REGEN Project Progress Update
COVID-19 impact on the project schedule:
The original schedule for the Greenhouse construction was in February. This activity would
require the presence of the project partner CA /CAMR on-site, in the light of their reputation
and authority gained locally over the past projects, in order to facilitate the procurement of
resources and the interaction with the local context. Also, activities onsite related to HEC
community training, project promotion and data collection were including presence onsite
and supervision by REGEN team.
The Nepali Government responded to the COVID-19 emergency with a country-wide
lockdown that came into effect on 24 March 2020, and ended on 21 July 2020, closing the
national borders to foreign visitors. Our team has therefore monitored the evolution of the
COVID-19 situation in Nepal, postponing the construction according to the available
scenarios. In January, the project partner CA/CAMR stated their plans to visit Khandbari
between the end of Apr-21 / beginning of May-21 - however, no step forward has been taken
yet from their side. Based on CA / CAMR decision, the Pilot system construction and the
other activities onsite will therefore have to be re-scheduled accordingly.
Also, the recent lift of the lockdown in Khandbari has led to the reopening of local schools,
with students and teachers having to catch up with the missed courses. This has led to the
change of our project plan in training activities because they cannot be held as live activities
(video calls) due to the unavailability of the HEC girl students. We will explain our newly
adopted solutions in the following paragraph.
Considering the dependence on the availability onsite of CA /CAMR and the implications of
local post-COVID-19 restrictions, the postponement of Construction and Execution activity,
and the following work package Operation & Evaluation seem to be the only solution.
Pivoting the project scope and strategy as for the iPoY time frame seems to be necessary.
Therefore, now we focus on preparing all the enabling conditions for our project partners to
be able to perform the above-mentioned activities autonomously, without the support of
REGEN team onsite. We will invest in preparation, in methodology refining – handing over
SOP manuals, forms, surveys, checklists, etc.
Updates on training activities:
In total, we recorded four videos for the training activities, they cover the following topics and
content. For every video, we tried to make them interactive (with interactive functions) and
prepared quizzes to assess the learning outcome. Besides that, a survey to collect feedback
on training activities in general has been prepared.
(1) Business development:
To introduce the business activity and entrepreneurship concepts, two videos were made.
The first one is introducing basic terms used in business activities. And the second one is
explaining some useful tools for business analysis. The content covered SWOT Analysis,
Market Size Metrics, Innovation Adoption Life Cycle, and the Business Model Development,
Competitor Analysis, and so on. We made the videos interactive to catch the attention of the
learners. The knowledge we have gained from our ESADE business crush courses is really
helpful for us to design the business-related training materials.
(2) Farming:
We have also produced a video explaining some tips on agriculture for the girls in HEC. This
includes tips and knowledge on fertilizers, water management, and pesticides.
We did some studies to prepare this video and try to make the content tailored for Nepal. It
addressed some important knowledge in these three topics. For example, how to choose a
certain fertilizer for your plants, and what is the difference between different fertilizers. Also,
we included the safety concerns in the video, for instance, when they apply pesticides they
need to wear protective devices to protect themselves.
(3) Greenhouse system:
Furthermore, the training materials include the most important knowledge we would like to
introduce - the upgraded greenhouse, which is equipped with the biodigester and the fog
catcher. This system is a brand new idea to the girls in HEC, so it is more crucial to explain
how it works and how it can be properly maintained. The video explained the working
principles for the greenhouse system have been recorded. For more detailed operation and
maintenance guidance, we will produce manuals for them in the future (currently in
progress).
Update on the SOP Manual
Overall, we are in the progress of developing the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for
our designed greenhouse, biodigester, and fog catcher. The SOPs cover the maintenance
and operation of the designed facilities for future operations for the girls in the HEC. Our
collective works for the SOP came from the knowledge/courses that we attend in the
SELECT Master school program. Then, we adjusted to fit the design that we have made and
also considering the factor for the people in Khandbari, Nepal. Furthermore, we have taken
some references from the available best practices, consulted with the local experts such as
the local farmers, NGOs specialized in the greenhouse design and operation located there.
Our personalized and custom-tailored approach is also considered here. We have done
interviews with the local correspondents to understand more about the local conditions,
cultures, and current practices. All of these factors are taken into account in the SOP design
process.
The working progress for our SOP manuals:
(1) Greenhouse SOP
Consists of several points to maintain and detailed operational guidelines for the greenhouse
such as: proper cleaning of the greenhouse, maintain the lifetime of the greenhouse
material, regular checks for the specific crucial parts
(2) Biodigester, Fog-catcher
Started from the guides to develop the biodigester and fog catcher, maintenance for the
parts, operations to ensure the lifetime of the biodigester and fog catcher. Additionally,
emphasizing the proper usage and safety factor of the biodigester since the biodigester
deals with the flammable gas
