From 29 to 30 July 2026, a delegation from the International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS) visited Kathmandu, Nepal, for meetings with the Regional Information Service (RIS) team and the Climate and Environmental Risks Strategic Group (SG1) of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) to review progress in ongoing research. The two sides held in-depth discussions on the implementation of projects under the National Natural Science Foundation of China’s Sustainable Development International Cooperation (SDIC) Science Program and the CBAS Global SDG Partnership Program, research activities for the second half of 2026, and long-term cooperation under the Digital Sustainable Development Goals Programme (DSP), initiated by CBAS, and ICIMOD’s upcoming Medium-Term Action Plan VI (MTAP VI).
During the meetings, Prof. Sun Zhongchang, Head of the Cooperation & Development Office at CBAS, expressed his appreciation for ICIMOD’s longstanding cooperation and support. He noted that the two organizations signed a cooperation agreement on 11 June 2025 at the Forum on Building the Pathway to Innovation Supported by Space Information Technology, held during the Second Belt and Road Conference on Science and Technology Exchange. On 7 September, the CBAS Global SDG Partnership project undertaken by ICIMOD successfully passed its final review, with its outcomes receiving unanimous recognition from the expert panel. These milestones greatly strengthened mutual trust and collaboration between the two sides. Building on this foundation, he expressed the hope that CBAS and ICIMOD would pursue even closer cooperation in joint research and capacity building.
Prof. Sun then delivered a research presentation on the NSFC-funded project, “Development Pathway Decision Support for the Construction of Environment-Society Big Data Platform in Typical Hilly Regions.” Siming Deng, International Affairs Officer of CBAS, presented the final outcomes of the CBAS Global SDG Partnership project and introduced the DSP’s research priorities and international cooperation network. The two sides identified a series of priority areas for future cooperation, including joint field surveys and data collection, joint publications and reports, and exchanges and collaboration in digital SDGs, mountain ecological and environmental conservation, and regional sustainable development.
The meetings were attended by Qianggong Zhang, Head of Climate and Environmental Risks at ICIMOD; David Potter, Head of Regional Action and Global Advocacy (SG3); Yi Shaoliang, ICIMOD’s Country Focal Point for China; Birendra Bajracharya, Interim Senior Intervention Manager for Regional Information Service; Sudip Pradhan, Senior Geospatial Application Development Specialist; and Feng Yuan, Communications Officer for China.
Group Photo at ICIMOD HQ
(Source: Jitendra Bajracharya, ICIMOD)