IUSSP Workshop on Climate, Migration & Health
with a focus on trapped populations
Boulder (Colorado), United States, 17-18 May 2018
On 17-18 May, 2018, the CU Population Center, Institute of Behavioral Science, at the University of Colorado Boulder, in collaboration with the IUSSP Scientific Panel on Migration, Climate & Health held a workshop exploring the linkages between climate, migration and health with a focus on trapped populations. The workshop was held at the University of Colorado, Boulder and was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (5R13HDE078101-03) and CU Boulder’s Institute of Behavioral Science. The workshop’s objectives were to identify knowledge gaps as related to climate, displacement and health, and begin work on tangible outputs to fill those gaps and outline a research agenda. Ten researchers were chosen to participate representing primarily demography, sociology, geography, and climate science. The workshop was indeed that – a workshop. Less emphasis was placed on the details of each participant's research. Instead, the workshop emphasized sharing perspectives on the 3-way connection between migration-climate-health and considering the places in the migration-climate-health triad where each scholar's expertise is best situated. The structure of the workshop also emphasized group brainstorming through which three specific project ideas were identified. Working within smaller groups, participants engaged in preliminary development of several manuscripts including 1) a critical review of climate data of relevance to social scientists, 2) a review of the ways in which “trapped” may (or may not) apply to rural America, and 3) a comparative, empirical examination of the sociodemographic and economic predictors of “trapped” individuals vis-à-vis migrants. The workshop participants are aiming for manuscript submissions in late 2018-early 2019. The IUSSP Scientific Panel on Migration-Climate-Health is now moving forward with additional activities while also looking forward to another collaborative workshop during May 2019. For more information about this meeting and its follow-up, IUSSP members may contact Lori Hunter (Lori.Hunter@colorado.edu). Read also: |
