Some of the thought-provoking and emotion-evoking presentations were the Design education as a tool for experiential learning by Jinan, philosophy, and approach of Hunarshala by Kiran Vagella, the story of Manzil by Ravi Gulati, the story of SECMOL by Sonam Wangchuk, the contribution of Katha to education by Shilpi Sirkar, Revival of Sanskrit by Gitanjali, Designing experiential curriculum for Government schools in several states by Anita Rampal and SEE learning by Neha Bhatia.

The participants also visited Basgo during an immersive geology and geography session by Sonam Wangchuk. Within HIAL we visited the HIAL forestation site where experiments are underway to plant indigenous varieties and simulate a forest with diverse native species.

Discussions amongst the participants have held in the World Cafe format wherein everyone brought forward our own examples, experiences, and learnings from different geographical settings, cultures and debated on how education as a model can be improved and worked upon to provide a holistic learning environment that benefits all aspects of our growth as human beings.

The movie, “Ancient Futures, Learning from Ladakh” based on Helena Norbert-Hodge’s book was also screened. Post the movie, there were lively discussions on the importance of learning from indigenous practices and cultures. On Day 3, the renowned Ladakhi filmmaker, Stanzin Dorjey Gya, screened his pre-release movie, “Living in Ladakh” and took this discussion further with his own insights on Ladakh, the traditional culture and practices and how there is still much to be learned from our older generations to practice living in harmony with nature, especially in fragile ecosystems like the Himalayan regions.

On the last day, everyone came together for the cultural show and festival.

We were fortunate that the occasion was graced by the presence of HH Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang Rinpoche, who remarked on HIAL’s progress and ended this Confluence with his wise words to combine traditional wisdom with modern research and technology to create solutions for sustainable living. He thanked Sonam Wangchuk, Ms Gitanjali and the entire team of HIAL for keeping up the good work and creating a centre of higher learning amidst the harshness of desert conditions of Ladakh!

The conference was an opportunity for all the participants to ask the following essential questions and reflect on them over the course of the conference.

How to relate what we learn in school? How education could be done? How to design a school to cater to the need of humanity? How to make a master plan to build your school? How to make learning joyful? How can we have not a failure in the failed system? Who should take ownership of education? How should we take ownership of education? How to bring in big impacts through the intervention of simple education village – Science of heat; value traditional toilet practice; the school where students learn through doing? Where a student’s physical is used for creative ideas?

The goal of the confluence was to make a master plan on how to unfold HIAL University’s education as a model for the rest of the Himalayan regions and the world. So, the following specific essential questions under three themes of contextual education, experiential education, and Indigenous wisdom were brainstormed during the conference to unfold as the education model.

Contextual Curriculum

  • What is a contextual curriculum? How should we define the context for HIAL?
  • In a contextual education set-up, how will the abstraction of concepts happen? ( Hint: Near- to far education models, regional practical education
  • How will the classroom of the future look like? How will the models of education evolve to internalize contextual education?
  • How will the efficacy of the curriculum be assessed for contextual education? How will the curriculum evolve with learners &facilitators involved?
  • How will the success metrics for students change in view of moving to contextual education systems? What learning objectives/ values will be instilled in the students?
  • What possible programs can be started in HIAL within the context of the Hindu-Kush Himalayas? What topics can be covered within these programs, keeping in mind that education is contextual in nature?

Experiential Curriculum

  • How do you define experiential learning?
  • How should teachers be trained to facilitate experiential education?
  • Where have you encountered experiential education? What aspects made it experiential? What are the tools and frameworks/ best practices for experiential learning?
  • What kind of experiences in the world are natural learning aids (Hint: Travelling)
  • How can liberal arts {sociology, political science, philosophy, psychology} education be made experiential?
  • How do you bring in a fine- balance between theoretical education and experiential learning?

Rediscovering Indigenous wisdom

  • What indigenous wisdom do you practice in your daily life?
  • What are the things which we can learn about sustainability &traditional Knowledge from our ancient civilizations? [In terms of Agriculture, Housing, Medicine, Daily living]
  • How do we differentiate between ancient wisdom and superstitions?
  • How can we inculcate respect & pride for our ancient wisdom in ourselves?
  • What is it which made the Indian subcontinent what it was and how can we revive it?
  • How do we balance ancient wisdom with modern technology?