School of Social and Political Science

Description

Organised by the Centre for South Asian Studies and the Britain Nepal Academic Council

On 26 August 2026, a major flash flood swept through the Himalayan region along the Nepal–Tibet border, affecting Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Gorkha, Dhading and Chitwan districts in Nepal. The disaster has already claimed hundreds of lives, displaced thousands of people, destroyed homes and infrastructure, and severely disrupted wellbeing and the livelihoods of communities downstream. As search-and-rescue and relief efforts continue, people from near and far have witnessed the images of damage and rescue efforts and engaged in humanitarian giving.

We bring together a group of scientists and researchers with extensive experience studying the affected region in Nepal, including its geomorphology, floods and landslides, climate change, disaster risk reduction, environmental change, health and livelihoods to examine questions: What triggered the event, and how did water, sediment, and debris move through the landscape? What role did changing climatic conditions, glacial and geomorphological processes, landslides or river dynamics play? How did roads, bridges, hydropower infrastructure, settlements and other forms of development shape the scale of destruction? Why were some communities and people more exposed and vulnerable than others? How do such events impact the physical and mental health and wellbeing? And, perhaps most importantly, what does this event reveal about the adequacy of existing systems of disaster preparedness, early warning, infrastructure development and risk reduction in the Himalaya?

Their collective expertise offers an opportunity to examine not only the immediate causes and impacts of the disaster, but also the wider environmental, climatic, infrastructural and socio-economic processes that shape disaster risk in the Himalayas.

Hybrid event - registration not required.

Time: 1130-1330

Date: Thursday, 3 September 2026

Venue: The Practice Suite, Chrystal Macmillan Building, School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh, 15a George Square, EH8 9LD, UK

Or via MS Teams

Microsoft Teams meeting

Join: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/350799320485875?p=dKHFvet1wsLSQO69Qt

Meeting ID: 350 799 320 485 875

Passcode: ez7oA9F6 

Speakers:

Professor Hugh Sinclair (University of Edinburgh)

Dr Saraswati Thapa (University of Hull)

Dr Katie Oven and Mr Dipak Basnet, (Northumbria University)

Professor Nick Rosser and Professor Alex Densmore (Durham University)

Professor Ben Campbell (Durham University)

Dr Bina Khapung Limbu (Northumbria University)

Dr Ashrika Sharma (University of Edinburgh)

Dr Samridha S.J.B. Rana (University of Edinburgh)

Chair/Moderator: 

Professor Jeevan R Sharma, University of Edinburgh and Chair of Britain Nepal Academic Council 

*For those wishing to donate, please consider giving it directly to the Prime Minister’s fund at: https://pmdrf.nchl.com.np/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email