February 29, 2024 (8:30 AM – 3:30 PM)
(KUSOM, Lalitpur, Nepal; in-person only)
Download the program here.
The Network for Education and Research on Peace and Sustainability (NERPS) at Hiroshima University, together with the Hiroshima University Scholars’ Alumni Association (HiUSAN), and the Kathmandu School of Education (KUSOED), and the Centre for Social Change, will hold the 2024 Symposium on the Challenges and Opportunities for Environment Peacebuilding in Nepal. Environmental peacebuilding is a set of approaches and activities for managing environmental issues to support conflict prevention/resolution and peacebuilding. While the positive impact of environmental protection on peace is widely recognized, environmental peacebuilding could also trigger unintended negative consequences, such as discrimination and displacement of indigenous communities and even further environmental degradation due to unsustainable livelihood practices (Ide, 2020). In contexts where environmental stress contributes to insecurity and instability, such as Nepal, (Matthew & Upreti, 2009), an in-depth analysis that considers the different ethos of various communities – from the national to the local levels – regarding what constitutes peace and its relation to environmentally sustainable practices is imperative (Simangan, 2023). Such an analysis is crucial for informing productive and sustained collaboration between policymakers, practitioners, researchers, and ordinary people toward environmental peacebuilding.
Following the success of the “Research Workshop: Local Environmental Peacebuilding in Nepal” held on 20 April 2023, this symposium brings together peace and sustainability experts to discuss the challenges and prospects for advancing environmental peacebuilding knowledge and practice in Nepal and beyond. The symposium will include research presentations, a roundtable discussion, and parallel sessions on a research workshop and skills-building for students and early-career researchers. The final agenda will be circulated to registered participants on February 15, 20234.
We invite students, researchers, and practitioners to register to the symposium through this link until February 14, 2024. Participation fees are NOT required.
[Workshop] Environmental Peacebuilding in Nepal: A Research Agenda
The purpose of the research workshop is to develop a joint paper aimed at providing an overview of environmental peacebuilding in Nepal, a systematic assessment of case studies, and research/policy recommendations. Workshop participants who are interested in co-authoring a research paper should prepare a written case study (500-700 words, exclusive of references) on environmental peacebuilding in Nepal and submit it by the time of registration. The case study should contain answers to the following questions:
1. Where does it take place?
2. What are the natural resources involved?
3. Who are the social groups leading environmental peacebuilding? Who are their partners?
4. What other background information helps contextualize the case?
5. What is the result of the environmental peacebuilding case? How does it benefit societal peace and environmental sustainability?
During the workshop, each participant will share a summary of their case study. After which, all participants will discuss the following questions.
1. What are the knowledge gaps in environmental peacebuilding in Nepal?
2. How can Nepalese and Nepal-based researchers enhance interdisciplinary research on environmental peacebuilding?
Following the symposium, workshop leads will coordinate with co-authors to finalize their assigned sections in the working paper. In accordance with standard publication ethics, only participants who submitted their written answers AND provided additional inputs or edits in the drafts will be listed as co-authors.
References:
Ide, T. (2020). The dark side of environmental peacebuilding. World Development, 127, 104777.
Matthew, R. A., & Upreti, B. R. (2009). Environmental Change and Human Security in Nepal. In J. Barnett, B. McDonald, K. L. O’Brien, & R. A. Matthew (Eds.), Global Environmental Change and Human Security (pp. 137–154). MIT Press.
Simangan, D. (2023). Beyond Indices of Peace and Sustainability: Everyday Perspectives from Nepal. Peace Review, 35(3), 536–549.