Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST) in collaboration with the International School of Climate Migration (ISCM)-UK is delivering month-long lectures on cutting-edge topical issues on Climate Change. The key objectives of this seminar that is hosted at SOAS University of London are to further research around the climate migration nexus, to facilitate an educational forum for critical dialogue, offer evidence-based learning, and solutions-driven engagement, expand the network of scholars and advocate for climate mobility space. The lectures began on 5th June 2023 and will be ongoing until 5th July 2023.
The seminar is Co-hosted by Earth Refuge and the Law, Environment and Development Centre, the Centre for Migration and Diaspora Studies and the Centre for Human Rights Law and is attended by more than 80 scholars, students and participants from all over the world. The ISCM seeks to equip participants with the tools needed to critically analyze the complexities of climate-induced migration and displacement as they interact with challenges and opportunities for sustainable development and the protection of human rights.
MMUST is represented by Dr. Nicodemus Nyandiko, a researcher and a lecturer in the Department of Disaster Management and Sustainable Development whose presentation will be based on ‘Enhancing Resilience and Adaptive Capacity to Compounding Impacts of Climate Change and Forced Displacement: An integrated human mobility ‘toolbox” policy approach’.
The outcome of this presentation is to enable learners to grasp varying approaches to building and measuring the resilience of vulnerable communities against climate change impacts, natural disasters, and related forced displacement. It also considers the role of affected communities in mitigation, adaptation and resilience-building.
Dr. Nyandiko’s presentation allows researchers to unpack the nexus of policy issues in the context of environmental (im)mobilities, to survey a host of mitigation, adaptation, sustainable development, disaster risk reduction policies, and strategies and to consider their impact on (im)mobilities, to gain insight into current policy debates on loss and damage.
The other presentations during this seminar focus on various topics such as; ‘Multiple and Complex Drivers and Agency in Climate-Related (Im)Mobilities’. This is aimed at developing conceptual tools for grappling with the multiple and complex drivers of climate-related migration and displacement, comprehending environmental (im)mobilities within a broader mobility spectrum, and gaining insight into key terminological debates on the climate change-environment-mobility nexus.
‘Understanding the Climate Migration, Conflict, and Violence Link’
The presentation is meant to equip the participant with knowledge to understand key debates pertaining to the correlation versus causality of climate change and violent conflict, and their impacts on human mobility. It addresses the various approaches taken by scholars and practitioners in response to the climate change, migration, and conflict nexus, to understand the relevance of violence in and across climate change-related events
The seminar seeks to respond to the gaps in teaching and thinking on climate migration and equip researchers with insights and approaches to dealing with the complexity of climate change. It is a timely venture that encourages a new generation of scholars to engage in collaborative research to contribute critical perspectives and knowledge to the development of cross-sectorial solutions to climate change.
By Linet Owuor
