Back to news
25 Jun 2018 | CryoHub

Regional Dialogue on Cryosphere Monitoring

A conference on “State of the Cryosphere in the Himalaya: Focus on Sikkim and the Eastern Himalaya – Gaps, Challenges, and Opportunities,” held in Gangtok, Sikkim, India on 19–20 February 2018, concluded with a declaration to strengthen glacier research in Sikkim and the eastern Himalayas. Inka Koch and Anna Sinisalo of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) briefed researchers on the Centre’s latest snow research and highlighted common snow and ice research interests in the region and the need to standardize methods and work together on transboundary issues, such as mitigating the risk of glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs).

0 mins Read

70% Complete

Over 50 cryosphere researchers attended the conference. Participants aimed to develop a policy framework where scientific research might help develop mitigation and adaptation strategies to address societal needs. The eight point declaration recommended better assessments of water security, improved access to scientific information for actors such as farmers and hydropower companies, exploring state-of-the art techniques to monitor the cryosphere, monitoring air quality and black carbon deposition on glaciers, building capacity in cryosphere research through work exchanges, and establishing glaciology as a topic in high school curriculums.

The conference was hosted by the Sikkim chapter of the Integrated Mountain Initiative (IMI) and the Department of Science and Technology and Climate Change, Government of Sikkim. ICIMOD was a co-organizer. The conference proceeding may be found on the Department of Science and Technology and Climate Change website.

Stay current

Stay up to date on what’s happening around the HKH with our most recent publications and find out how you can help by subscribing to our mailing list.

Sign Up

Related content

Continue exploring this topic

20 Mar 2015 News
Consolidating the Himalaya-Third Pole Circle

Initiating and sustaining dialogue and collaboration on the challenges of climate change was at the heart of the ...

28 May 2013 HICAP
Scoping mission to Assam, India for place-based study on Food Security and Gender

A scoping mission with a team from Aaranyak led by Suman Bisht and Sarah Nischalke from ICIMOD visited five villages in Tinsukia ...

27 Feb 2016 News
Indus Basin Conference Builds Understanding of Current Research

Eighty-plus policy maker and journalist participants from Afghanistan China, India and Pakistan, were present as Chief Minister of Gilgit Baltistan, ...

4 May 2021 Cryosphere
Reanalysed and improved mass balance data from Mera Glacier

Mera Glacier, in the Everest region, is one of few glaciers in the HKH region whose glaciological mass balance data ...

28 Dec 2016 News
UAVs to Map and Monitor Glaciers in Manang Valley

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) is exploring the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to better understand ...

10 Feb 2015 News
Hands on Training on Herbal Gardening for Teachers of Bhutan

ICIMOD, in collaboration with CoRRB, began promoting herbal gardens in Bhutan’s schools in 2012. Children plant medicinal herbs in their ...

30 Jul 2019 Livelihoods
Our biodiversity, our food, our health

Agricultural biodiversity is essential to ensuring food security, nutrition, and human wellbeing. The diversity in crops and livestock seen today ...

6 Feb 2015 News
Workshop on Glaciological Applications of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

A total of 50 participants from 15 institutions participated in the workshop, which focused on the scientific/natural hazard applications of ...