Virtual platform for empowering women in GIT: lessons, challenges and opportunities

Although women play a vital role in environmental management and decision making, their engagement and participation in the EO/GIT workforce is very low in Asia, especially in the countries of the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region. In this context, SERVIR-HKH Initiative, ICIMOD has been organizing the "Empowering women in GIT" training for the past two years. Due to ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we organized two trainings virtually targeting young women from Nepal and Pakistan on the use of EO data and GIT, empowering and encouraging them to consider careers in GIT and its applications. Fifty competitively selected participants from both countries were from diverse academic background including geography, economics, management, science, engineering, survey, environmental science, and information technology. These participants were from different geographic areas and represent various government, non-government, academic and private institutions. Each training was for four full days in length using Microsoft Teams platform. Theory and practical lectures were delivered at ratios of 20/80 respectively. The training materials were customized to country specific data. A wide range of topics were covered including concepts of GIS&RS, image calculation and spectral indices, satellite rainfall estimates, SERVIR data products and applications and mapping and analysis to solve emerging environmental problems. Daily training agenda and training materials were distributed to the participant 1-day in advance. The resource persons delivered their part of the session remotely from their homes. A separate backchannel using Viber/WhatsApp for communication was setup. Contingencies were planned to cope with potential slow internet and internet/power outages. The platform also facilitated collaboration and peer-learning among participants, especially during the hands-on exercises, when participants exchanged screenshots and troubleshooting tips to help each other. Since the platform lacks the permission for guest watching recordings, we made all session recordings available via OneDrive on a daily basis allowing participants to review and catch up the missed sessions. In this presentation, we will share our experiences, lessons learned, challenges, and opportunities on virtual training delivery.