Regional Dissemination and Learning Workshop - Gendering Water and Climate Science Research in South Asia

As the International Development Research Center funded project "Gendering Water and Climate Science in South Asia" implemented by Postgraduate Institute of Agriculture of University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, Institute of Water and Flood Management of Bangladesh Engineering and Technology, Bangladesh and Nepal Engineering College, Nepal comes to completion, a regional dissemination and learning workshop has started on February 3, 2026 and continues till February 5, 2026. The dissemination event aims to share the knowledge and insights generated from the project, providing a platform for stakeholders to learn from the experiences and achievement over the past two decades. The workshop expects, out of many, to develop consolidated documentation of the country gender-STEM and water sector profiles, including the comparative learning across Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka along with a synthesized record of institutional experiences and good practices on gender integration in IWRM and climate science teaching and research.

The event was inaugurated in the presence of Honorable Chief Guest Prof. Dr. Bed Raj KC, Vice Chancellor of Pokhara University, other dignitaries included Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ajay Thapa, Registrar of Pokhara University, Assoc. Prof. Durga Prasad Bhandari, Principal of Nepal Engineering College and Prof. Dhammika Dayawansa, Project lead -IDRC- GIST project, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. 

Session one included three presentations on Gender STEM country profile from the partner institutions – Dr. Lina Gurung, Dr. Rokaya Khatun and Dr. Sreenita Mondal respectively from Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka presented the country specific Gender STEM country profile.

Likewise, the second session was on institutional experience sharing from a long-term, multi-country program: Gender and Social integration in IWRM research and education. Project lead from respective countries Prof. Dhammika Dayawansa from Sri Lanka, Assoc. Prof. Robert Dongol from Nepal and Prof, Shahjahan Mondal from Bangladesh shared their institutional experiences over the two decades. The day was concluded with a discussion at national level on how interdisciplinarity can be strategically placed in sustainability of the program beyond the project time.

The event anticipates to have participations from a spectrum of organizations - Government, International and National Non-Governmental Organizations, Academia. Professors from two other universities - University of Peradeniya and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology along with Nepal Engineering College (Partner Institutions) participated in the workshop.