Back to news
6 Jan 2017 | News

Use of Picture Series Gaining Momentum in KSL

2 mins Read

70% Complete
Employing picture series as a tool to sensitize community members

The Kailash Sacred Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative’s (KSLCDI) efforts to encourage the use of pictures as an adult education tool have been receiving positive reviews from community members on the ground.

In the past year, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) with the support of GIZ, has published five picture series manuals. These have been used extensively, finding success in various parts of the Kailash Sacred Landscape (KSL), across China, India, and Nepal, by getting local community members to think critically and discuss their ideas, opinions and reasoning with each other.

“I now understand why it is important to cause as little damage as possible to yarshagumba collection sites,” says a yarshagumba collector from Khar village VDC, Darchula district, Nepal, “We still want to be harvesting yarshagumba in five years’ time.” He had attended an awareness session on yarshagumba management in spring 2016. KSLCDI’s Yarshagumba Management picture series was an integral part of the session.

Picture series published till date include: Aspects of Groundwater and Hydrogeology; Governance for Springshed Management; Yarshagumba Management; Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Livelihoods in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China; and Greening the Yak Dairy Value Chain. Six additional series are currently under preparation and in the process of being finalized.

Using picture series to explore ideas and foster discussion among community members

A tool for adult education

As a tool for inclusive and participatory adult education, pictures series sensitize local community members on topics that directly affect their livelihoods, health and everyday lives. Non-scientific language, clear messages and meaningful pictures not only allow users to introduce complicated and multi-layered topics to local populations, but also to steer the thought processes of community members, and to encourage them to discuss possible issues and actively tackle them.

The tool aims to imbibe in all community members, many of whom might have received very little formal education, an understanding of the technical and social aspects of a chosen topic. Picture series reach out to participants from all social and economic backgrounds. With equal integration of all ages and both genders, picture series can be very inclusive as a tool.

Impacts in the field

The creation of a common knowledge base among participants is one of the underlying targets of picture series sessions. Such sessions allow community members to comprehend connections, to identify present problems, and to come up with possible solutions leading ultimately to a shared vision for the chosen topic. This not only builds participants’ self-confidence, but also motivates community members who contribute voluntarily to more actively engage in activities and become more proactive in working for a better future for their respective communities. By helping local people become agents of change, pictures series can influence their everyday lives, livelihoods and health for the better.

Janita Gurung, biodiversity and conservation management specialist at ICIMOD attests the effectiveness of picture series in helping community members better understand concepts, and use the knowledge gained to help themselves and their community. “During an allo value chain proofing workshop we organized in 2016, the related picture series enabled us to interact with participants in a simple, flexible and effective manner,” she said. “Value chain proofing is a very theoretical approach. The use of pictures made it was easy for us to discuss with community members the differences between climate and weather, and how climate change is affecting their production of allo fabrics.”

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

9 Dec 2016 News
Communities Develop Demonstrable Agroforestry Systems with Poulownia Plantation in Sushare Gaun, Gorkha, Nepal

Agroforestry is practiced in both tropical and temperate regions where it produces food, fiber and biomass energy, contributes to food ...

1 Feb 2016 News
Post-earthquake Management in Tibet

The April 2015 earthquake had far reaching impacts in the HKH region. Although the epicentre was north-west of Kathmandu, Nepal, ...

22 Jul 2015 News
Community members speak of change in perception

On 14 July 2015, community members from the village of Dapcha in Nepal’s Kavre District gathered in a circle near ...

8 Jun 2017 Himalica
National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Reports Launched on World Environment Day in Kathmandu, Nepal

The reports launched also available for downloading at http://napnepal.gov.np/publication are: Synthesis of the Stocktaking Report for the NAP Process Vulnerability ...

6 Jul 2016 News
Partnership Brokering Training at ICIMOD

Practice-based learnings for effective partnership brokering develops robust, efficient and innovative partnerships. Offered as an open call ...

6 Apr 2016 News
MAIL of Afghanistan: Creating Stronger Collaborative Partnerships

The first stakeholder coordination committee meeting of the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation & Livestock (MAIL) was held on 2 March 2016 at ...

Lessons Learnt from Training on Mapping and Monitoring Glaciers using RS and GIS at ICIMOD

The participants came from the National Center for Hydrology and Meteorology (NCHM), Bhutan; Karakoram International University (KIU), Pakistan; the Department ...

19 Jan 2018 Water
Pakistan Government Credits CBFEWS for Zero Loss of Human and Animal Lives in Sherqilla Floods

On 3 August 2017, in the pre-dawn hours of 4:30 am, the community-based flood early warning systems (CBFEWS) at ...