Organized by the Global Shapers of Kathmandu Hub, this year's theme for Shape South Asia was 'Building Sustainable Cities.' Participants were involved in various projects and trainings that helped them dig deeper into the matter.Tours were organized, which was intended to help participants get out of the comfort of the conference room and place them in ground for a close look at the challenges present in Nepal in line of the theme. They also observed how change makers here are working on solutions which perhaps could be replicated in other cities of the region.
On the first day, three project proposals out of five shortlisted ones under the theme of sustainability were awarded the Gandhi Change Awards. Global Shapers of Chennai and Dehradun Hub's Himalayan Clean Stove Project won the first prize of USD 2,500, while Dhaka Hub's Taal Goal Project and The Hubli Hub's Young Hearts won the second and third prizes of USD 1,500 and 1,000 respectively.
Two panel discussions on the second day were also prepared. Under the topics 'First Response' in relation to the earthquake of April 25 and 'Resilient Planning' for the same, esteemed speakers from Nepal: senior journalist, Kunda Dixit; CNN Hero of the Year 2012, Pushpa Basnet, and Nepali Congress Central Committee Member Gagan Thapa, to name a few, presented their views. The discussion was aimed to provide participants a retrospective look at the work done by first responders during the earthquake and the strategies for the way forward.
A gala dinner was also organized at Soaltee Crowne Plaza on Friday night, where the host Shapers shared their experiences as first responders to earthquake-hit Sindhupalchowk District.
The Kathmandu Hub is one of 450 city-based hubs with more than 5,300 Shapers around the world that makes up the Global Shapers Community, which is a World Economic Forum initiative.
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