PROPOSED AGENDA SPEAKER PROFILE

About the event

The Himalayan University Consortium (HUC) is organising an HUC Members’ Day in Bangladesh, with the aim of enhancing HUC membership in the country by:

• Apprising the leadership of current HUC members about the development of the HUC, its Thematic and Cross-cutting Workgroups, and soliciting their input on regional and international cooperation in research and education on mountain and upstream-downstream climate, environmental, and socio-economic issues in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH)
• Reconnecting with HUC fellows, updating them about innovative modalities for individual researchers and scholars to lead HUC activities, understanding their capacity needs, and scoping the resources they can contribute to building the network
• Reviewing the implementation status of the HUC Strategy 2018-2025 and preparing for the transition to the 2026-2030 period
• Discussing practical pathways to expand membership, enhance its quality membership, and mobilise in-country, regional, and international resources for scientific cooperation and education collaboration

The HUC Members’ Day will be hosted by the University of Chittagong and chaired by Professor Md Rezaur Rahman, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), who is also the HUC Steering Committee Member representing Bangladesh.

Background

Among the 163 universities in Bangladesh, seven are HUC members, with BUET and Chittagong University being the most active. Meanwhile, approximately 30 Bangladeshi fellows have been grant recipients and participants in HUC capacity-building activities to date. Some of the fellows, such as Dr Sara Nowreen (BUET), have played leading roles in HUC activities and represented the HKH community in global forums. Active Thematic and Cross-cutting Working Groups involve Bangladesh-based scholars and conduct activities in Bangladesh-based platforms, such as the Gobeshona Conference. However, the impact of these activities on the membership in the country remains limited. The most recent member engagement mission of the then HUC Steering Group and Secretariat took place at Chittagong University in April 2017. 

On average, the Secretariat receives one or two applications for full membership from Bangladesh annually, mostly recommended by the HUC Steering Committee Member representing or the focal person for Bangladesh at ICIMOD. Individual responses to HUC open calls for participation remain from medium to high as a result of the extensive mailing list the Secretariat maintains. Overall, knowledge about HUC, its mandates, activities, and mode of operation, and the impact and outreach of the HUC activities, among higher education institutions in Bangladesh remain limited. 

The current size of the HUC membership is disproportionate to the scale of climate change, environmental, and socio-economic issues faced by the upstream and downstream communities in Bangladesh and the potential of research expertise and resources the country can offer. Furthermore, the country hosts important regional and international high-level bodies on climate change such as the Climate Vulnerable Forum. It is a home of significant south-led initiatives, most notably the International Centre for Climate Change and Development and BRAC. These organizations and societal forces in Bangladesh present an important opportunity for the HUC community to learn from and build on for its productivity and sustainability.