Mainstreaming Climate Change into higher education and research in Pakistan 

Globally, higher education institutions contribute to a sustainable future by equipping younger generations with the knowledge and skills to address climate challenges. However, developing countries, such as Pakistan, lack the resources and capacity to adapt and mitigate climate change vulnerabilities, resulting in a declining state of climate education. Together with the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Uni-Kassel is supporting higher education and research institutions in Pakistan to translate cutting-edge knowledge and resources on climate education in order to strengthen Pakistan's climate literacy. 

The overarching objective of the project is to develop and integrate relevant and updated climate-specific modules into undergraduate and graduate programs through joint networking and capacity-building activities with faculty members and researchers. The project also intends to build the capacity of Pakistani researchers and academics to access German and European funding in the field of climate change research. This project is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. 

As part of the project activities, six interdisciplinary courses on climate change have been developed and launched for various bachelor’s and master’s programs in Pakistan. These courses are available as free resource materials for educators interested in incorporating climate change topics into their teaching. Apart from the courses, the climate change catalogueprovides a basic orientation to the courses, including a comprehensive outline highlighting the topics covered in each course, course learning outcomes and relevance of the course to Pakistan’s existing education landscape on climate change.