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TRAINING
SG2 , AAC , SG3 & AAE
Dhulikhel, Nepal
12 August 2024 to 17 August 2024
REGISTER HERE Agenda
Organisers: ICIMOD, Foresight4Food (F4F)
The training will delve into systems mapping, scenario development, and exploring pathways for transformative change through a series of hands-on exercises. It is intended not only to strengthen participants’ knowledge and understanding of foresight but also equip them with practical skills to facilitate foresight processes in their own country contexts. In addition, the training will bring together several policy makers, nominated by relevant government institutions from the region to foster futures thinking in governance processes, including climate change adaptation plans at both national and regional levels.
The training workshop will be co-led by Jim Woodhill from Foresight4Food Programme, Sabarnee Tuladhar and Amina Maharjan from ICIMOD; and Luke Tay from Cornucopia FutureScape.
Building on the horizon scanning exercise from the September 2023 workshop, the 5-day training will culminate in a daylong session to further explore and understand key trends and uncertainties shaping the HKH’s future trajectories.
Dr Jim Woodhill is specialist on food systems, inclusive agribusiness, development policy and multi-stakeholder partnerships, with over 35 years of international experience. Currently he is an independent consultant based in Oxford UK, Lead of the Global Foresight4food Initiative, a Senior Consultant with University of Oxford, Environmental Change Institute, and an Honorary Associate with the Institute of Development Studies (IDS). He also currently supports the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development (GDPRD) as a Senior Advisor. Formerly Jim was the Principal Sector Specialist for Food Security and Rural Development with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Director of the Centre for Development Innovation at Wageningen University and Research in the Netherlands. Over recent years he was the Director of the UK FCDO Knowledge for Development Program.
Jim has extensive experience in facilitating multi-stakeholder foresight and systems change processes in a wide variety of cultural contexts including, including with a numerous range of African organizations and initiatives. Much of his work has revolved around the interface between research, policy and practice and he has a deep understanding of knowledge and innovation systems in the food and agriculture sector.
He holds a PhD in political economics and a degree in agricultural science.
Dr. Amina Maharjan works as a Senior Livelihood and Migration Specialist and leads the work on human mobility and migration since 2015. She also leads ICIMOD’s intervention ‘Foresight and policy scenarios for adaptation in mountain economies’. This initiative strives to support proactive anticipatory measures that allow governments and communities to effectively adapt to potential future changes and uncertainties.
Amina is an interdisciplinary researcher and practitioner working at the intersection of human mobility and migration, sustainable development, and climate adaptation in the Hindu Kush Himalaya with a particular emphasis on science-policy-practice interface, gender equity and social inclusion, local knowledge systems, and anticipatory planning and adaptation.
Amina was a contributing author to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and has published several peer-reviewed articles on migration, climate change and agriculture linkages. She was one of the editors of the ‘Water, ice, society, and ecosystems in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HI-WISE) assessment report’, leading the section on social implication of cryosphere change in the region.
Prior to joining ICIMOD, she worked as a practitioner in agriculture and migration projects and as independent development consultant. She led the flagship pilot project on improving international labour migration governance in Nepal and was instrumental in developing the extended phase of the project that has played a critical role in overall improvements in migration governance.
Amina holds a PhD in Agriculture from University of Giessen, Germany.
Sabarnee Tuladhar, a Nepali national, is a Statistical Analyst at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). Based in Strategic Group 2 contributes to Action Area C. She has contributed to a broad spectrum of research issues including poverty, vulnerability, adaptation, climate change, migration, gender, and food security, examining how these factors intersect with ecosystems and livelihoods. Her recent work focuses on foresight, employing systems thinking to empower government and communities to proactively anticipate and adapt to potential future changes and uncertainties.
She holds a master’s degree in international development and environmental analysis from Monash University, Australia.
Singapore Futures Fellow, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (adjunct)
Luke leads Cornucopia, a Singapore-based, globally oriented foresight and strategy practice championing future-readiness, sustainability, and innovation in food systems, urban systems, and transport, travel, and supply chains – across the public, private, and people sector domains.
Luke speaks and consults on emerging opportunities in food systems transformation, sustainability futures, corporate and national success strategies amid the “polycrisis”, and on leading with foresight. Through keynotes, programme organisation, and advisory engagements, he works with government, corporate, and civil society stakeholders to navigate forward horizons of complex geopolitical, tech, and ecosocial transformation. He has developed scenarios for global and regional geopolitics and sustainable development, strategies for food value chain innovations and decarbonization pathways, and authored book chapters on the future Asian food systems and on global water futures.
Luke is a Board member of the Association of Professional Futurists, and a member of the World Futures Studies Federation and the Asia-Pacific Futures Network. He serves as board adviser and resident futurist to various organisations.
The target audience includes ICIMOD partners and other relevant stakeholders such as government agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs/INGOs), academic and research organizations, and development practitioners.
The Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region is experiencing rapid changes due to climate shifts (temperature, precipitation, extreme weather) and socio-economic factors (such as migration, urbanization, infrastructure, and technology). The current reactive adaptation approach will need to change to keep pace with these developments. The uncertain future calls for “anticipatory actions and governance.”
Despite improvements in global climate science, critical knowledge gaps and uncertainties are still moulding the ground realities. A deeper understanding of local impacts on livelihoods, economies, socio-cultural practices, beliefs, and aspirations is required to bridge the gap between global knowledge and local needs to build resilience against an uncertain future. The participatory foresight approach offers a wide range of powerful future-oriented methods and tools using participatory scenario planning to stress-test policies, plans and interventions against multiple future directions.
In this context, ICIMOD aims to identify and understand the uncertainties and likely trajectories for mountain economies and livelihoods that have the potential to lead to critical risks under different climate scenarios. Furthermore, it intends to ensure the resilience of mountain communities through a foresight approach, which has been successfully used in many fields including the food systems policy in Bangladesh. In addition, a novel idea that will be tested during this event is the use of foresight tools to foster regional cooperation for addressing transboundary environmental and social challenges.
A workshop on ‘Foresight and scenarios for anticipatory adaptation in the Hindu Kush Himalaya’ was organized by ICIMOD in September 2023 to introduce the concept of ‘foresight’ and gauge interest in engaging with it. The concept of ‘foresight’ was new to most participants at the workshop. During discussions, the capacity needs, both on core concepts of foresight and the associated tools, were identified. This 5-day training workshop is a response to the demand and felt need for capacity building on participatory foresight and tools.
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