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In celebration of its 25 years of service to the region, the South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE) welcomes you to the International Conference on development and environmental economics: SANDEE@25, to be held in Kathmandu, Nepal, from 12-14 December 2025.
The conference’s theme is ‘Development, environment, and mountains’ with key areas: biodiversity, climate, ecosystem, environmental pollution, forest restoration, livelihoods, mountains and people.
South Asia and the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region are facing severe impacts from climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. Socio-economic challenges, including inequality, poverty, unemployment, population growth, rapid urbanisation, and land use changes, are among the most pressing issues. At the conference, leading researchers from the HKH region and beyond will share insights to aid governments, policymakers, and communities to understand and address these pressing challenges.
SANDEE is a research capacity-building network of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) that uses economic tools and analyses to address environmental challenges that the region has been facing. SANDEE supports ICIMOD’s programmatic work and strengthens its economic and policy analysis, provides research and technical support, and offers mentorship to young researchers for enhancing their research capacity and academic leadership. Established in 1999, it works in ten countries in South Asia and the HKH region: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
Sir Partha Dasgupta
Frank Ramsey Professor Emeritus of Economics, Cambridge University
Profile
Ruth Meinzen-Dick
Research Fellow Emeritus, International Food Policy Research Institute
Adil Najam
President WWF International, Dean Emeritus at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies
Full paper submission (4,000-6,000 words) and Panel proposal submission (500 words)
Notification of acceptance
Registration deadline
We invite papers and panel proposals from academics, researchers, and policymakers to share cutting-edge research related to the conference’s key areas: biodiversity loss, climate change, ecosystem, environmental pollution, forest restoration, livelihoods, and mountains and people. All presentations and panel sessions will be held in person.
Each person can submit only one proposal, either a paper presentation or a panel.
However, a separate form must be submitted for each paper and panel submission.
The author whose paper/panel is accepted must register for the conference by 01 September 2025 to have their paper/panel included in the programme.
For more information about the submission procedure, please contact us at sandee25@icimod.org.
We have a limited budget to support some of the paper presenters or panellists. We are expecting the following three types of submissions.
Please indicate in the submission form the category you are applying for.
Note: Conference registration is free to encourage the participation of young researchers.
Detailed programme will be available once finalized.
Pema Gyamtsho, PhD
Director General, ICIMOD Chair, Advisory Committee
E. Somanathan, PhD
Professor, Indian Statistical Institute Delhi Chair, Scientific Committee
Izabella Koziell
Deputy Director General, ICIMOD Chair, Organizing Committee
Mani Nepal, PhD
Programme Coordinator, SANDEE Co-Chair, Organizing Committee
Pranab Mukhopadhyay, PhD
Professor, Goa University Co-Chair, Organizing Committee
Dr Mani Nepal, Programme Coordinator, SANDEE, ICIMOD, Nepal.
Dr Priya Shyamsundar, Lead Economist, The Nature Conservancy, USA.
Prof Bishwambher Pyakuryal, President, Nepal Economic Association and Chair, Institute for Strategic and Socio-economic Research, Nepal.
Prof Herath Gunatilake, Former Director, Environment and Safeguards Division, Asian Development Bank, Philippines.
Prof Rehana Siddiqui, Former Joint Director, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Pakistan.
Prof Sajjad Zohir, Executive Director, Economic Research Group (ERG), Bangladesh; Former Senior Research Fellow, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS); Former Prof of Economics, BRAC University, Bangladesh.
Dr David Thomas Potter, Head of Regional Action and Global Advocacy, ICIMOD.
Dr Abid Hussain, Head of Resilient Economies and Landscapes, ICIMOD.
Dr Qianggong Zhang, Head of Climate and Environmental Risks, ICIMOD.
Dr Mani Nepal, Programme Coordinator, SANDEE, ICIMOD.
Dr Bhim Adhikari, Senior Program Specialist, International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada.
Dr Celine Nauges, Research faculty, Toulouse School of Economics, Research Director, National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment, (INRAE), France.
Dr Muhammad Rafiq, Climate Finance Expert and Member, Pakistan Climate Change Authority (PCCA), Government of Pakistan.
Dr Prabath Edirisinghe, Director General, Forest Department of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka.
Dr Sheetal Sekhri, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, The University of Virginia, USA.
Dr Soumya Balasubramanya, Senior Economist, the World Bank, Washington DC, USA.
Prof A K Enamul Haque, Director General, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), Dhaka.
Prof Francois Libois, Research Fellow at INRAE and Professor at Paris School of Economics.
Prof Jean-Marie Baland, Professor, Department of Economics, University of Namur, Belgium.
Prof Jeffery R Vincent, Clarence F Korstian Professor of Forest Economics and Management, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, USA.
Prof Joyashree Roy, Distinguished Professor, Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand.
Prof Madhu Khanna, Alvin H Baum Family Chair and Director, Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment; Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences Distinguished Professor in Environmental Economics; and Co-Director, Center for Economics of Sustainability, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA.
Prof Mahesh Banskota, Professor, School of Arts, Kathmandu University, Nepal.
Prof Om Kattel, Program Leader for PhD in Climate Studies programme, College of Natural Resources, Royal University of Bhutan, Bhutan.
Prof S Madheswaran, Professor and Head, Centre for Economic Studies and Policy Institute for Social and Economic Change, India.
Prof Subhrendu Pattanayak, Oak Professor of Environmental and Energy Policy, Duke University, USA.
Prof Tehmina Mangan, Vice Chancellor, The Begum Nusrat Bhutto Women University, Pakistan.
Prof Udith K Jayasinghe-Mudalige, Vice Chancellor, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka.
Dr A M Tanvir Hussain, Environmental Economist, SANDEE-ICIMOD.
Dr Babar Khan, Interim Action Area Coordinator of Regional action, ICIMOD.
Ms Chogyel Wangmo, Lecturer, College of Natural Resources, Royal University of Bhutan, Bhutan.
Ms Vanessa Carriedo, Senior Communications Officer, Strategic group: Regional action and global advocacy, ICIMOD.
Prof Atonu Rabbani, Department of Economics, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
Dr Heman Das Lohano, Professor and Program Director BS (Economics and EM), IBA Karachi, Pakistan.
Prof PPA Wasantha Athukorala, Department of Economics and Statistics, Faculty of Arts, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.
Conference Secretariat
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