From knowledge to action: Educational pathways to climate adaptation in Nepal

This study develops and applies a multi-layered machine-learning framework to characterize the relationships among education, climate knowledge, awareness, and adaptive actions in Nepal. The results indicate that these associations operate mainly through interconnected cognitive stages and vary across demographic, socioeconomic, and geographic contexts. By examining these relationships as an interconnected pathway, the study extends climate cognition-behavior research beyond isolated bivariate associations and identifies education as an upstream component of context-dependent adaptive capacity. Overall, the findings suggest that education should be viewed as a core component of national climate-resilience strategies.

The findings show that education is associated with higher levels of climate knowledge and awareness, which in turn increase the likelihood of households adopting adaptation measures. Indirect effects operating through knowledge and awareness are generally stronger than the direct effects of education alone. Women, older adults, low-income households, rural communities, and populations in Nepal's western Mountain and Hill regions demonstrate the largest gains from improved educational attainment. The study concludes that education should be viewed as a core component of climate resilience strategies. It recommends combining educational investments with climate communication, community outreach and locally relevant adaptation information to strengthen adaptive capacity in climate-vulnerable settings