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Nepal Social Work Symposium 2026

Nepal Social Work Symposium 2026

Date: August 26 and 27, 2026

Time: 9 AM -3 PM

Day 1

The symposium begins on a creative note, showcasing varied forms of expressive arts aligning with the theme, "Co-Building Hope and Harmony: A Harambee Call to Unite a Divided Society" and a short briefing on the pre-symposium events. The first symposium event is the documentary screening titled “ Marshyangdi Wile Ri’iba: May you live as long as the river” and discussion with one of the filmmakers, Mr. Manjit Lama.

About the film

Marsyangdi Wile Ri’iba: May you live as long as the river explores the tension between ancestral wisdom, the agency of invisible guardians of the land, and the relentless force of ‘progress’ in Nepal’s hydropower economy. It draws on research about the construction of the 220kv Marsyangdi Corridor transmission line by the government and financed by a loan of the European Investment Bank (EIB), located in Lamjung and Manang district of Northern Nepal.  The film follows one of the Indigenous communities whose sacred site must be moved to make way for an electricity substation. Downstream, a women’s group resist the transmission lines from being brought through their community forest.

Through rituals, the community consults the female guardians of the land, who say no to the destruction. But the contractors push ahead, and now the community worries about how the living land will respond.

Will people get sick and die? Will harvests fail? Will their resistance hold?   Fear and insecurity plague the locals as they search to find a new sacred site approved by these invisible guardians.

About the filmmaker

"Manjit is a filmmaker and visual storyteller from Kathmandu. His work weaves through art, culture and cinema and is grounded in his personal experiences of home and community. Manjit uses his craft as a tool for self exploration, examining his place in his community, city, country and the wider world. He is also passionate about the technical aspects of the medium, especially camera gear, cinematography and editing. 

In the past, Manjit has worked as a video editor for M&S VMAG and as a cinematographer and editor for Fuzz Factory Productions. In 2024, he was also part of the 2024 edition of Introduction to Storytelling Workshop, PC Fellowship 2026 and participants in Photoktm6 International photo festival organised by photo circle."

After a short break, the Thames Theatre Club will showcase their original work, “”. The play is based on the journeys into the stories of pain, war, conflict and division. It touches the helplessness that we carry within ourselves witnessing the violence that unfolds around us. The play explores our relationship with nature, the contradiction between our belongingness to nature and the harm we cause upon it. Umojaआशा is a call for unity. A call to lay down the weapons that divide us, listen to one other and find ways in rebuilding relationships and heal the parts that have been broken. It is about choosing hope, community and harmony in a world that feels divided through movements, stories and collective creation

Day 2

The second day of the symposium will have speakers with expertise from different backgrounds and fields will have a discussion panel  and a plenary session. 

The first is a plenary session titled “ Who  gets to call Kathmandu home?” The session is conducted by activist Bhagvati Adhikari, who is actively working with the displaced settlers and voicing concerns on the actions of the government without any prior research. The session comes with the news of the demolition of the Sukumbasi settlements around the Kathmandu valley by the newly formed Balen Shah-led government. The demolition has displaced a huge amount of people without any safety net and compensation from the state. The question arises who is Kathmandu for if not for the dreamers and the hard workers. Will Kathmandu, the capital of the nation only accommodate the wealthy and the ones who can own a house but not for the manual labourer whose daily wages can barely keep them afloat? 

About the speaker

Bhagavati Adhikari is a leading advocate for women's land and housing rights in Nepal. As the Executive Director of Nepal Mahila Ekata Samaj, she has been driving initiatives to secure property rights for women. Her commitment to gender equality extends beyond Nepal as she is also a core team member of SANGAT, the South Asian Feminist Network. Adhikari's work embodies a steadfast dedication to empowering women through secure land ownership. 

The second session is a discussion panel titled “ What would social reform practices and policies driven by collective hope look like?” The panelist for the session are Investigative Journalist Sunita Neupane, Head of Department of the TU Central Department of Gender Studies Jamuna Siwakoti, Public Policy Researcher Pratisha Joshi and founding Vice- President for Focus for Indigenous Girls (FIG) Nepal Akina Singh as the moderator. The topic surrounds the rapid policy reforms and policy making process or lack thereof by the newly formed government. The rapid speed at which new policies are being brought forward and then retracted shows that the concerned people are not asking into consideration the effects and impacts on the people of the state. The discussion panel explores the alternative method of involving local communities and organization in planning and implementing policies around the collectivist style society we live in rather than the individualistic style of the west.

About the panelists 

Sunita Neupane: 

An independent journalist who has worked for Global Press Journal, Devex, The Reporters’ Collective, Psyche, and the Asia Democracy Network. Her work covers human rights, migration, health, environment, and gender, and often focuses on the lived realities of marginalized communities in Nepal. Through in-depth, field-based reporting, she aims to tell stories that reveal inequality, challenge power, and inform public debate.

Jamuna Siwakoti: 

An accomplished academic and gender studies specialist with extensive experience in teaching, research, and academic leadership. With a strong foundation in feminist theory, intersectionality, and critical pedagogy, this profession has played a central role in shaping the academic landscape of Gender Studies at Tribhuvan University. Serving as the Head of the Central Department of Gender Studies, contributions include the development and revision of undergraduate and postgraduate curricula, promoting academic innovation and interdisciplinary integration.

In addition to academic responsibilities, she has led and contributed to a wide range of national and international research initiatives focused on gender-based violence, social inclusion, transitional justice, and the empowerment of marginalized groups. Roles have included Team Leader, Gender Consultant, and Technical Expert for projects supported by development partners such as UN Women, Plan International, and the National Women Commission. She is also experienced in designing and delivering capacity-building programs for educators, government officials, and justice sector actors. Committed to advancing gender equality through inclusive education, participatory research, and evidence-based advocacy, this profile reflects a strong commitment to both academic excellence and social transformation.

Pratisha Joshi: 

Pratisha Joshi is a public policy researcher and national public speaking champion who works at the intersection of critical thinking and confident communication. Through her research and facilitation, she has trained and mentored young leaders across Nepal to develop structured argumentation, analytical thinking and confident public engagement.

With an academic background in Mathematical Physics and Sociology, she brings both analytical rigor and social insight to her work, translating complex ideas into accessible, persuasive messages. She currently serves as Program Coordinator at Governance Lab (a think-and-do-tank) and Inclusion & Community Engagement Director at the National Debating Organization.

Akina Singh:

Akina Singh Suwal, is a Newa: Indigenous daughter from Kathmandu. She is a mental health advocate and an Indigenous worker devoted to creating ripples of change in the landscape of care in Nepal. Professionally, she is also the Founding Vice President of Focus for Indigenous Girls (FIG) Nepal, an organization fueled by a group of courageous Indigenous Women and Girls creating space to hold our lived experiences, identities, and knowledge. In recent years she has been working with challenges of Indigenous Land Rights whilst navigating the nuances of Indigenous identity and knowledge with her team. As a Caux Scholar, she engaged with global peacebuilders and restorative justice practitioners, deepening her frameworks for community-centered change, a lens she now carries into her work on Indigenous land rights. As a One Future Collective Fellow, she sharpened her practice in policy and social justice, learning to move between grassroots organizing and the systems that shape it. Rooted in the principles of sisterhood and equity, she carries this work for her mothers, her sisters, and the women and girls who come after her, building a future that honors community and a just, equitable world for all.

Innowave: Intelligent Transformation: Thames InnoWave 2026 Set to Explore the Frontiers of AI and Machine Learning.

Innowave: Intelligent Transformation: Thames InnoWave 2026 Set to Explore the Frontiers of AI and Machine Learning.

The School of Information Technology alongside the students of the IT Club at Thames International College are officially preparing to launch the campus's premier annual technology festival, Thames InnoWave 2026. This highly anticipated flagship event is designed to challenge boundaries under the timely theme of “Intelligent Transformation: The Age of AI, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning.” The extravaganza is designed to act as a crucial intersection point where ambitious computing students, seasoned academic researchers, and pioneering tech industry experts converge to explore the rapid future of technology, ethical computing frameworks, and real-world digital problem-solving.