Climate futures and development pathways: A journey from terrorism to tourism in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan

Abstract

Achieving equitable development that supports climate mitigation in an uncertain future remains a daunting task, particularly for post-conflict societies. In this paper, we present results from a local stakeholder participatory scenario workshop investigating emerging priorities for anticipatory action, with respect to future climate impacts, in the vulnerable conflict-affected Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. Importantly, our findings reveal that stakeholders were less focused on addressing climate impacts, and more interested in local development initiatives to enhance tourism offerings and the regional national park network. The novelty of our work lies in the use of participatory scenarios to both initiate a process of healing and provide a forum for the co-production of future narratives focused on sustainable and inclusive development. However, this first involves mending the social fabric that ties individuals and communities together in an inclusive and informed way. As such, our work adds to the scholarship of environmental peacebuilding, creating a local context-specific knowledge base using a bottom-up approach to understand a shared future. The case study presented here highlights the perspectives of policymakers from the global south and brings local stakeholders together in a space where top-down management approaches often dominate.