.”&nbsp; Rapid urbanisation is eating into Nepal’s most fertile agricultural land, which means farming in remaining open spaces inside cities can be a viable alternative, especially as food prices rise.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241019041052_7b7c9413086226fbdc630d45acf772cfa1ced77a8970b9056ec5ec7e5226fdf8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20241019041052_7b7c9413086226fbdc630d45acf772cfa1ced77a8970b9056ec5ec7e5226fdf8" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="999" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> <figcaption>A vegetable patch in between new houses in Thimi. Photo: TAYLOR MASON</figcaption> </figure>  “The conversion of Nepal’s most fertile land into cities is a severe problem,” Pradhan told Nepali Times. “Crop cultivation, horticulture, agroforestry, beekeeping, livestock rearing, or aquaculture can all be farming activities within and around cities.”&nbsp; The study makes recommendations for sustainable practices that build on the positive aspects of urban agriculture while mitigating the downsides, thereby promoting more resilient cities in future. Research shows that urban agriculture has been helping many countries attain SDG targets by enhancing food security and biodiversity while helping education and preservation of open spaces.&nbsp; Indeed, many farmers from the hinterland who have settled in Kathmandu Valley or other urban areas of the country have been practicing urban agriculture, leasing neighbourhood patches or cultivating roof gardens both out of necessity because of inflation and falling income to grow their own food, and also as a fulfilling hobby. Saurav Dhakal, a sustainability advocate with Story Cycle and now research fellow at the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand, says there are socio-economic and environmental benefits of urban agriculture. “It provides benefits to all urban dwellers, regardless of their income status,” says Dhakal, “families get fresh food, and there are many other benefits like water retention, heat regulation and biodiversity. These are all public goods, so special government incentives may be needed.” It is not unusual to see vegetable patches and even paddy fields within inner city Kathmandu where an older generation of farmers are using available fertile land and <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/rooftop-gardens-kathmandu,1415">roof gardens to produce fresh, nutritious food </a>to reduce their dependence on food items that have to be bought after being trucked in from large distances.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024101905100_1291ce98dbbb8caed8702ac4b1d469b3e13016d7ecaaf3bfd5f91c974d3c0c77.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="2024101905100_1291ce98dbbb8caed8702ac4b1d469b3e13016d7ecaaf3bfd5f91c974d3c0c77" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="999" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> <figcaption>An older generation of farmers are using any available fertile land to continue farming but it is getting more and more difficult. Photo: TAYLOR MASON </figcaption> </figure>  Nepal’s urban population grew rapidly from only 3.6% in 1991 to 25% today. There is large outmigration from the mountains to peri-urban areas of the Tarai, to Kathmandu Valley and Pokhara, with many young men then moving abroad for work. Kathmandu Valley’s population has swelled to nearly 3 million, and is growing at 6.5% a year. Dilip Shrestha, 71, used to work for Nepal Food Corporation, so he knew firsthand about inflation, shortages and vegetables with pesticide residue. So, when he designed his new house in Kathmandu, he built a spacious roof where he grows cucumber, ginger, garlic, coriander, onions, tomatoes, chili, beans, okra, pumpkin and lettuce. His family eats healthier, and he has reduced dependence on the market.&nbsp; The co-author of the Cell Reports Sustainability journal article, Daya Raj Subedi who is a PhD candidate at Beijing Forestry University, says urban agriculture also promotes inclusion and psycho-social wellbeing.&nbsp; He says, “A crucial finding of the study is the identification of opportunities and challenges associated with urban agriculture, it can promote sustainable transformation of society.” In Banepa, 55-year-old Bijaya Manandhar in her lifetime has watched the fertile farms of her neighbourhood that used to supply vegetables to Kathmandu, now completely built up with no open space left. The pandemic lockdown prompted her to turn to the family’s <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/rooftop-agriculture-on-the-roof-of-the-world">ancestral livelihood by growing food</a> not on terrace farms, but on the roof terrace. Manandhar is now a part of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/rooftop-agriculture-on-the-roof-of-the-world%5C%5C">कौसी खेती र करेसाबारी क्रान्ती</a> (Rooftop Farming and Garden Revolution) which has an online membership of 52,000, and awards annual prizes to women who excel in urban agriculture.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241019041052_7257f5def8f823f35a799fa6f6825e153f2ffa406ac11325d4fe74049b79e96d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20241019041052_7257f5def8f823f35a799fa6f6825e153f2ffa406ac11325d4fe74049b79e96d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="736" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> <figcaption>Rooftop farming is gaining popularity as a form of urban agriculture. </figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241019041052_beff1a4494ce896dd8fd383ee1f518e5448bcf7ea8bb138255391c7bcb9769ed.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20241019041052_beff1a4494ce896dd8fd383ee1f518e5448bcf7ea8bb138255391c7bcb9769ed" data-rendition-name="original" width="4000" height="3000" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> </figure>  Pradhan says the challenge now is to upscale such examples of successful urban agricultural practices so they support Neal’s efforts to meet SDG targets. He adds, “Crop cultivation around cities can be protected by land use plans and regulations. Promoting community-based agriculture, including rooftop gardens, requires community engagement and public-private partnerships across the food value chain.”&nbsp; Such support would accelerate the popularity of existing rooftop farming and community gardens in Kathmandu Valley, or kitchen garden initiatives in Pokhara, and building on traditional farming practices that are preserved and integrated into urban settings like in Bhaktapur and Banepa. In Lalitpur, the Women Entrepreneurship Facilitation Center promotes urban farming enhancing both sustainability and empowerment.&nbsp; Another co-author of the report, Yuanchao Hu from China says followup research of the team will aim to identify good practices in local urban agriculture practices. He adds, “There are examples of urban agriculture that optimise sustainability, ensuring that it remains a viable solution for cities globally while countries try to meet SDG targets.” Prajal Pradhan, Daya Raj Subedi, Kshitij Dahal, Yuanchao Hu, Prakriti Gurung, Sijal Pokharel, Sagar Kafle, Biplav Khatri, Sudeeksha Basyal, Monika Gurung, and Aruna Joshi. Urban Agriculture matters for sustainable development. Cell Reports Sustainability, 1:100217, 2024. [DOI: 10.1016/j.crsus.2024.100217] Prajal Pradhan (<a href="mailto:p.pradhan@rug.nl">p.pradhan@rug.nl</a>) This article is brought to you by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/" target="_blank">Nepali Times</a>, in collaboration with <a href="https://inpsjapan.com/en/" target="_blank">INPS Japan</a> and <a href="https://sgi-peace.org/" target="_blank">Soka Gakkai International</a>, in consultative status with UN ECOSOC.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240630110640_30c3782f9c09219bf1c249b51483a3cfb7a53a06d117d2aebd23ca7080d12758.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="20240630110640_30c3782f9c09219bf1c249b51483a3cfb7a53a06d117d2aebd23ca7080d12758" data-rendition-name="original" width="680" height="103" loading="lazy" alt="SDG logo"> </figure>

Back to the land in the cities

The 700-year-old Lakshmi Narasingha temple in Bhaktapur houses a rare half-lion and half-human incarnation of Lord Vishnu carrying the Goddess Lakshmi. The temple was destroyed in the 1934 mega earthquake that killed 10,000 people and destroyed many monuments in Kathmandu Valley. It was rebuilt by a German project in the 1980s, but as a single-storey structure instead of its original two-tier pagoda design.&nbsp; With new findings from in-depth research, Bhaktapur municipality began re-restoring the temple in 2021, preserving its original architecture.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241017131016_2fae38cce543ad7b1f6de632feb3e212e08ed1acedd747830e949d7b8e878f18.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20241017131016_2fae38cce543ad7b1f6de632feb3e212e08ed1acedd747830e949d7b8e878f18" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="In with the old in Nepal NT"> </figure>  “Our temples and heritage sites hold deep meaning. It is disheartening to witness how often they lose their original elements, whether by design or accident,” explains Kumar Chawal of the Consumer Committee of Bhaktapur. “There is a need to preserve our architecture and protect its historical value for future generations. Otherwise, we risk losing a vital part of our identity.” The Laksmi Narsingha restoration is similar to the Bhai Dega temple in Patan Darbar Square which also collapsed in 1934, but was rebuilt with a Moghul-style dome by the Rana government at the time. Only two months before the 2015 earthquake, heritage conservationists had started to rebuild Bhai Dega as the original three-tier based on early photographs. But priorities shifted when four other temples in the square were brought down by the 7.8M earthquake on 25 April 2015.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241017131016_697ea707d9ad163be5de5f2efbf5b70d3cab771adcc22f0fae6bf937c6cb0130.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20241017131016_697ea707d9ad163be5de5f2efbf5b70d3cab771adcc22f0fae6bf937c6cb0130" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="In with the old in Nepal NT"> </figure>  This showed how damage to monuments in Kathmandu Valley spanned from one earthquake to the next. Bhai Dega restoration remains half-complete to this day because money for its restoration ran out.&nbsp; Whereas Bhai Dega restoration was done by the Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust with grants from western embassies and international foundations, in Bhaktapur it is the municipality itself that allocated the Rs30.7 million needed to restore the Lakshmi Narasingha temple. The expected date of completion is early 2025. The municipality and local communities are focusing on two main aspects: preserving the past and promoting localisation. The restoration team has designed a blueprint for the temple by using historical photographs and insights from older generations.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241017131016_182882fdc393c99e70d1d0490319e415229563666c4934e3a582426ebf00ca30.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20241017131016_182882fdc393c99e70d1d0490319e415229563666c4934e3a582426ebf00ca30" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="560" loading="lazy" alt="In with the old in Nepal NT"> </figure>  “At first, the Lakshmi Narasingha temple had only one entrance, but during the demolition process, we uncovered the foundations of four doors. Now, we are restoring all of them. This is an example of how our ancient structures have changed over time, often without our knowledge,” says Chawal. “Constructing temples is not like building houses. They carry historical and spiritual values, which is why they hold a special place in our hearts,” he adds. By replicating ancient design elements and rebuilding the temple as accurately as possible to its original form, the team has stayed true to Bhaktapur’s soul. But the restoration also revived ancient techniques that were in danger of being forgotten, generating employment for woodcarvers, masons, and contractors. The community of Bhaktapur’s Gahiti neighbourhood near the famous Nyatapola Temple has also set aside specific days for locals to volunteer in the reconstruction work. This has encouraged young people to take pride in ownership of their heritage. Families have also supported the effort by donating funds for bells, the temple pinnacle, and other structural features to the temple.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241017131016_db850ec0c084cdbe54f65bee92dad2ad8122d20fd60ec87ec086fbb9d2f72bd6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20241017131016_db850ec0c084cdbe54f65bee92dad2ad8122d20fd60ec87ec086fbb9d2f72bd6" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="In with the old in Nepal NT"> </figure>  “I feel at peace knowing I have contributed my sweat to restoring this temple,” said one volunteer. “It is our duty to preserve our temples and heritage. The Nyatapola area will look magical once this temple is completed.” Community mobilisation is a long-standing tradition in Bhaktapur. In the past, locals have actively participated in the restoration of other temples in the city, such as Bhairav and Nyatapola fostering a strong sense of ownership. This collective engagement has not only been crucial in preserving the city's historical monuments but also in strengthening the bond between local communities and their heritage, says officials at the municipality. While securing funding is essential, and the municipality showed it values heritage conservation, the Lakshmi Narasingha restoration is proof that active involvement and sense of responsibility of the local community is as important, if not more. Local involvement also means that the monuments will be cared for into the future, When locals take ownership of these efforts, the restored monuments are not only protected in the present but are also cared for in the future.