Towards Anticipatory Action: Regional Learning and Collaboration in the HKH

About the workshop

ICIMOD has adopted the participatory foresight approach for the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region since 2023. Under the foresight intervention, the foresight capacity-building training workshop was also conducted in 2024, which brought together 51 participants representing over 30 organisations from six countries in the region. Following this, the foresight approaches have been implemented in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, India, Chitral and Swat districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Pakistan. and Mustang district, Nepal. Additionally, together with AAD-2 intervention, ICIMOD has undertaken a study on future of pastoralism in Nepal, Bhutan, and Pakistan. Similarly, together with SUCCESS project partners, we have used this approach to understand demographic dimensions and futures of rural and urban development in Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and India. The foresight process across countries has engaged sub-national/local governments, civil society groups, and local communities, including women and disadvantaged groups, to co-develop anticipatory actions for emerging climatic and non-climatic socio-economic risks in the HKH region.

Building on this progress, ICIMOD now aims to organise an experience-sharing workshop. The event will convene existing partners actively implementing foresight approaches: Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), India and Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Pakistan, alongside new partners such as Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies (CBS), Bhutan, and Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RRMU), Bangladesh, Indian Institute of Human Settlement (IIHS), India who have recently initiated the foresight process. The workshop will serve as a collaborative learning platform where partners can exchange insights, methodologies applied, findings, and field experiences implementing the foresight tools. It will also provide an opportunity to reflect on lessons learned, explore synergies across contexts, strengthen a shared understanding around anticipatory foresight-based planning and discuss on the way forward.

Objectives

• To create a platform for all the partners to share insights and exchange experiences on the application of the participatory foresight approach, including context-specific challenges and opportunities.
• To identify and reflect on shared climatic and socio-economic risks and potential pathways for anticipatory actions across foresight implemented sites in the HKH region.
• To strengthen cross-country collaboration and discuss the way forward to build foresight capabilities in the HKH region.

Expected Outcomes

• Report incorporating the findings from the foresight process.
• Identified shared climatic and socio-economic risks and potential pathways for anticipatory actions across foresight implemented sites in the HKH region.
• Shared understanding of climatic and non-climatic risks in the HKH region through horizon scanning.