Climate change is the most visible and evident change, humans are witnessing today. Pakistan is no exception, in this regard. Situated in a complex geographical terrain, with variety of deserts, mountains, lakes, rivers and plateaus, the country faces daunting challenges f climate change. Climate disasters are not inevitable but conquerable. Humans can mitigate and bring forth nature-based solutions, provided they adopt a sustainable approach towards it. Owing to my passion to work as an educationist and environmental activist, I was blessed with a wonderful opportunity to work with “Agha Khan University, Institute of Educational Development” to undertake project on “Climate change and Sustainability”. This fellowship was aimed at bringing forth compassionate teachers who can work on this issue, in their respective schools and colleges.

He project was executed in Peshawar and Chitral. It was my first opportunity ever to observe the government policies and initiatives to address this issue. I was able to notice and reflect upon the behavior of the public and their daily activities, which contribute significantly towards it. The project started with initial three days back-to-back training session at IM Sciences Hayatabad Peshawar. Our mentor and supervisor, Dr Fauzia Perveen, Assistant Professor (AKU-IED) taught us the needful skills and pedagogy, which was to be used in execution of our projects. I introduced curriculum based on “Climate Change and Sustainability” in Government City Girls College, Gallaher Peshawar. Following are my learning outcomes:

1. We need to design a strategy based on national action, to introduce curriculum based on Climate change and Education. This should include Character building; Nature based approach towards finding solutions and personal growth to assimilate sense of ownership towards our ecosystems. This will nurture environment stewardship. For example, our people ruthlessly dump their waste into local dumpsites. There is no mechanism or machinery available with the government to eliminate solid waste properly. Educating our students at schools and training the public will help in reduction and elimination of the solid waste dumpsites in the cities.

2. Experimentation in the science laboratories across schools and colleges must include curriculum based on climate change.

3. Print and electronic media are the fourth pillar of the state. The power of the media should be used to bring forth this issue and educate the masses.

4. Civil society is a country’s valuable asset. Civil society should be mobilized and be engaged in fruitful dialogue with the government to introduce laws and bills related to climate change. Take for example, women protection bill. This bill was endorsed and approved by the parliament by the collective efforts of the civil society, law enforcement agencies and political peties. The same strategy should be adopted for climate change. Climate affects genders, vocational opportunities and occupational safety. Hence, there is a dire need of utilizing civil society to address this issue.

5. Sustainable projects such as BRT Peshawar should be made within cities and intercities. They are the decisive factor in eliminating vehicular emission of gases, which is a major cause of smog and fog.

6. Extensive and sustainable plantation is needed to create green patches within cities. In Peshawar, areas like gulbahar lack green patches. There are various solid waste dumpsites, which are a source of immense nuisance and trouble. I want to bring forth the issue that government should take tangible and concrete measures in eliminating these dump sites. These dump sites not only block the city’s natural sanitation, they also harbor various sources of diseases such as dengue and stray dogs. They also are a potential source of traffic accidents.

7. Complete ban on plastic bags need to be introduced and implemented. Our women are skilled enough to stitch their own cloth bags. A culture based on the use of cloth bag instead of plastic bag should be crafted and nurtured for a period of ten years at least. This will help in the reduction and possible elimination of the plastic bags from our daily lives.

8. Religion plays a vital role in public education. Our scholars and madarris should introduce education on climate change. The imams at the masjids should make sure that environment is clean and they should motivate the public in their daily sermons. Council of Islamic ideology can play a pivotal role in this regard.

During this fellowship, I had the wonderful opportunity to visit the indigenous communities of Pakistan for example Kailash. I was able to learn about organic integrated approach for sustainability, in chitral. I was able to evaluate the impact of climate change on these communities. A very exciting aspect of my project was “climate action stories”. Stories and folklores are a tradition of transmitting wisdom and knowledge from one generation to another. Stories carry healing power. They are a reflection of our emotions. Children love stories and learn lessons from it. These stories were written by college students and then organized in a book form, to be made available for children to read. A powerful meetup was executed in October, at Serene Hotel Peshawar, with district education officers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in which our mentor introduced the idea of education based on environment stewardship.

Climate is one thing, we all share, equally without any discrimination. Nature has designed it in sustainable way. Just like the mother womb, which has the ability to nurture and sustain a new life, our mother earth protect, feed and nurture us. However, human activities are causing irreparable damage to it. I firmly believe, by taking tangible measures, concrete actions, public participation and government sensitization, we will be able to mitigate and lessen the impact of climate change and transfer a healthier environment to our future generations.