Youth and Environmental Conservation

A five day national youth forum on  “Empowering youth for climate change research in Bhutan” was conducted from 1^st – 5^th October 2013. Students from about seven higher learning institutions in the country took part in the forum which was  hosted by  Sherubtse College, Kanglung, Trashigang.

The forum was organized by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Nepal in collaboration with Centre for Climate Change and Spatial Information (CCCSI) Sherubtse College under the SERVIR-Himalaya initiative, supported by the national aeronautics and space administration (NASA) and USAID.

The forum was organized to educate young people about climate change in Bhutan and the Himalayas, and to address climate change issues through scientific research. The forum covered topics such as research proposal writing, hands-on demonstration of GIS, remote sensing and GPS tools.

The Royal Society for Protection of Nature (RSPN), Thimphu also supported a debate on “Environmental conservation and climate change – Barriers for Bhutan’s economic development”. The debate was organized mainly to sensitize the youth on the impacts of modern development and what opportunities are there to make development more eco-friendly.

Picture courtesy: Dr. Pankaj Thapa, Sherubtse College.