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Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) is an ecologically sensitive, cost-effective, and locally adaptive climate adaptation strategy to strengthen the climate resilience of vulnerable communities. While many studies on EbA have been conducted in rural and mountainous regions or within the natural sciences realm, there is a lack of comprehensive research that assesses how urban EbA measures have been incorporated into existing policies and plans in Global South, including in Nepal. Ecosystem-based adaptation is in the early stages of its establishment as a fundamental component to address climate adaptation and sustainable development in urban environments. Accordingly, effective integration strategies, challenges, potential focal areas, and entry points have yet to be extensively studied. To address the literature gap, this paper analyses the types of EbA interventions and the extent of urban EbA integration within Nepal's climate, urban, and sectoral policies and plans. Direct content analysis and a qualitative scoring system were used to evaluate the plan components and assess the level of EbA integration. The findings indicate that the policies and plans recognise the importance of conserving, enhancing, and managing ecosystems for climate change adaptation, and EbA measures are mainly included in action-oriented sections. However, the results also reveal inadequate EbA integration, particularly in the information base, vision and objectives, and implementation aspects. The implementation component notably lacks comprehensive provisions for budget allocation, responsible authorities, definite timelines, and clear roadmaps. The breakdown of EbA integration in the policies and plans suggests that climate and urban plans substantially integrate urban EbA measures, but discrepancies exist with climate and urban policies and sectoral policies and plans. These findings collectively emphasise a pressing need to enhance the recognition and integration of urban EbA measures within policy frameworks with a view towards strengthening climate resilience and mitigating climate-related hazards in urban environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study promoted professional learning and agency through a pragmatic formative intervention. Participants sought to change professional practices in classrooms in response to critical reflection on pedagogic practices and wider social concerns. Australian researchers collaborated with teachers and teacher educators from Nepal, informed by cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT). Change Laboratory methods identified a contradiction between heavy curriculum content and pedagogies that were regarded as educationally desirable and socially just. Participants developed eight principles to help teachers enact high-quality, inclusive pedagogies. One group linked this to the idea of MicroProjects, a solution for time-pressed teachers that could embody all eight principles. They worked with teachers in a nearby school to develop and implement MicroProjects across the Grade 1–12 curriculum. The paper traces a cycle of expansive learning actions, revealing how committed, activist research methods promoted teacher professional learning and agency in challenging contexts of the Global South, shifting from what is towards what ought to be. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While substantial progress has been made in combating malnutrition at a global level, chronic maternal and child malnutrition remain a serious problem in many parts of the developing world. In this paper, using a randomized controlled trial design in Nepal, we evaluate a program that provided information on best practices regarding infant health and cash to families in extremely poor areas with pregnant mothers and/or children below the age of 2. We find significant and sizable impacts of the information plus cash intervention on maternal knowledge and behavior in the short run. We also find suggestive evidence of improvements in child development for the information plus cash intervention relative to groups that received information only. In a long-run, 2-year follow-up survey, we find that the information plus cash group retained significantly higher knowledge and implementation of best practices regarding early-childhood health. However, there appear to be no sustained impacts on child development or anthropometrics in the follow-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change and extreme weather events undermine smallholder household food and income security in many rural areas of developing countries. Nature-based solutions and the use of climate resilient and nutrient dense Neglected and Underutilized Species into the local farming system have been claimed to sustainably help farmers adapt to climate change and to manage risk more effectively. This paper investigated the potential implementation of three options based on the collective cultivation and management of olive groves and wild forests for production purposes in a mountain region of Nepal. The analysis was aimed at assessing the potential benefits of such strategy in comparison with the status-quo. The study conducted an ex-ante simulation exercise for evaluating three options: 1) 1500 ha of new and restored wild forests; 2) 500 ha of olive groves; and 3) A combination of option 1 and 2. We calculated the financial, economic, social, and environmental costs and benefits of such options using agricultural and economic data collected from representative households identified from a sample of 31 small, 9 medium, and 3 large farm households. To conduct the economic, social and environmental analysis (ESE), we calculated the Social Return on Investment and we integrated it into the economic analysis. Then we compared the results to assess which was the most profitable option. The results of the analysis showed that all three proposed options are stable with an Internal Rate of Return always above 27% with values over 100%. The greatest increase in terms of NPV is observed when shifting from the financial to the ESE analysis in options 1, 2, and 3 (+397.5%, +132.0%, +187.2% respectively) as the benefits increase more than the costs. The results further suggested that the integrated option is the most profitable one also in terms of labour generation. Indeed, we observed a substantial increase in the Return to Labour indicator especially in the ESE analysis (from 1.9 in the financial analysis to 2.8 in the economic analysis to 6.0 in the ESE analysis). This study provides evidence of the potential that similar strategies based on the use of local resources and species, if properly designed, implemented and managed, may have to restore the ecosystem and enhance the livelihoods of local communities. The most innovative element of this study is the proposed ESE analysis, which takes into account the social and environmental dimension besides the economic one. [Display omitted] • Olive growing would be a nature-based solution to sustainably diversify the local production system. • Assessing the benefits of the collective management of wild olive forests and olive orchards in a mountain region of Nepal • Investing in wild and domesticated olive would increase household income and generate labour in Western Nepal. • Investment in olive could have long-term economic, social, and environmental positive effects on smallholders' livelihoods. • The use of local resources and species could improve the resilience and well-being of other local communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]