Landslide EVO project kickoff meeting was held on March 14-15, 2017 at the Shangri-La Hotel in Kathmandu. Twenty project investigators and partners representing various national and intentional agencies such as Imperial College London, Geological Survey of Austria, Birmingham University, Geneva University, International Institute for applied Systems Analysis, Practical Action Nepal, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu University, SOHAM-Nepal, Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, Wageningen University, ESPA and Kathmandu Living Labs attended the meeting. Dr. Jyotiraj Patra, Regional Evidence Advisor – South Asia, ESPA also joined in the meeting. On behalf of SOHAM-Nepal, Dr. Jagat Kumar Bhual, Chairperson, Dr. Janak Lal Nayava, Advisior and Mr. Suman Kumar Regmi, General Secretary took part in the meeting.
The meeting brought project investigators and partners together for the first time to re-appraise the project objectives, exchange ideas on the use of existing research tools, discuss project coordination, and agree on short-term commitments. One main outcome of the meeting was to identify an immediate need for a common theoretical methodological framework across all four Work Packages.
On March 16, the first project stakeholder workshop was also held followed the meeting with a great success. Twenty additional potential local stakeholders from various government and non-government agencies such as Department of Water Induced Disaster Prevention, Department of Soil Conservation and Watershed Management, DFID, Mission East, Save The Children, Oxfam, Mercy Corps, Medair actively participated in the workshop.
Selected project investigators and partners also visited upper Karnali Basin, western Nepal during March 17-20. The main objective of this trip was to understand natural and social processes governing landslide occurrence and also to identify potential landslide localities. The team identified three potential localities: two landslides close to Dadeldhura, and another farther north towards Chainpur on which a large settlement had been constructed. The visit also strengthened coordination between the central team, local partners and collaborators.
