In the summer of 2020, while stories of COVID dominated the world’s attention, the Himalayan region flared up. Clashes between India and China and a spat between India and Nepal were more than just disputes over territory. They reflected growing anxiety over water. Glaciers have been melting at record speed, new lakes in danger of bursting have been forming rapidly, and monsoon patterns continue to change and unsettle farmers dependent on their predictability. Groundwater has been quickly depleting and aquifers are drying up. The food supply for billions of people is thus threatened. Record floods followed by prolonged droughts are causing millions to be displaced and contribute to accelerating migration flows.

These developments prompted the launch of The Geopolitics and Ecology of Himalayan Water – under the eARThumanities at NYU Abu Dhabi in collaboration with the Rachel Carson Center of LMU Munich. It aspires to bring together the expertise of scholars, practitioners, and policymakers in order to elicit a synthetic and holistic approach in studying and proposing solutions to this looming crisis.

We invite you to register for each of our panels on Thursday, October 29th, and Friday, October 30th. We warmly welcome students. Please share this information with your network! To find out more about the panels and panelists, click the registration button.