1xbet

Back to news
27 Jul 2016 | News

Bringing Nature into the National Curriculum

2 mins Read

70% Complete

A half-day workshop to explore how nature camp and environmental issues could be better incorporated within the National Education System in Nepal took place 4 July 2016. The event was hosted by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in partnership with the Curriculum Development Centre (CDC) under Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of Nepal.

In 2015, a pilot camp with students from Gorkha provided a platform for discussion and knowledge sharing on the environment, especially biodiversity, global warming and climate change, and the concept of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) through participatory approach by connecting students with nature.  The camp was organised by ICIMOD in collaboration with National Trust for National Conservation (NTNC)

Under the guidance of Bishwa Prakash Pandit, Secretary of Ministry of Education, the consultative workshop had the following objectives: to give continuity to the pilot camp and upscale the initiative to the national level; to solicit actions for integration of the camp concept into the national curriculum; to engage various stakeholders in making the National Nature Camp Initiative (NNCI), a collaborative endeavour; and to develop an action plan for suggested actions.

Forty representatives from MoE,Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation (MoFSC),CDC, National Centre for Education Development (NCED), Department of Education, Non-formal Education Centre (NFEC), World Wildlife Fund Nepal (WWF), Friends of Zoo,Environmental Camps for Conservation Awareness (ECCA) and ICIMOD participated.

During his opening remarks, Babu Ram Poudel, Executive Director of CDC highlighted the importance of investing and empowering future generations. Mr Poudel extended support on behalf of the MoE to ICIMOD’s Nature Camp Initiative and further collaboration.

Eklabya Sharma, ICIMOD’s Director of Programme Operations underscored the importance of investing in youth and promoting the knowledge of mountain environment.

‘This will be a more systematic and institutional approach to bring awareness about the need for nature conservation in school-going students, which is the best way for learning for life’, Dr Sharma said.

Bishwa Prakash Pandit, Secretary of MoE, suggested the mobilisation of available resources along with existing curriculum could be integrated through proper research and gap analysis.

Brij M.S. Rathore, ICIMOD’s Chief Policy Adviser said nature camp could be an effective tool to promote environmental stewardship and leadership in early-age school children.

A detailed presentation on ICIMOD’s REDD+ Initiative and pilot nature camp was given by Bhaskar Karky and Trishna Singh Bhandari followed by presentations on the current environment school curriculum. Panel discussions were held and recommendations were made to take the initiative forward. Creating a network to connect ministries and departments of government in designing curriculum, and sensitising the school management committee about the importance of nature camp through trainings, were some of the recommendations of the panelists.

Jaya Prasad Acharya, Deputy Director of CDC, suggested the formation of a technical committee to address logistical and social issues; to implement and monitor curriculum; to develop an action plan; to promote the use of the practice in the curriculum.

Stay current

Stay up to date on what’s happening around the HKH with our most recent publications and find out how you can help by subscribing to our mailing list.

Related contents

Continue exploring this topic

28 Jul 2016 HICAP
Decision Support Tool for Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Planning for Forest Ecosystems in Nepal

Different stakeholders working in forest and biodiversity in Nepal met at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) on ...

25 Dec 2015 Himalica
P3DM in Myanmar

  A training on Participatory 3-Dimensional Model (P3DM) building was held in Letmaungwe, Kyaung Taung Village, Nyaung Shwe Township in Myanmar ...

27 Mar 2015 News
SERVIR-Himalaya takes satellite imagery technology to the grassroots

Community members learn to use satellite imagery for monitoring their forest More than 30 community members from Khayar Khola watershed in ...

Understanding of glaciers’ health calls for precise estimations of ice losses into water equivalent

Glaciers in the upper Indus supply more than half of the river water and are experiencing significant melting. There is ...

14 Jun 2016 Water and air
Spring Management in Darchula

At daybreak, the villagers, mostly women and children, come out carrying containers of different shapes and sizes. They walk to ...

29 Jul 2016 News
Myanmar Officials Trained on Financial Procedures for REDD+ Initiative Partners

A two day workshop on ‘Financial Procedure and Disbursement Mechanism’ was organised by ICIMOD’s Regional REDD+ Initiative, under the Transboundary ...

14 Aug 2015 News
EU and ICIMOD intensify collaboration

A joint meeting of delegations from the EU and ICIMOD expressed satisfaction on the progress made by the EU-funded programme ...