Kathmandu, September 25
Nepal has built a bold and deep faith in resilience despite a series of disasters, including the Himalayan Tsunami-2026 and the 2015 Gorkha earthquake, said Professor Fr. Xavier Savarimuthu SJ, keynote speaker at the International Conference organised by St. Xavier’s College (ICSXC-2026), which began today.
“Nepal taught the rest of the world that resilience is the order of the day,” Prof. Savarimuthu told around 300 delegates from across the world. He praised the country for remaining “happy” despite repeated natural calamities, noting that Nepal ranks above India on the global happiness index.
Prof. Savarimuthu, an environmental expert and climate justice advocate who has spoken at forums in Stockholm, the Philippines, the University of Oxford, and UN climate summits in Paris and Bonn, also warned that a Super El Niño, a periodic weather phenomenon, could pose a threat to countries including Nepal. Describing Nepal as a country of “excessive beauty and risk,” he urged the country to join hands with others in demanding climate justice.
Calling young people the “rays of hope,” he stressed the need for Nepal to focus research on seismic and mountain engineering, food security, and silent toxicology.
The conference’s second keynote speaker, Rev. Fr. Dr Thomas V. Thennadiyil, SJ, said university education should also focus on building learners’ character rather than concentrating solely on knowledge and skills.
Fr. Dr Augustine Thomas, SJ, Chief Patron of ICSXC-2026, said new knowledge is needed to better understand today’s youth.
“The future cannot be reimagined without listening to the young people who will inherit it,” he said, adding that the widening technological gap has created an even greater gap in understanding and ways of thinking. He said academia has a responsibility not only to generate new knowledge but also to develop the wisdom to understand, accompany, and engage the younger generation, calling ICSXC-2026 “an invitation to bridge that gap through dialogue, interdisciplinary reflection, and shared learning.”
The third edition of ICSXC-2026, themed “Reimagining the Global Future with Youth at the Crossroads of Change,” is examining the transformative role of early-career scholars in shaping the digital era. More than 300 research students, scholars, and academicians from the Philippines, Japan, India, Spain, Slovakia, the UK, Nepal, and other countries are attending.
Held once every two years, the conference is co-hosted by Ritsumeikan University, Japan; Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain; Web Consortium Asia Pacific, Spain; and Women’s Christian College, India. The event opened with dance performances from five countries and runs from September 24-25, featuring 75 scientific paper presentations across multiple plenary and parallel sessions.
