E-Conference on Climate Change and the Himalayan Glaciers

Welcome to the e-conference on Climate Change and the Himalayan Glaciers!

 

Many thanks for joining us. As your e-conference team, we are looking forward to this dialogue with you, which in many cases is a formal continuation of ongoing personal discussions. We’re excited to share this opportunity for further involvement, and eager to see where these discussions lead.

 

Objective

The objective of this e-conference is to facilitate a series of dialogues on the e-conference theme between different stakeholders. Synthesis of the first event in this series will be released on 5 June 2007, celebrating the World Environment Day 2007 in Nepal and the Himalayas. The e-conference is being organised to realise a need to promote knowledge sharing mechanism on the e-conference theme.

 

Agendas and Structure

The e-conference has been scheduled for three weeks, starting from 7 May through 28 May 2007. There are different but interrelated discussion agendas for each week. “Current status and pressure”, “future potential threats and challenges” and “future course of action and priorities” are the discussion agendas during the first, second and third week of the e-conference respectively. Please feel free to improvise within these themes.

 

Expected outcomes

• Understanding of status and impacts of climate change on the Himalayan glaciers and concerned facts and figures,
• Development of baseline information for the future projects in this area.
• Increase in access to information for the different communities (scientific, researchers, policymakers, students and development workers).
• Formulation of e-group of climate change and glacier research stakeholders.

 

Getting started

In your first posting, please briefly introduce yourself to other participants. Tell us a little about yourself, your interest in this topic, and your expectations for this e-dialogue (1-2 sentences may suffice).

 

Please keep individual postings brief and be respectful of your fellow participants. Please remember that approved posts will be sent to the entire participant group. Personal messages to individual contributors will not be forwarded, but should be sent directly to the intended recipient. The operating language for posts and recommended materials is English. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions about the e-conference, please contact the moderator (climatehimalaya@gmail.com).

 

All participants are encouraged to join the discussion as it unfolds. Regardless of your background, experience, or perspective, as a personal stakeholder in the issues of climate change, your input is valuable. Joining us are those both new and experienced: from experts who have already made substantial contributions in the field, both theoretical and practical, to those just coming on board who will no doubt leave their mark in much the same fashion. These are the initial boundaries we must cross: Thank you for being a part of this transdisciplinary initiative!

 

We hope you enjoy the discussions, and look forward to working with you over the next few weeks. Once again, welcome one and all, and thank you for joining us: We look forward to getting to know you!

 

Best regards,

 

The E-conference team