On Friday, 5^th July 2019, NIMS College in association with University of New South Whales (UNSW), University of Canberra and South Asian Institute of Advanced Studies (SIAS) conducted “Think Tank Forum” at NIMS College, Seminar Hall, Lagankhel. A total of 22 scholars attended the first forum.

Dr. Mani Ram Banjade, Managing Director and Principal of NIMS College provided the goal of the Think Tank Forum as a deliberative space for sharing lessons, exploring future directions for Think Tanks in Nepal. Prof. Anthony Zwi from UNSW delivered key notes on global practices of THINK TANK initiatives.  Prof. Zwi basically illustrated the need and importance of Think Tank. He termed Think Tank as a tool for helping to bridge the gap between knowledge and policy.  The forum continued with a brief talk by Dr. Hemant Ojha (University of Canberra) over Zoom. He basically spoke about how Think Tanks work in the Nepali context.

The participants in the forum discussed about previous think tank like institutions that played critical role in undertaking research and analyses to feed into the public sphere as well as national policy-making. Participants were for having mechanisms and institutional arrangements for coordinating among academic and research organizations. Issues of funding, organizational priorities and capacities were also discussed. There will be another follow up meeting among interested organizations in developing a framework and defining next steps.