U.S. Embassy in Nepal, in partnership with Kathmandu Living Labs, organized a two-day South Asia Air Quality TechCamp on July 30-31st, accompanied by world-class trainers and 60 participants from seven South Asian countries: Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives and Pakistan.

The aim of the camp was to address social, political, and scientific facets of the problem and improve the ability of civil society, media, and other influencers to engage governments, empower the general  public, media and other influencer in to engaging governments in policy making  and taking actions to improve air quality in South Asia.

“Air pollution does not respect national boundaries,” US Ambassador to Nepal, H.E. Randy W. Berry pointed out the regional cooperation required to solve the issue of air pollution.

Participants and trainers from 10+ countries selected topics under, What’s the biggest challenge you face in your work on air quality?

• Reliable Data/Access to Data
• Regulations/Enforcement of Existing Regulations
• Proper Monitoring Systems or Collection of Data
• Awareness/Targeting the Right Audience
• Coordination: Among Stakeholders or Across Borders

We selected a topic regarding a challenge we identified in our work and dived into the first round of discussions. In Sri Lanka, we have monitoring systems based on BAM and Low-Cost Sensors. But we need to have a proper monitoring network combining the region.

“Speed Geeking”

We spent five minutes with each trainer in 14 small groups. The trainers shared their stories of using a particular technology/strategy to address air pollution.