Sunday, February 23, 2014

Winter intensive program at UNIGIS@Kathmandu

A week of various activities organised by UNIGIS@Kathmandu from 18th to 23rd February, 2014 concluded with a high level of satisfaction diagnosed by the Board of UNIGIS Studies at Kathmandu Forestry College (KAFCOL), Nepal.

The week started with a meeting among Dr. Shahnawaz (Director UNIGIS S/E Asia), Dr. Ambika P. Gautam (Principal of KAFCOL) and Dr. Krishna P. Poudel (Coordinator UNIGIS@Kathmandu) for a management level review of UNIGIS study programmes. During the next 2 days, M.Sc Year-2 students presented their master thesis proposals which were critically discussed by all the participants for providing constructive feedback and suggestions for improvements. A majority of thesis topics are focused on environmental and climate change issues in Nepal where, historically, natural hill slopes have been converted into terraced agricultural landscapes. This way a lot of prime agricultural land has been converted into built-up areas during the last couple of years.
LULC Change in a part of Kathmandu between 2002 and 2012
The following 2 days were devoted to review the progress of M.Sc. Year-1 students as well as for solving their questions related to various UNIGIS modules as well as the potential for geospatial careers in Nepal. The remaining part of the week was devoted to UNIGIS faculty development and planning of future activities. The UNIGIS Board of Studies concluded to launch a UNIGIS professional programme, as well as exploring to start more than 1 intake per year to meet the increasing demand for UNIGIS qualifications in the country!