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SANDEE RnT workshop
Strategic Group: Regional Action and Global Advocacy , Action Area: Regional & SANDEE
Kathmandu, Nepal
16 November 2026 to 19 November 2026
As a part of its research capacity and academic leadership development activities, the South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE) is holding its 52nd Biannual Research and Training Workshop in Nepal. SANDEE grantees and faculty advisors are expected to attend the workshop, where they will review the progress of ongoing SANDEE research grants and develop an action plan for project completion and dissemination of results. Shortlisted researchers, whose proposals have been reviewed by the technical committee and external reviewers in the past several months, will also present and defend their proposals for the SANDEE Research Grants competition.
Personalised mentoring and feedback are key components of the workshop, where researchers will have the opportunity to interact with mentors and peers to improve the quality of their research, develop their research capacity, and learn from other projects under discussion. As part of the workshop, several key events are also planned.
One of the key highlights of the workshop is the SANDEE-ICIMOD Karl-Göran Mäler (KGM) Memorial Lecture, where Pranab Mukhopadhyay (Senior Professor of Economics, Goa University) and Atonu Rabbani (Professor of Economics, Dhaka University; and Research Director, General Economics Division, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies) will be delivering the KGM Memorial Lectures.
Two technical sessions will be organized during the 52nd Biannual Research and Training Workshop. Ms. Maria Cano, a PhD student at the Paris School of Economics, France, will facilitate a session on ‘Coding with GIS.’ In addition, Ms. Marine Gueben, Assistant PhD Candidate at Université de Namur, Belgium, will conduct a session on ‘Data Mining.’
The SANDEE Steering Committee meets twice a year to discuss its past and ongoing activities, and to guide the SANDEE Secretariat for its future course of action and potential collaborations. The SANDEE Steering Committee will be meeting on 16 November 2026.
The SANDEE Advisors’ Meeting is organised to assess the overall progress of current researchers, address any significant issues they are facing, and reflect on new proposals for moving forward. The meeting will be held from 17 to 19 November.
SANDEE, a research capacity and academic leadership development programme at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), supports research in South Asia and the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region on the interconnection between environmental and development issues. SANDEE supports ICIMOD’s programmatic work, strengthens its economic and policy analysis, provides research and technical support, and offers mentorship to young researchers to enhance their research capacity and academic leadership. Established in 1999, it works in ten countries in South Asia and the HKH region: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
16 November 2026 | 09:15 – 11:30 (Nepal Standard Time UTC +05:45)
Hybrid (Nepal and Zoom)
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About the speaker:
Atonu Rabbani is the Research Director of the General Economics Division at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) and a Professor of Economics at Dhaka University. He is also a Lead Academic at the International Growth Centre (IGC) and a Technical Committee Member of the South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE). He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Chicago, awarded in 2007. His research interests lie broadly in applied microeconomics, development economics, health and environmental economics, labour and energy economics, with a particular focus on technology adoption, behavioural change, public health, firm productivity, and environmental and climate-related issues. His work employs experimental and quasi-experimental methods to examine economic and policy outcomes.
Abstract:
Renewable energy knowledge flows globally through cross-border trade and technology imports, making solar widely accessible. Rooftop solar is technically proven and financially viable for firms. Yet adoption remains slow – a puzzling paradox. This lecture explores why through three papers. First, international trade successfully diffuses renewable energy knowledge to South Asia. Second, financial analysis demonstrates solar profitability for factories. Third, adoption lags despite these conditions. The explanation lies in policy design. Prepaid metering systems enable behavioral energy savings for residential customers, making renewables attractive to households. But firms operate differently: their energy demand is production-derived, determined by output and efficiency levels, not by metering feedback. This institutional misalignment means household-focused policy may not support firm renewable adoption. Differentiated policy levers are essential.
Pranab Mukhopadhyay is Senior Professor of Economics at the Goa Business School, Goa University, India. He holds a PhD in Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He is also a Technical Committee Member of the South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE) and a SANDEE Fellow. He was President of Indian Society for Ecological Economics (INSEE) in 2016-2018, and is currently a co-editor of Ecology, Economy, and Society – the INSEE Journal. His research interests lie at the intersection of environmental and ecological economics, institutional economics, and development economics. He was a recipient of the Karl-Göran Mäler fellowship in 2009.
Climate change is expected to cause intense precipitation with more extreme weather events. India is one of the most vulnerable countries to natural disasters and the adverse impacts of climate change. How badly will it affect human welfare, namely, assets, household consumption and educational attainment? No surprises, losses are unequal: schooling declines significantly for women, the poorest households, and marginal groups, affecting not only the current generation but also intergenerational mobility. Household assets, health insurance and social capital play a key role as buffers to smoothen consumption. Case studies of urban floods suggest floods could reduce rents by about 4.4 per cent. However, affected people could be willing to cover costs for climate proofing, and there could be scope for public-private partnerships.
Moderator:
David Thomas Potter has been serving as the Head of Regional Action and Global Advocacy since July 2024 at ICIMOD. David joined ICIMOD from UK central government, where he spent 17 years in a range of technical and leadership roles. Most recently, he was Head of the Climate and Environment Profession at the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), where he led that department’s 120 climate and environment experts and provided strategic advice to its senior team. David is a Fellow of the UK Royal Geographical Society and a Chartered Geographer. He holds a PhD in geography and a master’s degree in environmental management from the University of Nottingham, UK. His studies focused on mountain explorers and the cultural and historical geography of mountains.
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