About the meeting

Karakorum International University and Himalayan University Consortium (HUC) are organising a two-day meeting to bring together the Consortium’s members from across the country and update and deliberate on its activities for 2022–2023 and plans for 2024–2025. HUC members, Thematic Working Groups, Cross-cutting Workgroups, and fellows in Pakistan will debrief the HUC leadership on current activities during the event. It will also feature a debriefing of the work of the HUC Task Force on Sustainability and Resource Mobilization and a visioning exercise for the post-2025 outlook of the Consortium upon the completion of the HUC Strategy 2018-2025. Vice Chancellors of two new member universities will sign the HUC Charter, and another eleven universities will refresh their HUC membership at the event.

Background

On 30 December 2021, the Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) and ICIMOD jointly organised a member meet in Pakistan, which was attended by the Vice Chancellors and senior representatives from 12 universities and research institutes representing the mountain areas. Participants in this meeting reviewed mid-term implementation of the HUC Strategy and Plan of Action 2018-2025 and welcomed Dr Tahira Yasmin (Crop Diseases Research Institute) as a new HUC Steering Committee Member. 

Out of the Consortium’s 91 members, eleven are from Pakistan. The number of grantees from Pakistan and fellows participating in HUC institutional grants and intensive training programmes has increased over the past five years. Fellows from Pakistan take a leading role in some of the most productive Thematic or Cross-cutting Working Groups and the HUC Sustainability and Resource Mobilization Task Force. There remains an opportunity to boost HUC’s engagement in Pakistan at both institutional and scholarly levels to promote in-country and regional collaboration in research and training for sustainable futures of mountain and downstream communities.

Objectives

• Debrief members’ leadership of current activities by HUC members, Thematic and Cross-Cutting Working Groups, and fellows in Pakistan and the progress of the HUC Sustainability and Resource Mobilization Task Force
• Debrief a digitalisation and e-learning opportunity for HUC members to be facilitated by ICIMOD and supported by GIZ
• Visioning exercise for post-2025 development of the Consortium upon the completion of its 2018-2025 Strategy and Plan for Action

Expected participants

• Vice Chancellors of HUC members and incoming members
• Focal persons at the Dean/Head of Department levels in the sciences and social sciences from HUC member institutions
• Representatives of HUC Thematic and Cross-Cutting Working Groups, Sustainability and Resource Mobilization Task Force, and fellows
• Dignitaries from the Higher Education Commission, Aga Khan Foundation, government offices, and other international organizations