YESI Director visits Universities in Pakistan

Last week YESI Director Prof Lindsay Stringer visited the Lahore College for Women University (LCWU) in Pakistan, where she was warmly welcomed by the Chairperson of the Department of Geography, Dr Nausheen Mazhar.

While Lindsay was in Lahore, she met academic staff, students and support staff, and gave a research seminar on Climate Resilient Development Pathways in Highlands, Drylands and Islands. Her talk shared insights from the latest Working Group 2 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for which she was a lead author. The seminar was well attended by students, staff and esteemed guests from other departments at LCWU and from other leading universities across Lahore, including the Director of the Institute of Geography at Punjab University, the Geography Department Chairperson from Government College University Lahore, and the Chairperson of the Geography Department at Kinnaird College for Women University.

After the seminar, Lindsay met with LCWU Vice Chancellor, Professor Dr Shagufta Naz and Director of the Office of Research, Internationalisation and Commercialisation, Professor Dr Farkhanda Manzoor, to discuss potential joint research and the forthcoming YESI International Fellowships programme. The Vice Chancellor Prof Naz emphasised the importance of fostering future collaborations between LCWU and the University of York to address sustainable development and environmental sustainability challenges. LCWU was ranked 5^th worldwide for SDG 5 on Gender Equality in the 2023 Times Higher Education Impact Rankings.

Also during the visit, Lindsay and Nausheen travelled to the Cholistan Desert in South Punjab to meet with colleagues at the Cholistan Institute of Desert Studies, part of the Islamia University of Bahawalpur. On their return to Lahore, they met with the Deputy Director General of the Punjab Disaster Management Authority and the Director for the South Punjab region.

Lindsay said:

“My trip provided an excellent opportunity to meet staff and students from several universities and research institutes, paving the way for future interdisciplinary environmental sustainability research collaborations. It was really useful to see and experience first-hand some of the sustainability challenges faced by the people living and working in the South Punjab region. I look forward to our future cooperation”.

Lindsay’s trip was supported by funding from Environmental Sustainability At York (ESAY) and York Environmental Sustainability Institute (YESI).