The course is also available in French

About this Course

Migration has globally become a hot topic in political agendas over the decades. Socio-economic inequalities, political instability, globalization and disasters have caused people to voluntarily or involuntarily leave their homes. Environmental drivers of migration, including but not limited to environmental degradation, excess or shortage of water, water pollution and climatic extremes are increasingly lauded with the increasing impacts of climate change. Among them, water-related drivers are instrumental “push” and “pull” factors, shaping people’s decision to migrate. On the one hand, water attracts people to certain locations, as it provides bases for survival and better livelihoods. On the other hand, increasing pressure upon water resources may trigger conflicts and cause voluntary or forced migration at different levels. There is a need to explore the complex relationship between water and migration. This course aims to work toward this need and contextualize “water” within the migration debates and inform practitioners, policymakers and researchers to develop novel mechanisms for the assessment of and response to water-related migration.

What you will learn

After completing the course, the participants will be able to:

• Understand the complex relationship between water and migration through real-life examples of water-related migration
• Differentiate between different types and drivers of water-related migration.
• Develop capacity building skills to address and assess multiple dimensions and root causes of water-related migration.

Specific knowledge and skills gained:

• Key concepts and legal and institutional frameworks of migration, more specifically environmental migration and the water-migration nexus.
• Ability to assess and differentiate multi-faceted dimensions of water-related migration.