Kamal Devkota is now pursuing his PhD at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven). By using a political ecology lens, his PhD research is largely focused on how power and authority shape access to water in urbanizing towns. Prior to this, he did a Master’s degree in Development Studies. He has also completed an Environmental Leadership Course from the University of California, Berkeley and a short course on Environmental Governance from the University of Edinburgh. He got the Faculty Research Grant 2013 from University Grants Commission, Nepal and Policy Research Fellowship 2012 from Alliance for Social Dialogue. His research interest lies broadly on the issues of environmental governance and he is particularly interested in policy-oriented research related to urban water security, local governance, ecosystem services and livelihoods. He has a decade-long experience in action research, policy engagement and research project management. Prior to joining his PhD, Mr. Devkota worked at SIAS for 10 years in different capacities. He was largely engaged in research and linking research into local government policy and bringing the lessons to national discourses. He is now engaged as a visiting researcher at SIAS and contributes through the joint publication, facilitation and participation to the policy dialogues, discussion series, strategic discussions and project development.
Selected Publications
- Devkota, K., Khatri, D. and Loopmans, M., 2023. Mobilizing rurality in peri-urban water contestation: A case from Dhulikhel, a lower Himalaya town of Nepal. Belgeo. Revue belge de géographie, (3).
- Ojha, H.R., Devkota, K., Neupane, K., Khatri, D., Pandey,P., Shrestha, K., Bhattarai,B., and Zwi, A.B., 2021. Urban water security under a changing climate: Is Nepal’s water policy in right track?. World Water Policy, 7(2), pp. 296-318.
- Gupta, D., Fischer, H., Shrestha, S., Ali, S., Chhatre, A., Devkota, K., Fleischman, F., Khatri, D., and Rana, 2021. Dark and bright spots in the shadow of the pandemic: Rural livelihoods, social vulnerability, and local governance in India and Nepal. World Development (141)
- Devkota, K., Maskey, G., and Khatri, D., 2020. Pani Chautari as a tool for evidence-informed policy and practices: experiences from Dhulikhel. In: Khatri, D., Devkota,K. and Neupane,K, eds. Dhulikhel’s journey towards water security. SIAS and Dhulikhel Municipality.
- Ojha, H., Neupane, K.R., Khatri, D., Devkota, K., Maskey, G., Dahal, N., Joshi, T. and Kovacs, E.K., 2020. Urban water security in South Asia: Crucial policy lessons from the Nepalese town of Bidur. World Water Policy, 6(2), pp.259-266.
- Devkota, K. Khatri, D., and Neupane, K., 2019. Water conflicts in the urbanizing regions in the Himalaya: case studies from Dhulikhel and Bidur in Nepal. New Angle: Nepal Journal of Social Science and Public Policy, 5(1).
- Kovács, E.K., Ojha, H., Neupane, K.R., Niven, T., Agarwal, C., Chauhan, D., Dahal, N., Devkota, K., Guleria, V., Joshi, T. and Michael, N.K., 2019. A political ecology of water and small-town urbanisation across the lower Himalayas. Geoforum, 107, pp.88-98.
- Devkota, K. and Neupane. K.R. 2019. Water governance in rapidly urbanizing small town: a case of Dhulikhel in Nepal, Journal of Water Security, 4.
- Pandey, C. L., Maskey, G., Devkota, K., and Ojha, H., 2019. Investigating the institutional landscape for urban water security in Nepal. Sustainability: The Journal of Record, 12(3), 173- 181.
- Devkota, K., 2018. Challenges of inclusive urbanization in the face of political transition and uncertainties in Nepal. In: Mugambwa J, and Katusiimeh, MW, eds. Handbook of research on urban governance and management in developing world. USA. IGI Global.
