Sonam Wangchuk

Sonam Wangchuk, born in the trans-Himalayan region of Ladakh, J&K, India, is a Mechanical Engineer with over 30 years of experience in the field of education reform. In 1988, he founded SECMOL (Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh) with the aim of supporting Ladakhi children and youth in educationally challenging times. In 1994, he was instrumental in the launch of Operation New Hope, which involved the formation of Village Education Committees to take ownership of state schools, training teachers in child-friendly methods, and re-writing and publishing localized textbooks for Ladakh. To address the water crisis facing mountain regions due to climate change and rapidly melting glaciers, he invented the Ice Stupa artificial glacier, which stores unused
stream water in winter as giant ice cones or stupas, gradually releasing the water in late spring, when farmers need it most.