The Southasia Institute of Advanced Studies (SIAS), in collaboration with the National Society for Earthquake Technology (NSET), the Nepal Development Research Institute (NDRI), and Practical Action Nepal, has just completed a two-day workshop entitled “Tomorrow’s Risk Sensitive and Equitable Cities: The Future Visioning Workshop.” The workshop, which took place on June 14-15, 2023, was held at the Rapti Rural Municipality (RRM) meeting hall in Deukhuri (Rapti) Valley, Dang.

It was part of the deployment of the Tomorrow’s Cities Decision Support Environment in that city that starts with Future Visioning.

Dr. Dilli P. Poudel, Senior Researcher at SIAS, provided an overview of the TC project, the geography, demography, and social composition of Rapti Valley, and the associated hazards. The participants then engaged in individual and collective work sessions where their aspirations and visions of the future were laid on the “wheel of assets” . Participants formulated visioning statements, and shared their aspirations in panel discussions.

On the second day, participants actively mapped their tangible aspirations on provided baseline maps of Rapti and expressed intangible aspirations through policy and intervention mechanisms.