Pardee Center Director Speaks at Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission and Testifies Before Judicial Commission on Floods

Prof. Adil Najam, Director Pardee Center, Boston UniversityProf. Adil Najam, Director of the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer Range Future and Boston University Professor of International Relations and Geography and Environment, was asked to present expert testimony before Justice Mansoor Ali Shah of the Lahore High Court (Pakistan) who is heading a judicial enquiry commission into the recent floods in Pakistan and the way it was managed. Prof. Najam is Pakistan’s leading expert on climate change issues, especially including its development implications. The testimony, recorded on December 24, 2010, focused on the links between global climate change and extreme weather events and on best practice strategies for the management of water-related climatic disasters.

While in Pakistan, Prof. Adil Najam, was also invited to present at a high-level meeting of the Pakistan Planning Commission on the development of a new growth strategy for Pakistan. The meeting was held at the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan and was attended by university Vice-Chancellors and senior academics from around the country. In his remarks Prof. Najam focussed on the centrality of cities and urban areas in any growth strategy for Pakistan and on ways in which we can and should be thinking of encouraging urban enterprise and innovation in Pakistan.