Walkability training in Pokhara

By Amiita Thapa Magar

Clean Energy Nepal (CEN) and Clean Air Network Nepal (CANN) in coordination with LI BIRD (Local Initiatives for Biodiversity Research and Development) have produced another set of Walkability Ambassadors in Pokhara. Around fifteen volunteers consisting of students, youths and Pokhara Sub Metropolitan City personnel attended the Walkability training held in LI BIRD office Pokhara on 21 Sep 2011.

The training provided the attendees with an overview on air quality management challenges in Nepal particularly in cities and the detailed methodology on how to perform the walkability survey. Ms. Anjila Manandhar discussed about the air quality scenario and options for emission reduction in Nepal. Ms. Amita Thapa Magar detailed the methodology on each of the survey component namely the pedestrian interview survey, field wallkability survey and the government/stakeholders survey.

The Walkability Ambassadors are deployed in five areas; commercial, residential, educational, public transport and Lake side area. They are currently undertaking the surveys in Pokhara. The survey consists of three components namely Pedestrian Interview Survey, Field Survey and Stakeholders Survey.
Interview surveys will assess pedestrian’s preference in improving pedestrian infrastructures (road conditions) and also document their opinion on safety and security. Field survey forms will examine road stretches around the city that includes availability of walking paths, motorist behaviour, amenities, obstructions, security from crime among others.

The overarching goal of the walkability project is to improve pedestrian’s safety and mobility and promote walking as a sustainable mode of transport.

Presentation on the methodology

Piloting of the Pedestrian Interview survey

Global Day Of Action

On the background of ongoing (29 November to December 10) global climate negotiation UNFCCC Sixteenth Conference of the Parties (COP 16) in Cancun, Mexico, the civil society coalitions- Climate Change Network Nepal (CCNN), Nepalese Youth for Climate Action (NYCA) and Climate Action Network Nepal (CAN Nepal) are hosting the COP 16 National Campaign coordinated by Clean Energy Nepal, the national NGO serving as secretariat of all networks.

This campaign is being launched with the objectives of building pressure on global negotiators for the fair and concrete outcomes from COP 16, and generates awareness to the youths, children and general public about climate change. It includes activities in all five development regions and targeted to the very large group of people. This campaign includes the following activities,

Message to the Global Community

A whole page inspiring message, commitment, quotes, thoughts and pictures related to climate change will be published in The Himalayan Times, English national daily on December 4, 2010. Message from individuals, organizations are being collected by open call and selected best will be published. Among the message published, best 10 and randomly selected 10 will be awarded with the attractive gift.

This event is organized in solidarity to the Global Day of Action and this is going to be the fourth year of its successful publication.

Global Day of Action with Flash Mob/Beboing Dance

This is the mass demonstration and awareness raising event featuring Flash Mob, Beboign dance, chanting slogans, key note speech and banners and placards on the theme of climate change. This will be the moving events in three major public spots of Kathmandu.

Date: December 4, 2010

Time and venue: Basantapur Durbar Square: 10 to 11 am

Ratnapark, Santibatika: 11 am to 12 pm and

Pulcowok: 12 to 1 PM

“Climate Change and Future Generation”, Drawing Competition

Interschool Drawing Competition with the theme of “Climate Change and Future Generation” will be organized on December 7, 2010 in major cities of Nepal (Biratnagar, Kathmandu and Mahendranagar).

Total of 30 participants representing one from each school will participate in the competition in each region. It will be conducted in open space of major public spot like Basantapur for Kathmandu and this will give chance for people to observe paintings and get the message from it. Best three drawings will be awarded with the cash prize of amount NRs. 5000/-, 3000/- and 2000/- respectively. We also intend to publish the best postcards from 3 regions in the form of postcard.

Drawing Competition in Kathmandu

Date:   December 7, 2010

Time:   10 am to 4 pm

Venue: Basantapur Durbar Square

Air Pollution Toolkit Testing

Air Pollution sessions were organized in schools for the testing of “Air Pollution Toolkit” prepared by Clean Energy Nepal and Clean Air Network Nepal as the part of “I care for Air” Campaign. The three schools where air pollution sessions were organized were Green Peace Co-Ed School, Ganabahal on 27^th September; Bal Sewa Madhyamik Vidyalya, Jhonchhe; Nawa Adarsha Madhyamik Vidyalaya, Basantapur on 28^th September. Air pollution class was taken mainly targeting students from grade 7, 8 and 9. The main objective was to measure the effectiveness of toolkit. For easy facilitation and effective teaching methods, trainers of toolkit were instructed and trained on how to use this material before carrying out school activity. These classes were helpful in assessing the toolkit and getting feedback from targeted group.

This Air Pollution Toolkit will attempt to help teachers, educators and parents in helping children increase their understanding of air pollution and the ways it affects their health, family and community. Some materials in this toolkit are compiled from various sources and redesigned to suit the local context in Nepal. This toolkit provides teachers and educators with easy to use lesson plans, engaging activities, and other resources that can teach students about air pollution, changing climate, health effects of pollutants as well as actions that they can initiate to protect their health and reduce air pollution. The materials in this toolkit supplement the environmental, health and science lessons at seventh, eighth and ninth grades. The lesson plans are designed to be stand alone activities that can complement the actual lessons and can be easily incorporated in the school curriculum.

Toilet Photo Competition

Call For City Volunteer

Clean Energy Nepal (CEN) announces application call for its 5th batch of City Volunteer for the year 2010/11. If you are undergraduate students with higher interest in social activities and voluntarism, don’t miss this opportunity to involve yourself.

Fill in the City Volunteer Application Form and email it to info@cen.org.np along with your Curriculum Vitae (not more than 3 page) or submit it directly to Clean Energy Nepal (CEN) by August 15, 2010. Application form can be downloaded from CEN website www.cen.org.np.

About CV

City volunteers (CV) are the group of dedicated and committed young college students willing to contribute for improvement of environment on voluntary basis. The CV program is an official program of Community Mobilization Unit within Environment Department of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) and is implemented with the technical assistance of CEN. CV program was introduced in 2002 in order to compliment the BaBa (Balbalika ra Batawaran = Children and Environment) Program which was initiated in 2000. Both programs – BaBa and CV – aim at mobilizing school students and youths in a way that they contribute something to the society and to their personality development. Under BABA program, nature clubs have been stablished in various schools, which conduct various environmental activities in school and community.

Responsibility

CV works with the school children to support BaBa program and will also be the part of following activities

• Coordinate, monitor and empower nature clubs in schools
• Design and implement Environmental Mass Education and Awareness Campaign
• Conduct research activities to generate information
• Resource persons/trainers to disseminate eco-friendly technologies and skills
• Community mobilization and participation/ pilot projects

Based on their interest, expertise, and performance, CV will also get other different responsibilities and opportunities in CEN and partner organizations.

Benefits for CV

• They will be provided with the capacity buildup training on different environmental issues, leadership and personality development
• They will get opportunity to design and implement programs in their own leadership; it will help to develop the professional skills.
• Working in a group of diverse background will help to widen knowledge and build network.
• CVs will get the chance to participant in different programs, workshops and field based activities.
• On the basis of performance, two best volunteers will get the chance to do intern in Clean Energy Nepal and partner organization

Eligibility for CV

Any undergraduate students with higher interest in social activities and voluntarism, and can commit to involve as CV for at least 1 year are eligible for the application (Students studying at intermediate and Masters Level may also be considered on special cases).

Selection Criteria/Procedure

Interest on voluntarism and past involvement, leadership/communication skills and motivation, dedication and commitment towards environmental conservation will be the major criteria for selection. Review of application form and interview of the shortlisted candidates will select the final 25 CV.

Notification

Shortlisted applicants will be notified after a week of application deadline for the interview and final result will be published by the end of August.

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Team Of Nepali Women To Climb The Highest Peaks On Each Of The Seven Continents; Clean Energy Nepal to make their climb carbon neutral

By Bruce Easton, Wilderness Sports Australia

In May 2008, a team of inspiring young women became the most successful women’s expedition ever to summit Mount Everest.  They are now in the Snowy Mountains and plan to climb to the top of Australia and Mount Kosciuszko on Wednesday, July 7.

To help, Wilderness Sports of Australia will provide guide services as the team climbs Kosciuszko.  Wilderness Sports is a long established tour operator and backcountry guiding service. The team of nine Nepali women plan to climb seven of the highest peaks on each of the seven continents. On successfully climbing all seven summits they will be setting a world record for being the largest team to do so. During that expedition the issue of climate change struck the members deeply.  With the first, and arguably the most challenging summit behind them, the climbers have now taken up a mission that is both meaningful and helpful – not just in Nepal but globally. The team has made the following vision and mission statements:

Vision: Providing hope to people and empowering them by sharing knowledge about tools for mitigation and adaptation through education and cross cultural learning in order to promote sustainable co-existence of nature and human beings.

Mission: Climb the seven summits, conduct educational exchange programs on climate change in each continent and finally compile the global knowledge in educational materials including a book, animations and posters which will be distributed in schools and libraries in various languages, worldwide.

The team will be using their expedition to highlight the urgent issue of climate change.  As part of this focus, the whole team has now adopted a vegan diet for the entire tour. This decision was made in response to the wealth of information regarding the overwhelming impact human food choices have on climate change.  This includes the recent UN study1, which indicates that a global shift towards plant-based eating is one of the best ways to alleviate most significant environmental damage, including climate change. Further to this personal commitment, the project will be made carbon neutral via carbon offsetting. The team has partnered with a local Nepali NGO, Clean Energy Nepal. They are focusing on solar lanterns, bio-gas, and tree plantations in the Himalayan villages to offset the carbon emission resulting from the project.

Source: http://www.snowshoemag.com

MinErgy Pvt. Ltd. Wins “Best Innovative Clean Energy Program”

MinErgy Pvt. Ltd. from Nepal won the “Best Innovative Clean Energy Program” award in the Clean Energy Marketplace 2010, a global competition organized jointly by United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) at ADB headquarter Manila during Asia Clean Energy Forum on June 24^th 2010.

MinErgy Pvt. Ltd. presented a poster on the project concept “Better Air Quality: Closing Skill Gaps of Automotive Mechanics in Nepal” at the Clean Energy Marketplace. The project concept designed by Mr. Shyam S Shrestha from MinErgy was deemed to be one of the most promising clean energy ideas and was selected for the “Best Innovative Clean Energy Program” in the competition. There were in total 11 finalists at the competition, selected out of many applicants from all over the globe. Mr. Suyesh Prajapati, energy and environmental expert presented and received the award on behalf of MinErgy Pvt. Ltd.

Last year as well MinErgy won the award for “Best Innovative Clean Energy Technology” in Clean Energy Marketplace competition in 2009 for its project concept designed by Mr. Prajapati on “Application of renewable biomass solid fuel generated from forest waste as an alternative to the coal for firing bricks in Vertical Shaft Brick Kilns”. Winning award at the Clean Energy Marketplace for two consecutive years is a big achievement for MinErgy Pvt. Ltd., a relatively new company run by a bunch of young people with innovative ideas and a passion for their work.

MinErgy Pvt. Ltd. is a Service Company based in Nepal and network member of Clean Air Network Nepal. It is formed as an offspring of a clean building technology project. MinErgy inherits the competency, skills, know-how and expertise of the Vertical Shaft Brick Kiln (VSBK) Project Nepal , which is being implemented by Skat, Switzerland with financial support of Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) since 2003.

Post Bonn Consultation Workshop

The outcomes of Bonn Climate Change Talks that took place from 31 May to 11 June 2010 in Bonn, Germany were shared in Post Bonn consultation workshop held on 25^th June, 2010 at Hotel Ambassador, Lainchor.

Dr. Ganesh raj Joshi, Secretary of Ministry of Environment was the Chief Guest and the session was also addressed by Mr. Ganesh Shah Ex Minister of Environment.  Dr Joshi shared his experience of participation as head of delegate at on Bonn II session. Further Dr. Joshi informed about bilateral meetings and initiatives taken for Mountain alliance during the Bonn meetings. In technical session Mr. Batu k Uprety from Ministry of Environment shared about BONN II and Government of Nepal’s Expectations from it. Similarly Mr. Ugan Manandhar of WWF shared overview of Bonn II and its overall outcome and Mr. Raju Pandit Chhetri of UMN shared civil society Perspective on Bonn II. Mr. Bhushan Tuladhar of CCNN facilitated the whole session. The workshop was successful in sharing the key issues of Bonn meeting like SBSTA, AWG KP and AWG LCA to the stakeholders. This workshop was organized by Climate Change Network Nepal (CCNN) and Climate Action Network South Asia (CANSA) with support of WWF and Oxfam.

Background

The Bonn Climate Change Talks took place from 31 May to 11 June 2010 in Bonn, Germany. The meeting included the 32nd sessions of the Subsidiary Bodies of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) from Monday 31 May to Wednesday 9 June 2010 and the tenth session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the UNFCCC (AWG-LCA 10) and the twelfth session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP 12) from Tuesday 1 June to Friday 11 June 2010. Approximately 2,900 participants attended the meeting, representing governments, intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations, academia, the private sector and the media.

Bonn II Update

The key issue under the under the SBSTA was: Scientific, technical and socio-economic aspects of mitigating climate change. No agreement was reached on options for limiting global average temperature increase to 1.5°C and 2°C from pre-industrial levels and parties eventually adopted SBSTA conclusions without referencing the technical paper. Many parties and civil society representatives expressed “deep disappointment” at the outcome.

The key issue under the under the AWG LCA was: Exchanging views on the Chair’s new draft negotiating text through a contact group. During the meeting, several delegates commented on the constructive mood and some felt that progress was made on issues, such as finance. However, AWG-LCA 10 did not adopt conclusions as parties did not reach agreement on issues including a request to the Secretariat to compile developed and developing countries’ mitigation pledges

Key issues under the under the AWG KP was: Annex I emission reductions and other issues, including the flexibility mechanisms and land-use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF). The secretariat was requested to prepare a technical paper on legal issues and organize a technical workshop on the scale of Annex I emission reductions before AWG-LCA 13.

As pre-meeting hopes gave way to post-meeting realities, Bonn session highlighted the challenges faced by delegates on the way to Cancún, including how ambitious they should be. On the AWGLCA side, it is quite unsure about the next steps until the final version of the revised draft negotiating text will released before the meeting in August.

With the seriousness and importance of the issue, Nepal effectively participated in the UNFCCC process with the representation of 7 high-level government delegates led by the Secretary, Ministry of Environment as well as a few from civil society organizations.

Penalty Shootout “Eco-Football Match 2010”

Environment Wins Eco-Football Match 2010

Eco-Football Match 2010 held between Green Team (Celebrities, Public figure and Artists) Vs Environment Team (Environmentalists, Entrepreneurs and Policy makers) on the occasion of World Environment Day 5^th June was won by Environment Team on penalty shoot out after the match ended in 1-1 draw at full time. The defending champion Green team was captained by Yogeshwor Amatya and Environment team was captained by Pankaj K.C.

The event started with the musical parade of schools followed by national anthem which was lead by Pradeep Kumar Rai (Byakul Maila), the composer of the national anthem. Celebrities and artists like Yogeshwor Amatya, Badri Pangeni, Swapnil Sharma, Bharat Sitaula, Dambar Nepali, Ram Chandra Kafle, Sheetal Moktan expressed there concerned for changing climate and burning environmental issues along with Pushkar Shah, a renowned cyclist who recently scaled Mt. Everest. The chief guest of the programme, a renowned marathon athlete of Nepal, Baikuntha Manandhar expressed his concerns for deteriorating environment of Kathmandu and urged people to join hand to improve the condition. The plant and jute bag was given as gift to the players prior to kick off the match. The match officially started with handing of ball to the match officials by the chief guest.

In a very competitive match, Green team took the lead with the first half strike from Badri Pangeni. Both team showed attacking display of game missing number of chances in both halves. Environment team equalized in second half with the goal from Sukant Adhikari. Green team created more chances in second half with number of chances brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Manik Ratna Shakya. After 1-1 draw in full time there could be no further goal in 10 minutes of added time. The match went to tie breaker on which Environment team won by 4-3.

The winning trophy was presented by the chief guest. The best player was awarded to Mani Ratna Shakya for Environment team and Swapnil Sharma for the Green team. During the match there were around thousand spectators. Celebrities, artists, environmentalists, media person, policy makers and entrepreneurs flowed the message about climate change and to join hands to save the environment through there songs and speech to all the spectators during the match.

The theme of the event was “Goal Against Climate Change” and every goal scored was against the climate change. On top of that, the most awaiting World Cup Football is on the way and it is the best time to draw the attention to appeal for a trend of climate friendly World Cup Football, a huge event. The memorandum urging for climate friendly World Cup Football signed by both Green and Environment team would be send to South Africa’s High Commission.

The event was organized by NYCA and CEN as a continuation of Eco-Football match 2009. The event was supported by WWF, UN Habitat, VSBK, ECCA, Guthi, CANN, Ekta Publication, Red Cross (Tri-Chandra Campus), ECI, Bank of Asia, Viswa Niketan Science Campus, Sankata club, Innovation for Awareness and Bridgewater Int’l College. The event was promoted by Nepal Tourism Board. This event was highly successful in bringing the policy makers, entrepreneurs, environmentalists, artists, and celebrities, media personnel together in the same platform to raise the voice of concern for our climate and environment and the well being here within.

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