You may know Dr Fozia Parveen from a video that went viral in which she speaks about the environmental and social impact of tourism in Gilgit Baltistan. In the video, Dr Parveen gently articulates the result of increased visitors to the region and how community-centric cultural norms are being negatively affected as a result.
Dr Parveen is an environmental scientist from Oxford University whom I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside at the Aga Khan University’s Institute for Educational Development (AKU-IED), from 2022 to 2023. Prior to her role at AKU, Dr Parveen was a faculty member at LUMS.
Dr Parveen’s early years were spent close to nature in the mountains Gilgit. Growing up in a middle class family, the environmentalist was always aware of how scarce resources were. A minimalist lifestyle was inculcated from a young age, making it easy to follow through in her adulthood. Dr Parveen described the beauty of living in the mountains — the calming sound of the stream beside her house, the breathtaking view of a mountain outside the door.
