Research Dissemination Workshop for IMPROVING LEARNING: DEVELOPING MEASURES OF ACCOUNTABILITY AND EVALUATING THEIR ASSOCIATION WITH STUDENTS’ GAINS IN ACHIEVEMENT IN NEPAL
A virtual workshop on Research Dissemination [for] Improving Learning: Developing Measures of Accountability and Evaluating their Association with Students’ Gains in Achievement in Nepal was held on September 2, 2021 (Bhadra 17, 2078) via Zoom. The workshop was jointly organized by the Institute for Social and Environmental Research-Nepal (ISER-N), and the Population Studies Center at the University of Michigan, U.S.A. 
The goals of the dissemination workshop were twofold: 1) to share research findings and experiences from the study to foster intellectual debate and interactions among key stakeholders and potential consumers of the empirical evidence generated from this project, and 2) to enhance the scientific and analytical capacity of Nepali students, faculty, and scientists and promote future research collaboration to address policy issues related to education achievement in Nepal.
In total, 64 individuals attended the dissemination workshop. Presenters during the technical session included: Dr. Dirgha Ghimire, Executive Director, ISER-N, Fulbari, Chitwan and Research Professor, Population Studies Center, University of Michigan, U.S.A.; Dr. Brian Rowan, Professor Emeritus of Education, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Research Professor Emeritus (Institute for Social Research), University of Michigan; Dr. Uttam Sharma, Senior Research Scientist, ISER-N, Fulbari, Chitwan; Mr. Rama Kanta Sapkota, former Advisor, Ministry of Education, Policy Advisor, Bharatpur Metropolitan City Education Committee.
The technical session was followed by a discussion session, in which participants engaged in a dialogue, asked questions, and provided feedback. The workshop came to a close after presentations from two stakeholders: Dr. Lekha Nath Poudel, former Director General of the Education Review Office, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology; and Mr. Devi Ram Acharya, Section Officer, Education Review Office, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.
Research Dissemination and Policy Workshop on LABOUR OUTMIGRATION, AGRICULTURE CHANGE AND CONSEQUENCES FOR LEFT-BEHIND WOMEN
A one-day Research Dissemination and Policy Workshop on Labour Outmigration, Agriculture Change and Consequences for Left Behind Women. Was conducted on December 18, 2017, at Hotel Shanker, Kathmandu, Nepal. The workshop was jointly organized by the Institute for Social and Environmental Research-Nepal (ISER-N), the Agriculture and Forestry University (AFU) in Nepal, DFID-ESRC Growth Research, and the Population Studies Center (PSC) at the University of Michigan (UM), USA with financial support from the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), UK. The goal of the workshop was to share the empirical findings generated through rigorous scientific investigation of labor out-migration, agricultural change, and its consequences for left-behind women and foster policy dialogue to integrate findings with policy. The workshop also aimed to facilitate cross-disciplinary interaction among scientists and research scholars, crucial for building a foundation for interdisciplinary research, education, and public policy. Altogether 45 participants representing various agencies participated in the workshop.
Workshop on CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR CONTROLLING INVASIVE PLANTS: LEARNING FROM COMMUNITY FORESTS
Institute for Social and Environmental Research-Nepal (ISER-N) successfully completed a one-day workshop on “Challenges and Opportunities for Controlling Invasive Plants: Learning from Community Forests of Western Chitwan Valley” on May 16, 2018, at the institute premises in Chitwan. The goal of this workshop was to share achievements and results from an invasive plant intervention study, a part of the Coupled Natural Human System (CNHS) project funded by the National Science Foundation. The collaborating institutions were Arizona State University (ASU), Pennsylvania State University (PSU), San Diego State University, University of Michigan, USA, and Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI), UK.
The workshop focused on the status and issues of invasive plant species globally and locally and the efficiency of current control techniques and modified approaches toward decreasing the presence of invasive plants. The workshop was initiated with a brief introduction of the institute, followed by the introduction to different components of the project and data collected during the period by Dr. Dirgha Jibi Ghimire, Executive Director, ISER-N. After, Dr. Sean Murphy, Global Director, CABI shared the information about the global status and issues of invasive plant species. Mr. Prem Pandit and Ms. Rija Manandhar from ISER-N and Ms. Michele Clark, Fulbright Scholar, ASU introduced six invasive plants in community forests of Western Chitwan and shared the objective, methods used, treatments applied, and finally the results from the study.
The program was followed by a discussion from the participants. The participants included the Presidents and representatives from the community forests; the National Trust for Nature Conservation-Biodiversity Conservation Centre (NTNC-BCC), FORWARD Nepal, and the Ecological Services Centre (ECS). We were honored to have Mr. Sambhu Bhandari, Chair, Bharatpur Metropolitan City Ward 15 in the program. The discussion, questions, and answer session was then followed by a brief presentation by our distinguished guests. The first presentation was by Mr. Abhinaya Pathak from Chitwan National Park (CNP) focusing on the status, challenges, and efforts to control invasive species in CNP. This was followed by a presentation by Dr. Dinesh Raj Bhuju, Academician, Nepal Academy of Science and Technology(NAST) on “Role of Ecological Research in Nation Building”; by Prof. Dr. Rejina Maskey, Head, Central Department of Environmental Sciences (CDES-TU)on ” The Importance of Studying Invasive Plants in Nepal”; and by Hon. Prof. Dr. I.P. Dhakal, Vice Chancellor, Agriculture and Forestry University (AFU) on “Integrating Invasive Species Studies in Higher Education”. The workshop ended with closing remarks by Prof. Dr. Dharma Raj Dangol, Chair, ISER-N.