Dear friends,

Greetings from the SANDEE Secretariat!

As a regional network dedicated to utilising the use of economic tools to address South Asia and the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region’s environmental challenges, SANDEE focuses on developing cutting-edge research capacity and academic leadership to address challenges at the intersection of development and the environment. 
 
In 2023, we continued to build individual and institutional capacities to undertake research on the interlinkages of economic development, poverty, and environmental change. 2023 was quite eventful – we hosted the South Asian Economics Students Meet; organised a workshop on the limitations of conventional GDP and the use of alternative indicators to measure our progress; and partnered with the Indian Society for Ecological Economics (INSEE) and Mongabay India to raise awareness among journalists regarding environmental and ecological economics-related issues for science reporting. 

SANDEE scholars actively contributed to strengthening the evidence base and policy insights. Our network members published over 40 papers in peer-reviewed journals, providing valuable insights for informed policymaking; led sessions in training and policy workshops on evidence-based policy making for Joint Secretaries, Government of Nepal and on the economics of climate change for government officials; and supported four universities for revising/introducing environmental economics-related courses in their curricula. SANDEE awarded 9 research grants, completed equal number of research projects, and organised 10 workshops in 2023. More than 50% of the principal investigators in our ongoing 20+ research projects are women, with some focusing on gender-specific research. We also disseminated research findings in local, regional, and international platforms. Our work extends across Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka (South Asia + HKH region), bringing together expertise in environmental and development economics into decision-making to address some pivotal challenges in the region.

We also build research bridges across borders! Our ongoing collaborative projects are generating valuable knowledge at the regional scale and bringing about science-based diplomacy and friendships. Our large scale multi country endeavour, ‘The Economics of Forest Restoration’ is being conducted in four countries in collaboration with country partners (Bangladesh – IUCN, Nepal – Forest Action, Pakistan – SDPI, and Sri Lanka – IPS). The study seeks to better understand the socioeconomic implications and distributional aspects of such restoration projects. 
 
In 2023, several SANDEE alumni received recognition for their contribution to the communities they serve, a testament to the impact of their work. We extend congratulations to all. By enabling improved responses from public, private, and civil society actors to regional challenges, SANDEE continues support ICIMOD to build institutional capacities for regional cooperation and collaboration for the delivery of evidence-based knowledge and insights to enable necessary transitions to a more sustainable HKH.

As always, we have been receiving continued support from our partners, funding agencies (especially SIDA and IDRC), SANDEE faculty advisers, and reviewers. We are grateful to all of them and look forward to similar collaborations in coming years.

Happy new year 2024!
 
Mani Nepal
Programme Coordinator, SANDEE
On behalf of the SANDEE Secretariat

As a part of our research capacity and academic leadership development activities, SANDEE conducted the 45^th and 46^th biannual research and training workshops in Kathmandu, Nepal. SANDEE grantees and faculty advisers reviewed the progress of the research under past SANDEE grants and developed action plans for each project for the next six months. 

Personalised mentoring is of the unique aspect of the workshops, where researchers interact with mentors and peers in critical but supportive and informal settings to improve the quality of their research and develop their research capacity. Read the blog for more.

SANDEE conducted the 45th Biannual research and training workshop from 20 – 24 June in Kathmandu, Nepal. 


The workshop also included the SANDEE-ICIMOD Karl-Göran Maler Memorial Lecture, with AK Enamul Haque, Professor, East West University, Bangladesh and Arun Bhakta Shrestha, Strategic Group Lead, Reducing Climate and Environmental Risks, ICIMOD, as speakers. The lecture was moderated by Pranab Mukhopadhyay, Professor, Goa University, India.

As a part of the R&T workshop, the SANDEE-ICIMOD Karl-Göran Mäler Memorial Lecture (Winter 2023) took place on 11 December 2023.

SANDEE conducted two workshops (June and December) to review the progress made so far and plan for the activities for the ongoing SANDEE-led research project Economics of Forest Restoration in South Asia. In addition to the project leader and advisers, the country team leads and their collaborators from Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka attended the workshop physically in Nepal. The other team members attended these workshops virtually.

SANDEE, East- West University, and Goa University organised a one-day virtual workshop titled Images from the sky: An alternative approach for measuring our progress, for environmental economics researchers.
This workshop was part of the 12th Congress of the Asian Association for Environmental and Resource Economics (AAERE) and explored the limitations of conventional GDP in sustainability studies and environmental decision-making, and alternatives where satellite images can be combined with other socioeconomic and environmental outcomes for research in environmental economics.

SANDEE hosted the South Asian Economics Students Meet (SAESM) at the ICIMOD headquarters as part of the 18th SAESM, a regional academic event where undergraduate economics students from different universities across South Asia come together for knowledge sharing and learning.

SANDEE partnered with the Indian Society for Ecological Economics (INSEE) and Mongabay India to jointly organise a workshop on economic valuation of ecosystem services to sensitise journalists in environmental and ecological economics-related issues and reporting.

In 2023, collaboration with SANDEE and ICIMOD’s Action Areas increased significantly. In collaboration with ICIMOD’s Rangeland Intervention under the Action Area on Adapting and transforming livelihoods and economies, SANDEE provided technical support for organising two workshops for government officials from Bhutan on the valuation of ecosystem services. The workshop participants are now working on a real-life policy relevant valuation exercise in one of the river basins in Bhutan.

Another collaboration with the Springshed Intervention on cost-benefit analysis of ICIMOD’s spring revival work in the Indian Himalayan states is progressing well. Similarly, with the Air pollution intervention, under Action Area on Stimulating action for clean air, several SANDEEites from all over the HKH countries are working on understanding the investment gap in air quality improvement in the region. 

Congratulations to Mukti Nath Subedi who completed his PhD on August 2023 from Australia! His research focuses on development and energy related issues. Mukti is the Co-PI of SANDEE Grantee Bishal Chalise.

Other highlights from SANDEE network: 

• Adil Najam, former Chair of SANDEE Management and Advisory Committee, appointed as President, WWF-International (MAC Committee member for 2013-2017); MAC Chair for 2014-2015 
  
  
• Amjad Ali, former SANDEE grantee and faculty at Karakoram University, selected for the Institute of Sustainable Academy fellowship programme 2023-24, Germany; Summer School participant- 2019; Grantee 2020-2022
  
  
• Atonu Rabbani, former SANDEE grantee and now a member of Technical and Advisory Committee, promoted to Professor at Dhaka University, Bangladesh; Grantee 2013-15 
  
  
• Chadra Shekhar Bahinipati, former SANDEE grantee, promoted to Associate Professor at Indian Institute of Technology Tirupati, India; Summer School participant 2014; Grantee 2014-2016 
  
  
• Lubna Naz, former SANDEE grantee, promoted to Associate Professor at Department of Economics, IBA Karachi, Pakistan; Summer School participant 2019; Grantee 2021-2023 
  
  
• M. Zakir Hossain Khan, former SANDEE grantee, appointed as the Chief Executive, Change Initiative, Bangladesh; Grantee 2004-2006
  
  
• Min Bikram Malla, former SANDEE grantee, promoted to the Thematic Lead – Energy, at Practical Action, Nepal; Summer School participant 2005; Grantee 2005-2007
  
  
• Niraj Poudyal, Co-PI of an ongoing SANDEE research, promoted to Associate Professor of Economics at Kathmandu University, Nepal; Co-PI 2023 – 2025
  
  
• Nirmal K Raut, former SANDEE grantee, awarded a year-long postdoctoral fellowship at Tokyo University, Japan; Summer School participant- 2018; Grantee 2019-2021
  
  
• Tehmina Mangan, former SANDEE grantee, appointed as the Vice Chancellor of the Begum Nusrat Bhutto Women University Sukkur, Pakistan; Grantee 2008-2010

In 2023, SANDEE remained visible and participated in several international workshops and conferences, including the Annual Conference of the Canadian Economic Association; International Conference in Development Economics, France; Forest, Water, Energy Workshop, Paris School of Economics; and 12th Congress of the Asian Association of Environmental and Resource Economics, Tokyo. South Asia is now formally a part of AAERE, which was not the case before, where three representatives from SANDEE network – AK Enamul Haque, Pranab Mukhopadhyay, and Mani Nepal – have been elected as the Board of Directors of AAERE for the next two years. 

SANDEE commemorates the life and works of the two eminent SANDEE economists –Prof. Karl-Göran Mäler and Prof. Rabindra Nath Bhattacharya – who passed away. Several SANDEEites contributed papers for a special issue in the Journal, Environmental and Resource Economics, and several chapters for an edited volume, Environmental Economics in Developing Countries, in 2023 in tribute to the significant contributions of these renowned environmental economists in South Asia and beyond, and their critical roles in training young researchers and university faculty from the region.