Motivation Letter
I am writing this letter of motivation with regards to the recently announced ‘CNDS Summer School’
that is going to be held from 23 August to 27 August 2021 at the Centre of Natural Hazards and Disaster
Science (CNDS), Uppsala University, Sweden.
Pakistan is a hazard prone country that is prone to hazards ranging from floods, droughts, heat waves,
earthquakes, cyclone, landslides etc. Similarly, Pakistan is ranked 8th out of the ten worst climate
change affected countries in recent statistics by the Climate Risk Index. Furthermore, heat waves are
directly related to public health, agriculture production, ecological health, environmental conditions,
losses of lives, damages to economy and degradation of people’s livelihood. Heat waves has caused
considerable deaths and damages to the economy of Pakistan in recent decades. In this regard, a number
of studies have been conducted to assess trends in temperature of Pakistan in recent year and
temperature extremes. However, there are no study that has investigated the public perception,
attitudes, and adaptation to heatwaves in the context of Pakistan. Therefore, my current research work
is to study heat waves related perception, attitude, and adaptation at the household level in Pakistan.
At this moment, I am conducting a scoping review of the available literature on heat wave risk
perception and adaptive measures at the community and households level. The purpose of the scoping
review is to highlight key research gaps and future research directions in heat wave literature.
Specifically, I am interest to assess heat waves related public risk perception, community
understanding of heat waves risks and its impacts, public’s emotional and psychological reactions
during heatwaves, adaptive measures of households related to heatwaves and rural-urban difference
with regards to heat wave risk. The study will adopt a mix method approach to answer the main research
question. As Pakistan currently does not have a proper heat wave plan, one of the outcomes of this
study will be to provide policy guidelines and briefs to the government on a comprehensive heat wave
risk management plan.
The main aim for attending this course is to have more clearer understanding of the issues enhance a
deeper understanding of society's ability to prepare for and cope with multiple natural hazard risks at
local, national, and international levels. I am also excited to explore new venue for lively exchanges
and discussions with the participants and the panel of experts of this course. As, the summer school
provides a unique international forum to explore the diverse dynamics of Disaster Risk Reduction
(DRR), I am looking forward to engaging in a meaningful discussion on DRR and to know more about
the current work going around the world in this regard.