By Ujaya Shakya

I want to begin with a heartfelt thank you. Since the devastating flash floods in Rasuwa and surrounding areas of Nepal, I have received messages and calls from friends and colleagues across the world. Your concern for Nepal, your prayers for those affected n your words of solidarity have meant a great deal during this painful time. These messages reminded me that compassion has no borders. They also encouraged me to make a wider appeal.

Lives have been lost. Many people remain missing. Families are waiting for news, communities have been displaced and essential infrastructure has been destroyed. Nepal needs the world’s continued prayers and support. But prayers and expressions of sympathy, however meaningful, cannot be where our response ends. Alongside our grief, we must begin an urgent global conversation about Climate Change, Disaster Preparedness and the Growing vulnerability of Mountain Communities.

This is more than a tragedy in Nepal. Rasuwa may be the place currently in the headlines but the warning it carries extends far beyond Nepal. Mountain regions around the world are facing increasingly uncertain environmental conditions. Glacial instability, flash floods, landslides, extreme rainfall and rapidly changing weather patterns are placing lives, livelihoods and infrastructure at greater risk. These risks do not remain confined to remote mountain settlements. Mountains feed the rivers that sustain agriculture, drinking water, energy systems, tourism, trade and economies. When mountain ecosystems become unstable, the human impact can travel across districts, countries and generations. Protecting mountain communities is therefore not a marginal concern. It is connected to the future security of millions of people.

The Rasuwa tragedy must become more than another disaster that the world briefly mourns and then forgotten. It must be treated as a global warning n a call to action.

Why I am appealing to the Creative Community:

Climate change is rightly discussed by scientists, governments, humanitarian organisations and development institutions. Their research, expertise and leadership are essential. But climate vulnerability is also a Communication Challenge. Scientific information is often complex. Important risk assessments can remain inside reports. Early warnings may not reach vulnerable communities in time, in the right language or in a form people can easily understand. Even when information is available, people may not know what it means for their families or what action they should take. The global advertising, branding, marketing, media, design, technology and creative communities possess capabilities that can help bridge this gap.

Technology platforms with global reach including companies such as Google, Meta and TikTok, could help strengthen location based and multilingual early warning communication for communities with different levels of digital access. Brands could use their distribution networks, packaging, mobile platforms, retail relationships and media reach to support preparedness in difficult to reach areas. Media organisations and content creators could amplify verified information, reduce the spread of rumours during emergencies and keep mountain communities visible after the immediate headlines have disappeared.

Creative festivals, industry bodies and award platforms could introduce global creative briefs focused on mountain resilience, climate communication and disaster readiness. They could create space for agencies, brands and technologists to develop open source ideas that communities can adapt and use. Our industry knows how to capture attention. We simplify complex information, tell memorable stories and influence behaviour. We communicate across languages, cultures and different levels of literacy. We use design, data, media and technology to move people from awareness to action.

Can we use these abilities to help protect human lives?

No individual campaign can solve climate change. But communication can make risk easier to understand. Good design can make warnings clearer. Technology can help critical information travel faster. Storytelling can help people understand the human impact. Creativity can help move communities from awareness to preparedness. The opportunity is not to turn tragedy into a branding exercise. It is to use our professional abilities responsibly to address an urgent human challenge.

Our work should help answer practical questions:

• Where should families go during an emergency?
• How can evacuation routes be communicated clearly?
• How can people without reliable internet receive urgent information?
• How can schools, tourism businesses and community leaders become part of the warning system?

These may not look like traditional advertising briefs. But they are communication problems and communication is where our industry can contribute.

Mountain communities must lead the conversation. Any meaningful response must begin by listening to the people who live in mountain regions. They possess generations of knowledge about their landscapes, rivers, weather patterns and local warning signs. They should not be treated only as vulnerable populations or passive recipients of outside solutions. They must be partners in designing these solutions. Technology should help strengthen local knowledges. Data may help anticipate danger but trust determines whether people act. Communication may create awareness but preparedness also requires infrastructure, resources and long term commitment. The most meaningful response will bring together community knowledge, climate science, public institutions, humanitarian experience, responsible brands, media reach, technological capability and creative thinking.

A Global Call from Nepal:

I appeal to creative professionals, industry associations, agency networks, brands, media platforms, technology companies, designers and storytellers around the world: Help us bring greater attention, ideas and collective action to the protection of mountain regions and their people. Let us begin asking difficult but necessary questions.

• How can climate information become understandable and actionable?
• How can warnings travel faster across remote difficult terrain?
• How can global technology work alongside local knowledge?
• How can brands support resilience beyond a single campaign cycle?
• How can our industry help ensure that vulnerable communities remain visible before - not only after disaster strikes?

Behind every climate disaster is a community whose future depends on decisions being made today. Nepal needs your prayers and support. But Rasuwa and mountain communities around the world also need your attention, collaboration and ideas. Let this tragedy not become another moment the world mourns and then forgets. Let it become a moment when the global creative community chooses to listen, come together and act.

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