Background
ANSO collaborative research project entitled 'Assessing Households’ Adaptive Capacity to Climate Change in the Diverse Socio-Cultural and Geographical Landscape of South Asia (ANSO-CR-PP-2021-06)' is a joint initiative of the researchers from universities/institutes from China, Nepal, India and Bangladesh. The project focus on climate change situation at local level, its impact on rural livelihood and adaptive capacity of the households in the different ecological regions from mountain - the Ganges plain - to the low land Bangladesh. It aims to synthesize knowledge by integrating both social and natural science perspectives.
In this context, the project team - Prof. Dr. Prem Sagar Chapagain (PI), and Dr. Shobha Shrestha (CoI) - visited Jahangirnagar University (JU), one of the collaborating university, Bangladesh from October 17-21, 2022. Similarly, Prof. Prem and Dr. Basanta Poudel (CoI) visited University of Delhi (DU), India, another collaborating university, from November 1-5, 2022. A five-day visit included activities namely: field survey tools training to students, meeting with collaborators, Geography department faculties, university authorities and briefed about the project.
Collaborators' Meeting
PI and the team had meetings with collaborators in both countries. It also had meeting with the available faculty and shared about the project in both countries. The meetings were very successful as the Head of the Department expressed their strong support and cooperation to the project activities in both countries.
In the meeting with collaborators, it was discussed about the completed, ongoing project activities and the future activities especially about the field survey in both countries that is planned for early 2023. Collaborators from both countries wanted to have more visits to each other's university/country so that exchange of ideas and networking can be strengthened.
Training to Research Students
The project organized two days’ field survey tools' training to the selected research students from DU India, and JU Bangladesh. Day one focused on the familiarization with questionnaire and data requirement details. A demonstration on operating mobile survey tool was carried out and students were trained to operate mobile survey tool to fill up the questionnaire for household survey. Students also did practical exercise and filled up 3-4 sets of questions using the apps.
Field Site Visit and Discussion with Local Community
During the visit, the team including students, visited field study site, Paturia Ghat in Bangladesh. The site is near by the Padhma-Jamuna (Brahmaputra) confluence. Dominant livelihood means in the study site, is found to be, subsistence agriculture and fishing.
A meeting and informal discussion was carried out with farmers and fisherman on major crops and the situation of availability of fish and issues related their means of livelihood. They shared that many fish species were recently disappeared and the fish availability in the river also decreased. The participation of local people was fervent and discussion was lively while sharing their livelihood situation, knowledge and experience.
Presentation on International/Departmental Seminar
Project PI prof Prem presented on climate change, its impact on water and adaptation strategies in the international seminar jointly organized The Geography Department and Bangladesh National Geographical Association, Jahangirnagar University in October 18, 2022.
Vice-Chancellor of JU was the chief guest of the seminar. It was attended by pro-vice chancellor, Dean of Social Science, and faculty and students. Dr. Liu Linshan from the IGSNRR, Beijing, China spoke as the discussant and highlighted about the climate change situation and its impact in China. The presentation was followed by discussion session in which very important issues were raised by the faculty and students. A total of 75 people attended the seminar.
Similarly, it was also organized a departmental seminar at Geography Department, Delhi University on November 3, 2022. Prof. Prem (PI) lectured on climate change situation in Nepal Himalayas, its impacts on water and agricultural system. He also heighted on the climate-water-poverty/gender and overall livelihood nexus. The seminar was attended by about 70 participants including faculty and students of Delhi School of Economics.
Meetings with University Authorities
As a part of the visit, the team had meeting with Vive –Chancellor Prof. Dr. Md.Nurul Alam, Pro-chancellor Prof. Sheikh Md. Monzurul Huq, and Prof. Dr. Akbar Hussain, Dean social Science, Jahangirnagar University. During the meeting it was shared about the ANSO collaborative research project and also discussed about the possible research collaboration, exchange of faculty and students.
Similarly, the project team had also very good meetings with Delhi University authorities. We including HoD of Geography Department met with Professor Shri Prakash Singh, Director of the Delhi University. We also had meeting with Prof. Pami Dua, Director of the Delhi School of Economics, and the Director of International Relations. A possible collaboration for research and exchange of faculty and students was carried out during the meeting. A broader collaboration for the Himalayan studies was also emphasized.
Press Release and Media Coverage
The visit and the activities were well covered by media especially in Bangladesh. The Public Relation Office of Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh issued a press release. The press release stated about the day-long international seminar entitled 'Climate Change Impact and Adaptation Strategies' held on 18th October. It further stated about the opening speech of Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr. Md Nurul Alam who said that adaptation to climate change was important otherwise, development and progress may be hindered. The press notes also covered the meeting of Prof. Prem S. Chapagain and Dr. Shobha Shrestha from Tribhuvan University together with the Geography faculty of JU on possible academic and research collaboration.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr. Md Nurul Alam who said that adaptation to climate change was important otherwise, development and progress may be hindered. The press notes also covered the meeting of Prof. Prem S. Chapagain and Dr. Shobha Shrestha from Tribhuvan University together with the Geography faculty of JU on possible academic and research collaboration.
Pre-Seminar News
The activities were well covered by media. There were there pre-seminar news published and mentioned about the chief guest, guests and organizer including the time and venue. The following were the major pre-seminar news.
Post-Seminar News
The post seminar and meeting news were covered by the following online media of Bangladesh.
The news was published under the title - International seminars held in the JU Department of Geography. The news covered the main aspect of the presentation and highlighted on climate change and its impact on water resources and various adaptation strategies presented by Prof. Prem.
Source: Prof. Prem Sagar Chapagain, Central Department of Geography, Tribhuvan University
No.16 Lincui Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China
86-10-84097121
anso-public@anso.org.cn
