The Hindu-Kush Himalaya is a region that is commonly known as the 'third pole' given the volume of glacier ice that is stored in the mountains - more than anywhere on earth outside the Arctic and Antarctic. Crucially, many millions of people living in the foothills and further downstream rely on the meltwater from these glaciers for their daily drinking, sanitation and irrigation needs. The region as a whole is known to be extremely sensitive to climate change, and the speed at which warming is taking place is greatest at high-elevation - where the glacier ice is located. It is still largely unknown, however, how climate is likely to change across the region in the future, and the impact this will have on melting glacier ice and those that rely on it in their everyday lives. It is difficult to predict the impacts of future climate change in the region, because we know so little about the glaciers other than what we can measure at the surface. Many glacier models that are designed to predict glacier evolution therefore assume many of the parameters that are unknown, but these parameters are also very important to their functioning - for example the temperature of the ice, the thickness of the ice, and the existence or otherwise of sediment at the ice-bedrock interface. In this project we aim to collect real measurements of these subsurface properties and thus make much more robust predictions of how these glaciers may chance with climate. We will drill six boreholes at four locations into the Khumbu Glacier, Nepal, which descends from Mount Everest and is one of the largest in the Himalayan region. It is debris-covered for its lowermost eight kilometres but pocked with clean-ice exposures that we can exploit with a hot-water drill. We will gather visual footage of each borehole interior and install a multi-sensor array at the bed at each of the four locations. The arrays will log water pressure, temperature, electrical conductivity and turbidity and how each of these parameters changes through the seasons. At two additional boreholes we will install englacial temperature and tilt strings to determine the thermal and deformation profiles of the glacier. Existing glacier models are poorly tested to their sensitivity of variability in the input data. It is important to know how the model responds to small changes in the predicted climate for example, compared with small changes in basal water pressure or temperature. These sensitivity tests tell us about the uncertainty in our predictions as well as how the whole climate-glacier system works. We aim to test the sensitivity of the glacier model that we are using to a range of different parameters by adjusting them individually and analysing the change in prediction in each case. Ultimately, we will include our real-world data in the model and make robust predictions of debris-covered glacier evolution under a warming climate. This work will inform regional policy makers concerned with future water supply, local humanitarian aid agencies who will work with foothill dwellers in periods of flood and drought, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which will inform future climate summits on the world stage, and local people who are dependent on glacier runoff for irrigation, hydro-electric power production and sanitation.

The objective of the Cimceb project was to initiate and strengthen the education in the areas of renewable energy and energy efficiency in buildings to enhance the possibilities to decrease the energy consumption and minimize the environmental impact in the participating countries in Nepal and Bhutan.The project supported the modernization, accessibility and internationalization of the partner countries universities and improved the quality of higher education and its relevance for the labor market and society.Cimceb developed new and innovative education programs in two Nepalese universities and in one Bhutanese, including hands-on facilities for students, in order to improve the level of competences and skills in the universities.The activities started by analyzing the need in the society of higher education programs on Energy Efficient Building Technique in Nepal and Bhutan. As supposed, this subject was of great interest for the syndicate of engineers, construction companies, real estate owners and users; the work proceeded by developing courses and Master programs.An important part was the development of the laboratories, which are used in the courses to get a deeper understanding of the theoretical subjects. In order to improve the capability of the teachers, training courses and study visits were performed in the European universities, in Nepal and BhutanEven if the proposed plan for the Cimceb project was to start a full master program in one university and develop separate courses in the other two, all three partner universities started Master programs within Cimceb project. About 50 courses have been developed and approved within the universities. Three education laboratories have been completed with necessary tools. The result of the Cimceb project has also furthered the cooperation between the partner universities of Nepal and Bhutan as well as between partner universities and EU-partners.

Poverty and inequality are major challenges in Nepal. Low education level of individuals from disadvantaged groups and marginalized groups reflects to inequality. Access to and participation in education is essential requisite for equality and prosperity. The present project develops management and practices in the higher education of Nepal to enhance equity in access to education and support during the academic careers. Outputs:1) Developing strategic cooperation between the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) and the universities in Nepal to increase the support to and commitment of universities to enhance equity in enrollment and during academic careers. A Letter of Intent will be composed in the project. 2) Developing organizational structure and new services for potential applicants from the above mentioned groups to enhance capacity building of the managers and teachers producing education services in Nepal, as well as to enhance capacity building of managers working in administration in universities and teachers teaching disabled students and students coming from disadvantaged or marginalized groups. This means that education will be organized and five properly equipped support centers with competent staff and well-planned services will be established. 3) Improving learning environment to facilitate students coming from above mentioned groups to start their studies in higher education institutes. There will be easy access environment, learning materials and capacity to support these students in the HEIs. The immediate impact will be the improved commitment in management of universities to enhance equity in access to and in support during the academic careers in HEIs. In addition, cooperation and contacts between universities and secondary level schools, local authorities and NGOs representing disabled and marginalized groups will be improved. Remarkable impact is the strengthened cooperation with the MoEST.

Lighting is the major consumer of electricity in developing countries consuming up to 86% of total electricity production. In the un-electrified rural villages, traditional biomass and commercial petroleum fuel is used to provide minimal lighting in the homes. Nepal and Bhutan are perfect examples of such developing countries where on one hand large population have to rely on fuel based lighting and on the other hand major portion of electricity is consumed for lighting. Most of the current lighting design, lamps and lighting technologies used in these areas are inefficient. Nepal and Bhutan has large potential of energy saving by applying energy efficient techniques in lighting. There is growing need of technical expertise and experience to convert that potential into reality.The aim of the project was to support Nepali and Bhutani Higher Education Institutions to provide education that promotes sustainable socio-economic development. The specific objectives of the project were: 1. To raise awareness in efficient lighting management and to identify important factors of needs and opportunities in efficient lighting in Nepal and Bhutan2. To develop energy efficient lighting courses and lighting laboratory3. To enhance and upgrade the skills of teaching staffs for improved academic environmentThe direct target groups of the project are 1) undergraduate, graduate and post graduate students at Universities in Nepal and Bhutan 2) Trainers, educators, and teachers in professional academies; 3) Academics in the advanced lighting field. Final beneficiaries of the project are professionals in the building industry chain, lighting industry equipment producers and lighting efficiency service providers, and government officials, energy regulators, NGOs. The project was able to improve the situation and enhance the opportunities of all target groups by providing them with detailed new higher education tools in the field of energy efficient lighting.