College of Natural Resources (Bhutan)

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College of Natural Resources, Royal University of Bhutan 
༄༅།། རང་འབྱུང་འཐོན་བསྐྱེད་མཐོ་རིམ་སློབ་གྲྭ།
The College of Natural Resources.png
Former names
Natural Resources Training Institute (NRTI)
Motto'Higher learning infused with GNH values'
TypeUniversity College
Established1992 as Natural Resources Training Institute (NRTI) and renamed as the College of Natural Resources in 2003
PresidentMr. Sonam Wangchuk[1]
DeanMrs. Tulsi Gurung (PhD) (Academic Affairs)
Mr. Sonam Tashi (PhD) (Research and Industrial Linkages)
Mr. Ugyen Dorji (Student Affairs)
Academic staff
63
Administrative staff
44
Students1026 as of November, 2021
Address
Lobesa, East West highway
,
Punakha
,
14001
,
Bhutan
Websitewww.cnr.edu.bt
College of Natural Resources

The College of Natural Resources,[2] Royal University of Bhutan[3][4] (CNR RUB)[5][6][7][8][9][10][11] is a college offering courses on natural resources management, that include organic agriculture, animal science, environment and climate, food science and technology, forest science and sustainable development[12] The college is located in Lobesa, Punakha District, in central west Bhutan. The college campus is spread over 98 acres (40 ha) on the eastern slope of and is about 140 km (87 mi) away from the Paro International Airport.

College of Natural Resources, RUB.jpg

History[]

Founded in 1992 as Natural Resources Training Institute (NRTI)[13] by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests to train extension agents. The training was based on the Bhutanese farming systems. Crops, livestock and forests are the integral parts of the rural livelihood system in Bhutan. The main reason to establish the NRTI was that the then-National Agriculture Training Institute located at Paro, the Royal Veterinary Institute at Serbithang and the Bhutan Forestry Institute at Taba were brought under one umbrella named as the Natural Resources Training Institute (NRTI) at Lobesa with funding support from Swiss Development Corporation (SDC), Helvetas and the Royal Government of Bhutan.

College of Natural Resources,[14] Royal University of Bhutan, was born as the Natural Resources Training Institute (NRTI)[13][15] in 1992 under the Ministry of Agriculture. The NRTI[16] joined the Royal University of Bhutan (RUB)[17] in 2003 as a founding member college, and was named thereafter as the College of Natural Resources (CNR). As NRTI,[18] the institute awarded Diploma courses in the field of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, and Forestry for the mid-level extension workers of the Ministry of Agriculture until 2002. CNR as a college continued to offer Diploma courses as nested programmes in the Bachelor programmes. Since 2010, the college started to provide Bachelor programmes in the field of Agriculture, Animal Science, and Forest Science. By 2012 the college started to offer Bachelor of Science in Sustainable Development. In July 2015, Bachelor of Science programme in Environment and Climate Studies was introduced. The college started to offer post graduate programme such as Master in Development Practice (MDP) in 2014. MDP, is a global multidisciplinary programme and was designed based on the curriculum offered at the Columbia University in USA. Similarly, Master of Science in Natural Resources Management by Research (MSc NRM) was launched in 2015. Further, a Bachelor of science programmes namely BSc in Food Science and Technology was launched in the year 2017 and BSc in Organic Agriculture was launched in 2019. BSc in Agriculture is replaced by BSc in Organic Agriculture and since 2021, the college has stopped offering BSc in Agriculture[19] The college will be launching MSc in Conservation Biology within the 2021-2022 financial year. Similarly, a Masters program on Water Resources Management by Research also planned for launching by 2022. PhD on Climate Studies program is approved by the academic board and is set to launch by August 2021. PhD in Climate Studies is the first PhD programme in the Royal University of Bhutan and will be housed at the CNR.[20] The first cohort of PhD in Climate Studies will start their academic session from August 2021.

Student Accommodation, College of Natural Resources

Accreditation[]

In 2016, the college was accredited by the Bhutan Accreditation Council (BAC), and awarded A grade[21]

Location[]

The college of Natural Resources is located in Lobesa Punakha District, Bhutan, in central west Bhutan. The college campus is spread over 98 acres (40 ha) on the eastern slope of Lobesa and is about 140 km (87 mi) away from the Paro international airport. Besides laboratories and academic buildings, the main campus includes housing, and sports a conference center, and a library with over 100,000 volumes of books and other periodicals.

College of Natural Resources, Royal University of Bhutan

Structure[]

CNR RUB comprises[22] of six departments and nine programs:

  • Department of Agriculture,[23] and BSc in Organic Agriculture is offered under this department.
  • Department of Animal Science[24]
  • Department of Environment and Climate Studies,[25] and home program for PhD in Climate Studies in expected to be under this department.
  • Department of Food Science and Technology[26]
  • Department of Forest Science,[27] Master of Science in Natural Resources Management by Research is offered under this department.
  • Department of Sustainable Development,[28] Master in Development Practice is offered under this department.

Academic programs[]

The College of Natural Resources offers Master's, Bachelor's, Diploma and Certificate courses.[22] Among the programs[29] offered include regular Master of Science in Development Practice,[30] Master of Science in Natural Resources Management by Research, Bachelor of Science in Animal Science,[31] Bachelor of Science in Environment and Climate Studies,[32] Bachelor of Science in Food Science and Technology,[33] Bachelor of Science in Forest Science,[34] Bachelor of Science in Organic Agriculture,[35] and Bachelor of Science in Sustainable Development.[36] In addition, the College of Natural Resources,[20] Royal University of Bhutan, will start offering PhD in Climate Studies and Master of Science in Conservation Biology by Research in 2021–2022 academic session. The college is expected to start Master of Science in Water Resources Management during the academic session 2022–2023.

Collaboration[]

The college has several collaboration such as: Bremen University, Germany, (Erasmus+ - SUNRAISE project),[37] Göttingen University, Germany (Erasmus+), Palacky University, Czech Rep (Erasmus+), Pardova University, Italy (Erasmus+), Khonkaen University, Thailand (TICA)[38] Nagoya University, Japan (JSPS), SUstainable developmeNt Smart Agriculture Capacity (SUNSpACe) with support from Erasmus+ (EU), Norwegian University of Biological Science, Norway (NORHED),[39] Research Institute of Humanity and Nature, Kyoto, Japan (FEAST),[40] Bangladesh Academy of Rural Development,[41] Bangladesh, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Kathmandu, Nepal (TROSA),[42] The Naturalis in Leiden, The Netherlands on Biodiversity and Nature[43][44] and Wageningen Centre for Development Innovation among others (CDI).[45] In addition to the collaboration with international the college has active collaboration with national agencies, NGOs,[46] the college,[20] has also signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ,[47] and is expected to have similar linkages with other agencies including civil society organizations in the future. In 2021, college will sign MoU with Tarayana Foundation to collaborate both on research and community services. The college will launch the PhD in Climate Studies and more than half of the total students of the first cohort of its programme will be provided full scholarships though Tarayana Foundation supported by International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in Canada.[48] In 2021, The college became a member of (GWCN).

Research and research centers[]

The college has its own online journal for publication called Bhutan Journal of Natural Resources and Development (BJNRD).[49][50] The BJNRD publishes quality research articles both online and print.[51][52] Besides offering academic programmes, the college has three research centres namely;

1. *Centre for Environment and Climate Research (CECR),[53]

2. *Centre for Rural Development Studies (CRDS),[54] and

3. *Centre for Sustainable Mountain Agriculture (CSMA).[55]

The college also provides professional education, short-course training, and consultancy services.[56]

Colleges of Natural Resources, Royal University of Bhutan (New Academic Block)

Directors and presidents[]

The present incumbent president, Mr. Sonam Wangchuk assumed office on 9 August 2021.[57] The outgoing President, Dr. Phub Dorji, completed his term as president on 30 June 2021. Dr. Phub Dorji assumed office on September 1, 2016, after his predecessor, Director General, Mr. Dorji Wangchuk, exited from the service. Until Dr. Phub Dorji assumed office, the position title was known as the Director or Director General based on the seniority; however, in 2015, the Royal University of Bhutan, changed the position structure, and renamed as the President. The college's first Director was Dasho[58] Sherab Tenzin (1992 to 1996, and in 1997 succeeded by Director, Mr. Jambay Dorji until 1999. By 2000, Mr. Dorji Wangchuk became the third director of the college until 2015. Wangchuk was promoted to director general in 2014. In 2016, Dr. Phub Dorji became the fourth director or the first President of the college. Mr. Sonam Wangchuk is the fifth head of the college since its establishment in 1992 and second President of the college under the Royal University of Bhutan.

CNR Village, College of Natural Resources, Royal University of Bhutan

Student life[]

The students are involved in several extracurricular activities apart from their academic curriculum.

  • Choechog Club serves as an interest group for young people who would like to enhance spiritual and religious life. They participate in morning and evening prayers, rimdo and puja ceremonies etc.
  • Y-Peer Club is associated to awareness on youth and women's issues and promote to enhance the awareness and education on sexual education, sexual harassment, substance abuse, etc.
  • Other clubs include Media Club, Cultural Club, Literary Club, and GNH and well being clubs.

The three most popular sports at the college are soccer (football), badminton and basketball. The students also participate in other sports like table tennis and many other community services.

All of the students and most lecturers reside on the campus. Daily meals for students living on lower hostels are coordinated by the student themselves while students living on upper hostels do have self catering spaces. The residential area is well connected by a road to the academic buildings.

References[]

  1. ^ "Management staff". www.cnr.edu.bt. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  2. ^ "College of Natural Resources".
  3. ^ "The University".
  4. ^ https://www.bhutanstudies.org.bt/publicationFiles/ConferenceProceedings/RethinkingDevelopment/15.Re-thinkingdev.pdf
  5. ^ "College of Natural Resources, Royal University of Bhutan" – via www.youtube.com.
  6. ^ Wangyal, Jigme (2010). "New records of snakes and lizards from Bhutan" (PDF). biodiversity.bt. Retrieved 2019-09-22.
  7. ^ "Improving the Research Output of Academics at the Royal University of Bhutan: A Reconnaissance and early initiatives". Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  8. ^ Shrestha, Sangam; Anal, Anil K.; Salam, P. Abdul; van der Valk, Michael, eds. (September 23, 2015). Managing Water Resources under Climate Uncertainty. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-10467-6. ISBN 978-3-319-10466-9. S2CID 127992440.
  9. ^ Fukamachi, Katsue; Chhetri, Rekha; Kobayashi, Mai (March 28, 2015). "Transition of Agriculture towards Organic Farming in Bhutan". ヒマラヤ学誌 : Himalayan Study Monographs. 16. doi:10.14989/HSM.16.66 – via repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp.
  10. ^ "College of Natural Resources". College of Natural Resources - Bhutan Biodiversity Portal.
  11. ^ "Welcome to Embassy of India Thimphu, Bhutan". www.indembthimphu.gov.in.
  12. ^ "College of Natural Resources". Archived from the original on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  13. ^ a b http://rcbajo.gov.bt/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IRRI_Bhutan_2001-Joyce-report.pdf
  14. ^ "University Rankings 2019 | Top institutes abroad | Best colleges overseas". www.unipage.net.
  15. ^ "BIODIVERSITY ACTION PLAN FOR BHUTAN" (PDF). nbc.gov.bt. December 1997. Retrieved 2019-09-26.
  16. ^ http://www.nssc.gov.bt/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/pub7eb6382ru.pdf
  17. ^ "Home". www.rub.edu.bt.
  18. ^ "National Action Program to Combat Land Degradation" (PDF). Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  19. ^ "Visiting scholars from the Palacky University Olomouc, Czech Republic (Europe)". www.cnr.edu.bt. Archived from the original on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2014-03-14.
  20. ^ a b c https://www.cnr.edu.bt/
  21. ^ "BAC accredits three colleges".
  22. ^ a b User, Super. "College of Natural Resources". www.rub.edu.bt.
  23. ^ "Department of Agriculture)". Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  24. ^ "Department of Animal Science)". Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  25. ^ "Department of Environment and Climate Science)". Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  26. ^ "Department of Food Science and Technology)". Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  27. ^ "Department of Forest Science)". Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  28. ^ "Department of Sustainable Development)". Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  29. ^ programs offered at College of Natural Resources, Royal University of Bhutan, http://www.cnr.edu.bt/index.php/academic-programme/
  30. ^ "Royal University of Bhutan - GlobalMDP".
  31. ^ "Animal Science". www.cnr.edu.bt.
  32. ^ "Environment & Climate Studies". www.cnr.edu.bt.
  33. ^ "Food Science & Technology". www.cnr.edu.bt.
  34. ^ "Forestry". www.cnr.edu.bt.
  35. ^ "Visiting scholars from the Palacky University Olomouc, Czech Republic (Europe)".
  36. ^ "Sustainable Development". www.cnr.edu.bt.
  37. ^ "SUNRAISE management and Quality Assurance | SUNRAISE". sunraise.sfu-kras.ru.
  38. ^ http://www.tica.thaigov.net/main/contents/ebook/ebook-20130607-164007/files/assets/basic-html/page12.html
  39. ^ https://www.nmbu.no/download/file/fid/32406
  40. ^ http://www.chikyu.ac.jp/rihn_e/project/2016-01.html
  41. ^ http://www.rub.edu.bt/images/rub/Key-Documents/Annual-Reports/annual_report_2016.pdf
  42. ^ https://www.huc-hkh.org/news/detail/trosa-huc-water-research-grants-2018-2019-were-selected
  43. ^ http://www.moaf.gov.bt/pollination-workshop-underway-at-college-of-natural-resources/
  44. ^ https://www.naturalis.nl/en
  45. ^ "Enhancing the capacity of CNR staff". WUR. November 5, 2015.
  46. ^ Namgay, Phunstho. "Bhutan Institute of Himalayan Studies (BIHS) signed Memorandum of Understanding with College of Natural Resources | Bhutan Institute of Himalayan Studies".
  47. ^ https://www.nchm.gov.bt/
  48. ^ https://www.idrc.ca/en
  49. ^ http://www.bjnrd.org/
  50. ^ "BHUTAN AND INTERNATIONAL LINKS | International Society for Bhutan Studies".
  51. ^ "BJNRD | Bhutan Journal of Natural Resources and Development". www.bjnrd.org.
  52. ^ "Visiting scholars from the Palacky University Olomouc, Czech Republic (Europe)". www.cnr.edu.bt. Archived from the original on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2014-03-14.
  53. ^ "Centre for Environment and Climate Research". Archived from the original on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  54. ^ "Centre for Rural Development Studies". Archived from the original on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  55. ^ "Centre for Sustainable Mountain Agriculture". Archived from the original on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  56. ^ "Research Centres". Archived from the original on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  57. ^ http://www.cnr.edu.bt/index.php/about-us%7Cpublisher=%7Caccess-date= 23 September 2019}}
  58. ^ "What is in a Name?".

External links[]

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