The 2nd issue of the Research Brief Series entitled "The Way Forward. Researching the Environment and Migration Nexus" deals with possible future migration flows triggered by climate change. The issue based on the outcomes of the second Expert Workshop on Climate Change, Environment, and Migration is written by two UNU-EHS scientists: Marc Stal and Koko Warner. The workshop aimed to further understand the links and implications of climate change and environmental degradation for migration and policy and took place in Munich, Germany, in July 2009 .

"Vulnerable Countries and People. How Disaster Risk Reduction & Insurance Can Help Manage the Risks of Climate Change" focuses on linking disaster risk reduction and insurance approaches. A central concern is how to make such measures accessible and affordable to vulnerable people in developing countries.

Download the second issue here.

The report titled "Addressing the Challenge: Recommendations and Quality Criteria for Linking Disaster Risk Reduction and Adaptation to Climate Change" by Jörn Birkmann and Korinna von Teichman from UNU-EHS, as well as other contributing authors, reveals existing limits and challenges to link disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.

Download the full report.

The report titled “In Search of Shelter: Mapping the Effects of Climate Change on Human Migration and Displacement” by Dr Koko Warner from UNU-EHS and Dr Charles Ehrhart from CARE International, highlights that climate change is already contributing to migration and displacement and that there will be tens of millions of migrants within the next few years. These findings were presented to the delegates and the international media at the Bonn Climate Change Talks in June 2009.

Download the full report In Search of Shelter.

“The Megacity Resilience Framework” by Carsten Butsch, Benjamin Etzold and Patrick Sakdapolrak, provides policy recommendations on how to increase the resilience and sustainability of megacities where more than half of the world’s population is living today.

Download the Policy Brief "The Megacity Resilience Framework" here.

The successful “Five years UNU in Bonn” report, edited by Ilona Roberts, has been reprinted. The second edition is now available in print or electronic version.

Five fruitful years have passed since the first seeds of UNU in Bonn were planted. This publication looks back at the growth and accomplishments of UNU-EHS, and other entities of UNU in Bonn such as UNU-ViE and the two hosted entities UNW-DPC and UNU-IHDP. The publication assembles the thoughts and memories of all those who contributed and supported the UNU in Bonn, as well as facts and figures concerning all entities.
For a detailed and colorful look at the Five Years of UNU in Bonn (2nd Edition), please download the electronic version of the report here
or order your personal print copy by writing an .

“Confronting Environmental Migration; A Framework for Research, Policy and Practice” is the first issue of our new Research Brief series. The authors, David Wrathall and Benjamin Morris, are two PhD candidates that participated in the UNU-EHS MRF Summer Academy on Environmental Change, Migration and Social Vulnerability 2008.

The research brief summarizes key findings of a series of events dedicated to forced migration organised by UNU-EHS. It aims to identify crucial issues on the subject to put together a research agenda in the field of environmental migration.

Download the new research brief, "Confronting Environmental Migration; A Framework for Research, Policy and Practice".

The "Environment, Forced Migration and Social Vulnerability" conference was organized by UNU-EHS. To learn more about it, you can download the Pre-conference Proceedings (English) published by UNU-EHS.

For more information see: www.efmsv2008.org/

You can learn more about the work of UNU in Bonn in a very compact version by downloading the flyer (German)

You can learn more about the work of UNU-EHS in a very compact version by downloading the flyer (English)

UNU-EHS proundly announced the UNU Press publication Measuring Vulnerability to Natural HazardsTowards Disaster Resilient Societies, edited by Joern Birkmann, Academic Officer at UNU-EHS.

A seemingly non-stop series of disasters has shown that societies worldwide seem unprepared for the threats posed by natural hazards: Hurricane Katrina, drought in Africa; flooding in China and Germany; earthquakes in Pakistan and India; a tsunami in South-East Asia; and forest fi res in Portugal, Australia and North America. The tragic impacts of these events drew short-term attention from policy makers, the media and the general public, but their response was too late to prevent serious harm. Societies need to measure their vulnerabilities in advance, and make adequate provisions. This book is a unique compilation of state-of-the-art vulnerability assessment and is essential reading for academics, students, policy makers, practitioners, and anybody else interested in understanding the fundamentals of measuring vulnerability. It is a critical review that provides important conclusions which can serve as an orientation for future research towards more disaster resilient communities.

Download the flyer

You can download the Image brochure of UNU-EHS printed in November 2005 here

You can download the Strategic Directions of UNU-EHS 2005-2008 "Human Security in a Changing Environement" here

Human insecurity is, to a large degree, the consequence of a lack of knowledge, or ignorance. Professionals and universities – among them the United Nations University (UNU) – are mandated to develop and to disseminate new knowledge. As a university with a global mandate for research and education, UNU contributes to enhance the respective knowledge bases and build human capacity in developing countries, assisting them to develop their own coping capacities.

UNU-EHS is happy to present an internal report of the first Urban Training Programme (Nov./Dec. 2005), edited by Dr. Ulrike Kastrup and with different case studies of seven cities submitted by the participants of the first workshop.

The seminar-workshop focused on hazards, vulnerabilities and coping strategies in cities in delta areas and coastal regions with an emphasis on water-related risks. International participants from 7 cities attended the workshop: Bangkok (Thailand), Dhaka (Bangladesh), Jakarta (Indonesia), Kingston (Jamaica), São Paulo (Brazil), Wuhan (China), and Xai-Xai and Quelimane (Mozambique). All these cities face similar problems: they are located in a flood plain or a delta; face frequent serious floods and damage is often significant. The participants were employees in the field emergency services, urban planning, social welfare, health, municipal services or in other positions responsible for disaster management within their city administration. Thus, due to their different professional and educational backgrounds,1 insight into the topic was gained from various perspectives. For each city, a case study was written by the participants covering topics on flood and flood management in their respective city.