events

Extreme weather events like droughts, floods, heatwaves, and cyclones have been increasing and will continue to, under climate change (IPCC, 2022). In human systems, these extreme events lead to an inevitable loss of livelihoods, infrastructure, and habitation forcing people to migrate, either within their country or across borders. Most migration currently takes place within countries and is in response to multiple drivers, of which climate change is one (Hari et al., 2021; Rajan & Bhagat 2022).  Migration is a strategy taken up by individuals and households to diversify livelihoods, meet non-agrarian aspirations, access quality education, and spread risks (Maharjan et al. 2022). Multiple stressors and opportunities at the source, during movement, and at the destination interact and coexist simultaneously, making the link between migration and vulnerability complex (Singh & Basu 2019).

Rural migrants entering urban agglomerations typically end up in informal settlements and/or city peripheries, where poor planning, inadequate basic services, and increasing environmental degradation co-exist (Satterthwaite et al. 2018). Further, climate hazards intersect with existing structural vulnerabilities such as socio-economic and political marginalisation, poverty, hierarchical power relations, and lack of livelihood opportunities to mediate people’s abilities to deal with multiple risks (Cundill et al. 2021).

Despite existing research on migration, there remain gaps in how migration will continue to manifest in a climate changed world. This conference aims to provide a space to present and discuss research at the interface of internal migration and climate change.

Conference themes include but are not limited to:

• The climate change-migration intersection: How is migration mediated by climate risks and impacts? How do compounding climate hazards and their cross-sectoral cascading impacts shape mobility patterns? In what ways do these climatic impacts intersect with underlying vulnerability to shape migration decisions?   
• Understanding immobility: How does voluntary or involuntary immobility intersect with climate change? How do mobility/immobility choices intersect with gender, caste, ethnicity, income etc to shape livelihood decisions? How do experiences of immobility fit into wider discourses on Loss and Damage, trapped populations etc.? 
• Outcomes of migration in changing climate: What are the outcomes of migration? What are the levers and barriers to the socio-economic assimilation of migrants in cities? What are the differential experiences faced by migrants at their destination?
• Methodological innovations: What novel datasets and methodologies can be used to examine climate migration? How can we address spatio-temporal mismatches between scales of mobility and scales of climate change? What innovations can we make in multi-method, interdisciplinary research on climate migration? What geospatial advances exist in mapping climate migration hotspots? How can we use the arts and humanities to reimagine narratives around migration?
• Policy and practice entry points: What policy levers exist to enable safe movement? How can climate change policy leverage lessons from migration research and practice to enable safe, inclusive movement? What lessons do we have from civil society on integrating climate change and migration in a just manner? Do we have lessons for enabling larger systemic transition(s) and helping reduce migrant vulnerability?

Venue: IIHS Bangalore City Campus

No. 197/36, 2nd Main Road, Sadashivanagar, Bengaluru 560 080, Karnataka, India

Conference Organisers:

Dr S. Irudaya Rajan, Chair, IIMAD

Dr Chandni Singh, Senior Research Consultant, School of Environment and Sustainability, IIHS

Dr Amir Bazaz, Associate Dean – School of Environment and Sustainability, and School of Systems and Infrastructure, IIHS

Ms Sheetal Patil, Senior Consultant, School of Environment and Sustainability, IIHS

Guidelines for submission:

We invite an abstract of 300 words along with an author biography of 100 words to be emailed to  info@iimad.org by August 15th, 2023. The abstract should include study objectives, methodology, and main findings. We invite empirical papers on internal migration and climate change. The submissions will be reviewed by a panel of expert reviewers for acceptance to the conference. The authors of accepted abstracts are expected to submit a full paper by November 30^th, 2023.

For any queries, contact info@iimad.org 

Important Dates:

Announcement of Conference	1st July, 2023
Submission of abstracts	15th August, 2023
Announcement of selected abstracts	15th September, 2023
Registration for the conference	1st November 2023
Submission of full paper	30th November, 2023
Conference	20th – 21st December, 2023

Note: Selected papers presented at the conference will be invited to be part of a special issue in a peer-reviewed journal.

Registration:

A registration fee will be applicable for participants.

About IIMAD

The International Institute of Migration and Development (IIMAD) is a think tank dedicated to training, research, policy and advocacy on all facets of migration. IIMAD aims to bolster formative theory and advance new multidisciplinary areas of migration research to tackle the challenges of a highly mobile 21^st century. IIMAD is an inclusive and diverse community of migration practitioners working towards safe, orderly, and productive migration both regionally and globally, and is committed to the wide dissemination of knowledge through publications, data banks and conferences.

About IIHS

The Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) is a national education institution committed to the equitable, sustainable, and efficient transformation of Indian settlements, through an integration between research, practice, teaching, capacity development and digital learning. IIHS’s School of Environment and Sustainability does cutting-edge, globally recognized research on climate change, focusing on cities as critical sites where adaptation, mitigation, disaster risk reduction and sustainable development goals can be met. IIHS has one of the largest concentrations of IPCC authors in a single South Asian institution and has led the development of key derivative reports – the Summary for Urban Policymakers and GCF-supported Summary for Financial Decision Makers.

THIRD ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF MIGRATION: Migration in a changing climate Day 1: 20th December, 2023

Time	Agenda
10:00am	Welcome and introduction to IIHS by Dr Amir Bazaz, Associate Dean, School of Environment and Sustainability, IIHS
10:30 am	Introduction to the conference series by Dr S Irudya Rajan, Founder Chair, IIMAD   Introduction to the thematic focus on climate change by Dr Chandni Singh, Senior Researcher, School of Environment and Sustainability, IIHS
11:00 am	Keynote address by Dr Purnamita Dasgupta, Chair in Environmental Economics, Institute of Economic Growth, New Delhi
11:30 am	Tea Break
12:00-1:00 pm	Panel 1: The climate change-migration intersection Chairs: Dr Indu Murthy, Sector Head – Climate, Environment and Sustainability, CSTEP and Dr Amir Bazaz, IIHS   Aysha Jennath, IIT Kharagpur, “Estimating climate change risks and associated migration in coastal areas”Aditi Apparaju & Chandni Singh, IIHS, “Unpacking the nexus between climate change and migration: insights from the literature”
1:00-2:00 pm	Lunch
2:00-4:00 pm	Panel 2: Understanding immobilities Chairs: Dr Anjal Prakash, Research Director, Bharti Institute of Public Policy, Indian School of Business (ISB) and Sheetal Patil, Senior Consultant, School of Environment and Sustainability, IIHS   Tulika Boura & Sailaja Nandigama, BITS Pilani, “Immobilities and climate-induced vulnerabilities in Uttarakhand: A review of community-based climate-adaptive livelihoods in transition”Sonu Tewari, Tata Institute of Social Sciences-Mumbai, “The intersections of gender and Im/mobility in Sundarbans delta”Sheetal Patil, IIHS, “Nodes and ties of resilience: The role of social networks in livelihood choices in Karnataka, India”
4:00-5:00 pm	High tea
7:00 pm	Conference dinner

Day 2: 21st December, 2023

Time	Agenda
10:00-11:30 am	Panel 3: Outcomes of migration in a changing climate I Chairs: Dr Gautam Bhan, Associate Dean, School of Human Development, IIHS and Dr Anant Maringanti, Director Hyderabad Urban Labs   Ritu Sinha, Jawaharlal Nehru University, “Gendered experiences of climate-induced migration in coastal communities of South India: livelihood adaptation and social resilience”Lika Dholua & Ngamjahao Kipgen, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, “Climate change, vulnerability and migration: A study of riparian community in Majuli, Assam”Gauri Sreekumar, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, “Unravelling the dynamics of natural disasters, migration and resilience of rural farm households in India: exploring the role of non-farm income and irrigation”
11:30 am	Tea break
12:00pm – 1:30pm	Panel 4: Outcomes of migration in a changing climate II Chairs: Dr Chandni Singh, Senior Research Consultant, School of Environment and Sustainability, IIHS   Atanu Bose, LJD Law College-Falta, “Bengal, disaster and displacement: impact of Amphan in south 24th Parganas, West Bengal”Priya Rajput & Priyank Goswami, Central University of Rajasthan, “Transhumance migration and pastoral livelihoods in the Western Himalayas: exploring changing avenues amid climate change”Muhammed Jaseem, “Migration patterns in response to typhoons: exploring the nexus of climate risks and human mobility”
1:30-2:30 pm	Lunch
2:30-4:30 pm	Panel 5: Policy and practice entry points Chairs: Benoy Peter, Director CMID and Prathijna Poonacha, Senior Consultant, School of Environment and Sustainability & School of Systems and Infrastructure, IIHS   Shabnam T P, Centre for Development Studies- Thiruvananthapuram, “Inter-state migrants in Kerala in times of Kerala floods: critical analysis of migration governance and media”Nihal Ranjit et al, IIHS, “Media portrayals of climate migration and migrants in India”Rajan et al, IIMAD, “Transnational resilience: diasporas as a sustainable source of climate finance for disasters in South Asia?”Ayaz Anwar, CMID, “Migration and policy: insights from Kerala”
4:30 pm	Closing keynote speech Dr Arabinda Mishra, Population Council
5:00 pm	Closing by Aromar Revi, Director, IIHS
5:30 pm	High tea

LIST OF SELECTED PAPERS