Call for Papers

ISCH COST Action IS1101 
Climate Change and Migration: Knowledge, Law and Policy, and Theory
Working Group II: Law and Policy
 
First Networking Workshop on Human Rights Legal Frameworks in the Climate Change Regime
 
Date: 6-7 Sept 2012
Begin: 14:00, Thurs 6 Sept 2012 
End:     14:00 Fri 7 Sept 2012 
Place:  Utrecht University, Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM), The Netherlands   www.uu.nl/sim
                            
Workshop theme 
 
Is there a legal framework that adequately addresses human rights issues and the consequences of climate change? Is the current legal framework for the protection of human rights capable of addressing climate change and migration issues? Can the two regimes, both climate change and human rights, ever be reconciled or are they, for the time being, too different to target the issues of climate change from a human rights based approach?

In spite of its growing political and cultural significance, social science research on climate change and migration remains comparatively sparse. The interdisciplinary field of migration studies has engaged extensively in migration and refugee research in respect of war, poverty and globalisation. Legal scholars and human rights experts have looked at uprooted people such as so called “climate refugees”, working migrants or asylum seekers from the framework of the international human rights regime. The climate change issues are often seen in the borders of environmental law because there are (so far) not many other legal alternatives to deal with the direct consequences of climate change. Yet, the different disciplines have not exchanged much of their knowledge and experience in their fields.
 
In the light of the growing demand to link social and legal sciences, this workshop aims to a) bring together expertise from different disciplines with different perspectives of the issue b) initiate a dialogue between academic scholars, NGOs, governments and other stakeholders in the area of human rights and climate change and c) identify possible bottlenecks which impede cooperation between the climate change and human rights regimes.
 
Our major goals for the next three years are to improve understanding and cooperation in these issues, develop normative ideas and governance mechanisms that might be used for managing migration or potential migration resulting from climate change, assist in the alignment of human rights law and environmental/climate change law, and provide all beneficiaries with the outcomes of our research.
 
Workshop Application
 
This early working group meeting aims at inviting scholars to present and discuss legal and policy frameworks with particular consideration of human rights aspects on the consequences that climate change has for people and migrants in particular.

Possible themes of research in this workshop are – but not limited to – identifying the impacts of climate change to vulnerable states, the implications for and status of indigenous people, the legal status of those migrated due to climate change, community-based initiatives, climate change impacts on human rights such as access to food and water, relation of climate change induced migration with international and human security.
Therefore, we invite scholars from different disciplines to present expert papers on policy and legal frameworks for managing migration or potential migration resulting from climate change at all levels (national, regional and international level). Representatives from NGOs, government, and administration are also welcome to participate.
 
This workshop is a two half day scholarly event consisting of scholarly papers and discussion on human rights, climate change and migration. This workshop will aim to have an associated output most likely a themed issue of a peer-reviewed academic journal. 
 
Organizers: 
This Workshop is funded by the COST Action IS1101 Climate Change and Migration: Knowledge, Law and Policy, and Theory
http://www.cost.esf.org/domains_actions/isch/Actions/IS1101?management

Travel and Accomodation will be covered for those participants and paper givers that have been accepted to the workshop
 
Deadline for Application: 
As soon as possible
 
Please respond and send your application to:
 
Send 1-2 pages (max) proposal to both organizers of the workshop
Anja Mihr, SIM, Utrecht University, The Netherlands [log in to unmask]
Dimitra Manou, University of Thessaloniki, Greece [log in to unmask] 
 
Applicants will be notified no later than the end of July whether they can participate in the workshop.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Note: The material contained in this communication comes to you from the 
Forced Migration Discussion List which is moderated by Forced Migration 
Online, Refugee Studies Centre (RSC), Oxford Department of International 
Development, University of Oxford. It does not necessarily reflect the 
views of the RSC or the University. If you re-print, copy, archive or 
re-post this message please retain this disclaimer. Quotations or 
extracts should include attribution to the original sources.

E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Posting guidelines: http://www.forcedmigration.org/research-resources/discussion/forced-migration-discussion-list-posting-guidelines
Subscribe/unsubscribe: http://tinyurl.com/fmlist-join-leave
List Archives: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/forced-migration.html
RSS: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?RSS&L=forced-migration
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/refugeestudies