Building Flood-Resilient Communities: A Co-Design Workshop on Ecosystem-based Adaptation in the Mohana-Khutiya Basin 

Convening local government officials, technical experts, and local organizations, the workshop created a collaborative platform to reimagine flood risk reduction in the Mohana Khutiya Basin through nature-based solutions, inclusive governance, and women’s leadership.  

Through interactive World Café and thematic sessions, the workshop advanced a shared vision for flood risk management by co-designing a basin-level Watershed Restoration Plan that integrates Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) with disaster risk reduction measures, while embedding Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) as a cross-cutting priority. 

Discussions focused on strategic watershed restoration planning, combining ecosystem restoration and other soft-structural EbA/NbS approaches with non-structural measures such as community-based adaptation, institutional strengthening, and governance reforms. Sessions also mapped key stakeholders responsible for implementing different components of flood risk reduction and identified institutional entry points to embed EbA into local policies by addressing policy and financing gaps and exploring practical strategies to close them. 

The workshop concluded with a clear and powerful message: building sustainable flood resilience demands a dual approach. Locally grounded, bottom-up solutions driven by the knowledge, experience, and leadership of communities, are essential for effective climate adaptation on the ground. At the same time, top-down strategies, guided by policy frameworks, institutional support and technical know-how, are critical to enable, scale, and sustain these local actions. Only by bridging community-led initiatives with coordinated policy and planning can Nepal move toward a future where flood resilience is both practical and lasting. 

Organized by the Nepal Development Research Institute (NDRI) in partnership with Wageningen University & Research and ICEM, and supported by the Global EbA Fund implemented by IUCN, the workshop was held on March 27-28, 2025, in Dhangadhi.