Hydro-climatic disasters in the form of seasonal, riverine, and flash floods frequently occur along the rivers and tributaries in the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region. Every year, destructive floods result in the loss of lives and livelihoods and cause severe damage to infrastructure and property. However, floods in the region cannot be totally controlled. Therefore, efforts should be directed towards reducing flood vulnerability and mitigating flood impacts through improved flood risk management by providing end-to-end flood forecasting and warning services. ICIMOD, through its regional programme on Mountain Environment Regional Information System (MENRIS), works to contribute to effective evidence-based decision-making processes by governments, communities, and individuals using scientific data, Earth observation information, and geospatial information technologies in the areas of agriculture, environment, disaster, natural resources, and climate change. Through its initiatives, MENRIS has been working on enhancing flood early warning systems by improving flood forecasting, promoting data sharing and improving communications for actionable information to emergency responders and to those at-risk. This webinar will present ongoing efforts under MENRIS to bring Earth observation and geospatial information into action to support disaster risk reduction, with a special focus on floods. Expected Participants Agenda Time Description Speaker 09:00–09:05 Introduction of the webinar and speakers Ghulam Rasul, Regional Programme Manager, MENRIS, ICIMOD 09:05–09:10 Welcome remarks David Molden, Director General, ICIMOD 09:10–09:20 SERVIR’s efforts on application of Earth observation and geospatial technologies for disaster risk reduction in the HKH region Birendra Bajracharya, Chief of Party –SERVIR-HKH, ICIMOD 09:20–09:40 Hydrologic modeling as a service: A new paradigm for streamflow forecasting Jim Nelson, Professor, Brigham Young University 09:40–10:00 2020 floods in Nepal and Bangladesh: Rapid inundation mapping using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite remote sensing Franz Meyer, Professor, University of Alaska Fairbanks 10:00–10:15 Building climate services in the HKH region for informed decision making at the local level Mandira Shrestha, Programme Coordinator – Climate Services Initiative, ICIMOD 10:15–10:30 Promoting regional data visualization and sharing Sudip Pradhan, Programme Coordinator – Regional Database System Initiative, ICIMOD 10:30–11:00 Q&A Facilitator: Ghulam Rasul, ICIMOD Moderator Ghulam Rasul Regional Programme Manager, MENRIS, ICIMOD Speakers David Molden Director General, ICIMOD Birendra Bajracharya Chief of Party – SERVIR-HKH, ICIMOD Franz Meyer Professor, University of Alaska Fairbanks Jim Nelson Professor, Brigham Young University Mandira Singh Shrestha Programme Coordinator – Climate Services Initiative, ICIMOD Sudip Pradhan Programme Coordinator – Regional Database System Initiative, ICIMOD Resources Sudip Pradhan presentation Mandira Shrestha presentation Birendra Bajracharya presentation Jim Nelson presentation