With avalanches and mudslides, the quake was yet another reminder of the dangers of living in an unstable region

This week's earthquake in the Himalayas was another reminder of the dangers of living in an unstable region, as you might expect. This part of the Himalayas got off relatively lightly – as opposed to the epicentre of the quake in the Indian state of Sikkim.

Even so, it brought avalanches and mudslides, wiped out a strategic wire foot bridge near the town of Lukla, and damaged a number of homes.

For the Mountain Institute expedition, the quake brought home the urgency of securing glacier lakes such as Imja. The Mountain Institute is winding up its expedition, and will reconvene in a series of workshops in Kathmandu next week.

It is not immediately clear how – or even if – the earthquake destabilised the natural dams holding in Imja or any of the region's other newly formed glacier lakes. But the scientists and engineers are hoping the expedition will help develop new methods of dealing with climate hazards.

First: south-south co-operation. A main premise of the expedition is that Nepal can learn from the experience of Peru, which has been dealing with the problems of glacier lakes for decades – without foreign assistance.

That's a departure from the normal order where Nepal, one of the poorest countries in the world, typically looks to Europe or North America for disaster preparedness or development funding. This expedition is almost entirely funded by the US government, with contributions from the US Agency for International Development, the State Department, and the National Science Foundation.

But it is heavy on Andean expertise. César Portocarrero, head of the department of glaciology and water resources at the National Water Authority of Peru, had decades of experience in dealing with glacier lakes, before making the trek to Imja.

He has overseen engineering works on 35 lakes securing them against future collapse. "I think we can be proud that we created our own technology in Peru to work with these kinds of problems," he said. Portocarrero now hopes to suggest some of those solutions for Imja and other glacier lakes in Nepal.

The other underlining premise of the Mountain Institute's expedition is involving local people in decisions about glacier lakes.

As I've said earlier, local people are getting fed up with scientific expeditions to Imja. They say they want a final decision on whether the lake is safe – or could one day unleash a catatastrophic flood. And yes, they would like hydropower from the lake too.

But making yourself popular here is harder than might appear. Nepali studies suggest that a flood from Imja Lake could devastate up to 100km of farmland and infrastructure. So which local communities to involve?

As the Mountain Institute itself notes on its blog of the expedition:

It is unclear right now who our best partners might be in the Imja Valley. There are village and district level committees; in some areas, committees of lodge owners are forming. But there is little or no coordination between the various constituents on many issues …

There is the Sagarmatha (Mt Everest) National Park management. And there is the Nepali national government. A project of the scale of managing Imja Lake's flood risk calls for a big partner, not a village of a few dozen families and a handful of tourist lodges. However, the national government's influence in the Imja area is not evident — there are few schools and no post offices.

There is another issue the post fails to raise – gender. How to ensure that women and men have a say in community decisions.

On our first meeting with local people in the town of Dingboche, the women left the room, after singing a traditional welcome song and serving tea. None of the women participated in the discussion about what to do about the lake.

The delegation from the Mountain Institute did not set much of an example. Of the 32 scientists participating in the trek only one – a geologist for the government of Bhutan – is a woman. There are two other women on the trip: a PhD candidate in anthropology who is listed as a member of the social media team, and an intern at the Mountain Institute office in Kathmandu, also listed as a member of the social media team.

But it does suggest that ensuring adequate representation and inclusion are not solely a challenge for the developing world.

I'll be returning to these issues – and others – in the days ahead.