Strengthening environmental education in Xayabury

When we started working in Nam Tien, Xayabury, Laos, we identified local schools as an entry point to reach communities through their young people—the future caretakers of the environment. With no formal environmental education systems or facilities in place, we focused on cultivating a stewardship mindset among students to lay the foundations for lasting environmental protection. Over two years, we worked closely with schools and local authorities to build practical capacity in environmental education, including waste management, organic composting, and climate adaptation training. By July 2025, all five schools that joined our program from the outset received Green School Certificates from the Xayabury Provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment. In parallel, 229 teachers were trained, strengthening schools' ability to lead and sustain environmental learning independently.

Today, each participating school operates its own waste management system, trains students in waste sorting and composting, and collaborates directly with local government agencies. These foundations now enable schools to design their own proposals, expand community engagement, and continue biodiversity-related initiatives beyond the project.

On the frontlines of wildlife care in Laos

To advance biodiversity conservation and research in Nam Tien, Xayabury, Laos, the Wyss Academy is co-supporting WILDMED, a mobile wildlife clinic that strengthens the Elephant Conservation Center's (ECC) capacity in wild elephant rescue and lays foundations for long-term wildlife protection and biodiversity research across Laos.

The clinic provides essential, on-the-ground support for wildlife response, equipping field teams for extended deployments. WILDMED is operated through two key conservation partners in Laos—the ECC and the Lao Conservation Trust for Wildlife (LCTW)—with LCTW's extensive wildlife-rescue expertise being shared with the ECC as it strengthens its capacity in wild-elephant rescue.

In 2024, the Wyss Academy and ECC jointly launched the Education, Conservation and Research (ECORE) program, positioning the ECC as a scientific basecamp for students and researchers, connecting biodiversity science with social science and community development. In 2025, WILDMED's fieldwork fed directly into ECORE—responding to mahouts' calls and collecting biological samples that strengthen the ECC's endocrinology lab.

The program has already enabled concrete milestones: LCTW hired its first local wildlife veterinarian in nearly a decade, and ECC brought on the first Lao woman licensed as an elephant veterinarian. Together, these efforts are building capacity for wildlife conservation and strengthening biodiversity research within the Solutionscape—and beyond it.

Building local capacity for agroforestry in Xayabury

In rural Xayabury, limited resources and market access continue to constrain alternatives to deforestation. Building on a multi-stakeholder group formed in 2024—bringing together government agencies, research institutions, private sector actors, and local communities—progress in 2025 focused on translating a shared agroforestry vision into practice through the Agroforestry Learning Center at the Agricultural Technical Service Center (ATSC).

The project established an agroforestry tree plantation and began producing seedlings for distribution to local communities. Key infrastructure was also completed, including a solar greenhouse and nursery, and the irrigation system was upgraded. Compost-making training was delivered to ATSC staff, six schools, and four villages, while upgrades to the mushroom laboratory and meteorological facilities strengthened local learning and monitoring capacity.

Through outreach to villages around Nam Tien and collaboration with the Xayabury Ethnic Minority School, the project has strengthened local awareness and interest in agroforestry practices, laying groundwork for future demonstration plots and farm trials.