This June, ASU signed its second Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Tribhuvan University (TU) in Kathmandu, Nepal, furthering a five-year partnership.

The partnership dates back to 2012, when ASU Senior Sustainability Scientists Netra Chhetri, Nalini Chhetri and Milan Shrestha first engaged with TU and were invited to the university as guest speakers.

ASU signed its first MOU with TU’s Institute of Engineering (IOE) in 2015. Through that collaboration, two cohorts of ASU students have studied abroad in Nepal. The 2017 study abroad session, called Grassroots Innovation for Sustainable Development, brought ASU and IOE sustainability and engineering students together on two projects to help Nepali farmers: solar-powered lift irrigation and biochar production.

ASU’s School of Sustainability signed the latest MOU with the Central Department of Environmental Science within the Institute of Science and Technology at TU.

According to Nalini Chhetri, a professor in ASU's School of Sustainability, "The vision is to foster the collaboration between our two universities in research with faculty, student engagement, student mentoring and collaborative outreach such as joint lectures, presentations and projects."