Background The rapid penetration of Earth observation (EO) and geospatial information technology (GIT) across various disciplines has enabled their widespread adoption in planning sectors, resource management, and sustainable development. However, EO and GIT concepts are still rudimentary or nonexistent in school curriculums across the HKH region. A lack of skilled human resources and institutional capacities and gaps in communication hinder schoolteachers from introducing these concepts and their applications to students. We seek to bridge this gap by introducing efficient and cost-effective training programmes to address the needs of different users in the use of EO and GIT. In partnership with the Robotics Association of Nepal (RAN), we rolled out the “Connecting space to village: Training teachers to disseminate EO & GIT knowledge” training for schoolteachers in Nepal to introduce them to EO and GIT concepts and their applications in 2019. In 2021, in partnership with RAN, we will conduct a second edition of the training virtually on 16–20 August to reach more schoolteachers in Nepal. The training will include brief theoretical concepts as well as hands-on tutorials on EO and GIT applications to enable participants to understand basic concepts that can be applied in the school curriculum. This training will also help the participants to learn about SERVIR-HKH’s geospatial products and services and their usefulness. In particular, the training will introduce teachers to different science applications: Agriculture Information Portal; Regional Land Cover Monitoring System; Forest Fire Detection and Alert Information System in Nepal; Streamflow Prediction Tool – Nepal; Regional Drought Monitoring and Outlook System for South Asia; High Impact Weather Assessment Toolkit (HIWAT); and HIWAT Streamflow Prediction Tool – Nepal, among others. Objectives This training aims to train schoolteachers in Nepal on the use of EO and GIT applications and data in line with SERVIR-HKH’s efforts to connect space to villages. The teachers can, in turn, introduce these concepts in their schools. This event will also support ICIMOD’s efforts to enhance institutional and individual capacities in the use EO and GIT applications and to improve access to data in the region. Expected outcomes Schoolteachers are trained in EO and GIT concepts SERVIR-HKH applications are used at the community level Enhanced institutional capacities and enhanced access to data Expected participants About 40 schoolteachers teaching science, computer science, geography, or social studies in select rural schools across Nepal are expected to participate in this training. Resource persons Rajesh Bahadur Thapa, Remote Sensing and Geoinformation Specialist, ICIMOD Poonam Tripathi, Training Analyst, ICIMOD Sudip Pradhan, Programme Coordinator, Regional Database System Initiative, ICIMOD Sajana Maharjan, Remote Sensing and GIS Analyst, Geospatial Solutions, ICIMOD Sunil Thapa, Remote Sensing and GIS Analyst, Geospatial Solutions, ICIMOD Sravan Shrestha, SSA-Remote Sensing and GIS Associate, Geospatial Solutions, ICIMOD Manish Shrestha, Hydrologist, Water and Air, ICIMOD Bikash Gurung, President, Robotics Association of Nepal Utsab Shrestha, Treasurer, Robotics Association of Nepal Rabiraj Khadka, Project Coordinator, Robotics Association of Nepal Susmita Chaudhary, R&D Associate, Robotics Association of Nepal Roshan Poudel, OSM Expert, Kathmandu Living Lab Tentative agenda Day – 0, Monday, 30 August 2021 – Orientation Time Topic 14:00–16:00 Registration – Susmita Chaudhary, RAN Training overview – Rabiraj Khadka, RAN Familiarization with Zoom and internet connection Installation of QGIS Pre-training assessment – Poonam Tripathi, ICIMOD Day 1 –Wednesday, 1 September 2021 Time Topic 09:00–09:15 Registration 09:15–10:15 Opening session (S1) Training overview and introduction of participants – Susmita Chaudhary, RAN Welcome remarks – Bikash Gurung, President, Robotics Association of Nepal Opening remarks – Birendra Bajracharya, Chief of Party, SERVIR-HKH, ICIMOD Remarks – TBC, MoEST, Nepal Group photo 10:15–10:30 Break 10:50–12:30 Morning session (S2) Overview and basic concepts of EO and GIT – Rajesh Bahadur Thapa, ICIMOD Hands-on exercise Demo on the Regional Database System (RDS) and downloading data – Sudip Pradhan, ICIMOD GIT software (QGIS) download and installation – Utsab Shrestha, RAN 12:30–13:30 Lunch break 13:30–17:00 Afternoon session (S3) Hands-on exercise (continued) – Utsab Shrestha, RAN Vector data exploration and visualization Overview of QGIS interface – menu, toolbars, pans, etc. Exploring with vector data, layer properties, projection, symbology, label tool, etc. Exploring attribute table Data classification and grouping – population data 15:00–15:20 Break Hands-on exercise (continued) Working with raster data; exploring symbology Data classification and grouping – DEM data Creating maps – layout design Day 2 – Thursday, 2 September 2021 Time Topic 9:00–09:15 Registration 09:15–12:30 Morning session (S4) Reflections on the previous day – Susmita Chaudhary, RAN Hands-on exercise – Rabiraj Khadka, RAN Adding Google Maps in QGIS Exploring satellite image texture, color, shape, pattern, etc. 10:40–11:00 Break Hands-on exercise (continued) Creating a new vector dataset using Google Maps Point (market centre, school, health post, etc.); line (road, river, trail, etc.); polygon (crop area, forest area, settlement area, etc.) 12:30–13:30 Lunch break 13:30–17:00 Afternoon session (S5) Hands-on exercise (continued) Exploring Google Earth Demo – downloading Google Earth and installation Navigation, zoom, pan, time stamp exploration, etc. Exploring default layers, finding routes and places, exploring Google Maps Adding place marks and other data layers in Google Earth 15:00–15:20 Break Hands-on exercise (continued) Do it yourself – group work – identify changes in your area and report back Day 3 – Friday, 3 September 2021 > Time Topic > 9:00–09:15 Registration > 09:15–12:30 Morning session (S6) > Reflections on the previous day – Susmita Chaudhary, RAN How can we prepare land use/land cover maps of our own village? – Sajana Maharjan, ICIMOD Hands-on exercise – Sajana Maharjan, ICIMOD Understanding land cover textures in Google Earth > 10:40–11:00 Breaks > Hands-on exercise (continued) Mapping land cover using Google Earth plugin Land cover area estimation > 12:30–13:30 Lunch break > 13:30–17:00 Afternoon session (S7) > Climate change impacts on forests in Nepal – Sunil Thapa, ICIMOD Hands-on exercise – Sunil Thapa, ICIMOD Creating forest maps Exploring forest fire data to create forest fire maps > 15:00–15:20 Break > Hands-on exercise (continued) Understanding existing forest fire areas (web app) Year-wise forest fire data analysis Day 4 – Monday, 6 September 2021 Time Topic 9:00–09:15 Registration 09:15–12:30 Morning session (S8) Reflections on the previous day – Susmita Chaudhary, RAN Earth observation for agriculture monitoring – Sravan Shrestha, ICIMOD Hands-on exercise – Sravan Shrestha, ICIMOD Overview of the Regional Drought Monitoring System and Outlook System for South Asia Exploring the Food Security Information System for Nepal 10:40–11:00 Break Hands-on exercise (continued) 12:30–13:30 Lunch break 13:30–17:00 Afternoon session (S9) Introduction to streamflow prediction tool – Manish Shrestha, ICIMOD Hands-on exercise – Manish Shrestha, ICIMOD The Streamflow Prediction Tool Interpretation of streamflow forecasts 15:00–15:20 Break Introduction to the High-impact Weather Assessment Tool (HIWAT) and data available on HIWAT – Manish Shrestha, ICIMOD Hands-on exercise – Manish Shrestha, ICIMOD Exercise on HIWAT Interpretation of HIWAT forecasts Day 5 – Tuesday, 7 September 2021 Time Topic 9:00–09:15 Registration 09:15–12:30 Morning session (S10) Review and reflections of previous four days – Susmita Chaudhary, RAN Beginners’ guide to OpenStreetMap (OSM) mapping – Roshan Poudel, Kathmandu Living Lab 10:40–11:00 Break OSM mapping (continued) 12:30–13:30 Lunch break 13:30 -16:00 Afternoon session (S11) 13:30 – 15:15 Discussion on continued engagement plan (90 min) – Bikash Gurung, RAN and Rajesh Bahadur Thapa, ICIMOD Post-training assessment (15 min) – Poonam Tripathi, ICIMOD 15:15 -16:00 Closing session (S12) Reflections from participants (25 min) Closing remarks (10 min) – Birendra Bajracharya, ICIMOD Closing address (5 min) – TBC, (School education directorate) Vote of thanks (5 min) – Bikash Gurung, RAN