09.10.08

Experts and officials from almost 80 nations will be attending the largest ever conference on the issue of environmental migration. The conference aims to build a consensus on environmental migrants' definition, support and protection.

On the agenda: measuring environmentally-induced migration – where it is coming from, where it is going, why it has appeared, and how this is benefiting human traffickers.

An English version of the press release can be found here.

22.09.2008, press conference in Bonn opens international conference on climate change and migration

From 9 to 11 October 2008 UNU-EHS hosts the conference "Environment, Forced Migration & Social Vulnerability" which starts off with a press conference on 9 October. More than 400 experts from all over the world will look into the links between climate change and migration. Together the participants will develop concepts to give practical advice on how to protect and support vulnerable communities around the globe whose livelihoods are endangered by the effects of extreme environmental changes.

A German version of the news release and the conference registration form can be found here.

In the course of the third annual Summer Academy on Change, Migration and Social Vulnerability PhD researchers developed an agenda for their future research in which they stress the importance of a holistic approach and early on involvement.

This issue edited by the MRF Chairholder Hans-Georg Bohle and Koko Warner presents the outcomes of the UNU-EHS Summer Academy 2007 of the MRF Chair on Social Vulnerability.

Megacities simultaneously offer the best of humanity and challenge us with the worst of human security problems.Cities are today the home to about half of all humanity and serve as uneasy hosts to a variety of less desirable facets. Cities bursting with millions of people battle crime, unemployment or underemployment, insufficient infrastructure including housing and sanitation, and exposure to natural disasters.

In this volume,authors explore some of these dynamics related to megacities, resilience,and social vulnerability.

Download the SOURCE No. 10 here.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon meets with Heads of UN Agencies based in Bonn, the city leaders, and UN staff to promote his vision of a ‘green’ UN

July 2008 United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited the United Nations Campus on Wednesday, 16 July 2008, where he spoke with the UN staff about his priorities as leader of the UN organization and its agencies located in Bonn. Mr Secretary-General aligned his remarks with environmental preservation and the goals of the UNU Institute for Environmental and Human Security (UNU-EHS).

The United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) and the Centre for Ethnic and Migration Studies (CEDEM) invited a small group of European policymakers and experts for an open discussion on the topic of environmentally induced migration at the European Parliament in Brussels on Friday, 4 July 2008.

Norman Myers and other international experts on migration meet PhD candidates to advance knowledge about human displacement and resettlement

The United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) and the Munich Re Foundation Chair on Social Vulnerability are proud to announce the third annual Summer Academy with the focused topic of ‘Environmental Change, Migration and Social Vulnerability’. The 2008 Summer Academy will take place at the Hohenkammer Castle (Schloss Hohenkammer) outside of Munich between 27 July and 2 August 2008.

The 26 December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami demonstrated the devastating after effects of sudden natural hazards and the increasing need for further study into tsunamis and the creation of an early warning system in susceptible areas. Since that day, the UN has strived to build an effective tsunami system for the Indian Ocean that will serve as a model to extend that protection all over the world.

In this new SOURCE publication, written by Dr. Juan Carlos Villagrán de León, the Head of Section Risk Management at UNU-EHS, the author follows the motto of the United Nations University, ‘Advancing Knowledge for Human Security and Development’, and presents a framework for minimising tsunami damage, establishing an early warning system, and ensuring human safety through examining the case study of the port city of Galle in Sri Lanka.

Download SOURCE No. 9/2008

Prof. Janos Bogardi addresses the risk of unprotected biodiversity in three-hour discussion

Prof. Janos Bogardi, Vice-Rector a.i. in Europe of UNU-ViE and Director of the United Nations University’s Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), served as moderator for a three-hour session regarding the many reasons for conserving biodiversity and the actions of local governments as part of the three-day Bonn Mayor’s Conference: Local Action for Biodiversity. Prof. Bogardi was among more than 150 participants from more than 50 cities around the world to meet in May 2008 to discuss the international political and financial framework needed to protect urban biodiversity.

The United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) is pleased to recognize ten years of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Chair at Nizhny Novgorod State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering (NNGASU). UNU-EHS Director Janos Borgadi travelled to the Russian campus in order to extend his congratulations to the program that is closely linked with the mission of UNU-EHS.

Project meeting strengthens collaboration by bringing researchers together

Researchers involved with the Vulnerability to Floods project met in Dresden earlier this month to discuss preliminary outcomes of their research and to receive several new members to their team. The group welcomed Mr. Matthias Grafe (Saxon Flood Centre), Mr. Wolfgang Socher (City of Dresden, Department of Urban Ecology), Mr. Klaus Walrabe (Local State Administration for Agriculture and Horticulture, Großenhain) and Dr. Jochen Schanze (Leibniz Institute of Ecological and Regional Development) to the meeting in order to discuss the exposure of urban environments in relation to water hazards.

Experts at Research Workshop on Migration and Environment identify a global agenda studying the effects of climate change on migration.

In an effort to better understand the connection between environmental degradation and migration, experts from four major international institutes, including the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), have established the Climate Change, Environment and Migration Alliance during a meeting of researchers in April 2008 in Munich, Germany.

The office in Bonn will be hosted by the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) and will be situated at the UN Campus in Bonn. The MCII office at UNU-EHS will help to promote innovative and equitable risk management solutions especially for developing countries in a new era of climate risks.

Learn more about the MCII Initiative

On the occasion of the 10th Anniversary of the UNESCO Chair the Nizhny Novgorod State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering (NNSUACE) awarded the Director of UNU-EHS Prof. Dr. Janos Bogardi an honorary doctorate. The celebration has been visited by the Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region Valeriy Pavlinovich Shantsev, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Germany Walter Jurgen Schmidt, and many foreign participants of the symposium and invited guests from Germany, the Netherlands, USA, and other countries.

View here the photo gallery

Scientists say that humans contribute most to loss of species and suggest more government intervention

6 May 2008, Bonn: Environmental activists met with the public during the most recent instalment of the Bonn Dialogues series in order to discuss the importance of biodiversity and the alarming rate at which biodiversity is changing. Alarming reports by scientist state that the rapid loss of species due to human behaviour could eventually affect human livelihoods and the global food supply. Panellists from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the University of Cologne, and various branches of the United Nations (UN) credited human behaviour as one of the chief components for biological damage.

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