ZA335 Climate Change and Migration

Faculty of Science
Autumn 2025
Extent and Intensity
2/1. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
doc. Mgr. et Mgr. Robert Stojanov, PhD. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. et Mgr. Robert Stojanov, PhD.
Department of Geography – Earth Sciences Section – Faculty of Science
Contact Person: prof. RNDr. Petr Dobrovolný, CSc.
Supplier department: Department of Geography – Earth Sciences Section – Faculty of Science
Timetable
Tue 14:00–15:50 Z5,02004
  • Timetable of Seminar Groups:
ZA335/01: Tue 16:00–16:50 Z5,02004, R. Stojanov
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 6/20, only registered: 0/20, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/20
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Abstract
Students will learn about climate change and its primary social and economic impacts, which may lead to the mobility of local populations. The introduction will describe the most important theoretical concepts related to the relationship between the environment, climate change, and population migration, their typology, and definitions. Attention will also be paid to the spatial spread of the impacts of climate extremes and the choice of adaptation strategies based on case studies from coastal areas of South Asia (Bangladesh delta), low-lying islands (Maldives), semi-arid areas (East Africa), flood areas (Central Europe), current migration to Europe (research from the Middle East, Central Europe, and the Mediterranean), etc. Finally, attention will be paid to the topic of predicting the number of climate migrants and identifying hot spots. The course will cover basic social science methods for data collection and the importance of data interpretation and analysis. The course is taught based on the concept of research-based teaching.
Learning outcomes
At the end of this course, students will have acquired the following knowledge, skills, and experience: - Knowledge and understanding of technical terms used in migration studies, social and environmental sciences in the field of socioeconomic and demographic impacts of climate change - Understanding of the complex relationships between migration or population mobility, economic and demographic factors, and climate change in developing and developed regions - Understanding of why some people migrate from areas affected by climate change and why others do not - skills, competencies, abilities, and working techniques for teamwork in an international group, identification of appropriate professional resources and databases and their analysis, data synthesis, presentation and defense of one's own opinion in a plenary debate, individual processing of assigned tasks, etc.
Key topics
1. Introduction Course program, data sources, reading, and databases. Topics for student presentations, conditions for successful completion of the course. 2. Environment, Climate, and Migration - Conceptual Introduction Theoretical concepts of environmental migration, climate and migration, typology of environmental migrants, definitions. Environmental refugees or migrants? Impacts of environmental change, natural disasters, and climate extremes on population mobility on the regional and global level. Environmental security, natural sources and impacts on population dynamics. 3. Recent Immigration Flows to Europe Migration history and Europe in modern times. Causes of recent immigration to Europe from the Middle East and Africa. Trend statistics and dynamics. Impact of migration on EU countries. Role of Mediterranean countries in the processes. 4. Migration and climate change in South Asia Climate change impacts on the South Asian population, sea level rise, salinisation, heat waves, hurricanes, floods, etc. Resilience of local residents, migration strategy as adaptation? Case studies of the delta, coastal areas, and low-lying islands from Bangladesh, India, and Maldives. 5. Climate change, cultural context, and population in sub-Saharan Africa Impacts of climate change on sub-Saharan Africa. Local resilience. Adaptation measures and influence of cultural factors. Case study of North Eastern Kenya. 6. Climate-related extremes, local resilience, and population adaptation strategies Resilience of local populations and their perception of environmental risks. Trends in adaptation strategies. Migration as an adaptation strategy. Low-lying islands: Visualizing sea level rise and the emergence of new artificial islands. 7. Climate migration prediction History of estimation and prediction of environmental migration. Methods. Groundswell report, predicting climate migration. Models and predictions of climate change impacts and applications of artificial intelligence. 8. Regional and local adaptation strategies for climate extremes in Europe Climate extremes, floods and droughts in Europe and their trends. Household adaptation strategies. Case study of small municipalities in the Czech Republic.
Study resources and literature
    required literature
  • Schewel, K., Dickerson, S., Madson, B., & Nagle Alverio, G. (2024). How well can we predict climate migration? A review of forecasting models. Frontiers in Climate, 5, 1189125. https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2023.1189125
  • Silvestri, S., et al. (2012). Climate change perception and adaptation of agro-pastoral communities in Kenya. Reg Environ Change, 12, 791–802. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-012-0293-6
  • Best, K., Gilligan, J. & Mallick, B. (2025). Economic inequality is a crucial determinant of observed patterns of environmental migration. Commun Earth Environ. 6, 196. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02177-5
  • Kelley, C.P. et al. (2013): Climate change in the Fertile Crescent and implications of the recent Syrian drought. PNAS, 112 (11): 3241–3246
  • STOJANOV, Robert; Barbora DUŽÍ; Ilan KELMAN; Daniel NĚMEC and David PROCHÁZKA. Local perceptions of climate change impacts and migration patterns in Malé, Maldives. The Geographical Journal. Wiley, 2017, vol. 183, No 4, p. 370-385. ISSN 0016-7398. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/geoj.12177. URL info
  • STOJANOV, Robert; Barbora DUŽÍ; Ilan KELMAN; Daniel NĚMEC and David PROCHÁZKA. Household Adaptation Strategies to Climate Extremes Impacts and Population Dynamics: Case Study from the Czech Republic. In Milan, Andrea, Schraven, Benjamin, Warner, Koko, Cascone, Noemi. Migration, Risk Management and Climate Change: Evidence and Policy Responses. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing, 2016, p. 87-103. Global Migration Issus 6. ISBN 978-3-319-42922-9. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42922-9_5. URL info
    recommended literature
  • Kniveton, D.R.; Smith, C.D.; Black, R. (2012): Emerging migration flows in a changing climate in dryland Africa. Nature Climate Change, 2, 444‑447.
  • Vaghefi, S. A. et al. (2023). ChatClimate: Grounding conversational AI in climate science. Communications Earth & Environment, 4(1), https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-01084-x
  • Kniveton, D.R.; Smith, C.D.; Black, R. (2012): Emerging migration flows in a changing climate in dryland Africa. Nature Climate Change, 2, 444‑447.
  • Jones, A. et al. (2023). AI for climate impacts: Applications in flood risk. Npj Climate and Atmospheric Science, 6(1), https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-023-00388-1
  • Black, R. et al. (2011): Migration as adaptation. Nature, 478: 477‑479.
  • De Sherbinin, A. et al. (2011): Preparing for Resettlement Associated with Climate Change. Science, 334: 456‑457.
  • Stojanov, R. et al. (2017). Local expert experiences and perceptions of environmentally induced migration from Bangladesh to India. Asia Pacific Viewpoint. 58(3), 347‑‑361.
  • hodayar, S. et al. (2025): Mediterranean cyclones in a changing climate: A review on their socio-economic impacts. Reviews of Geophysics, 63(2): e2024RG000853. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024RG000853
  • Stojanov, R.; Kelman, I.; Shen, S.; Duží, B.; Upadhyay, H.; Vikhrov, D.; Lingaraj, G.J.; Mishra, A. (2014): Contextualising Typologies of Environmentally Induced Population Movement. Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal, 23 (5): 5
  • KELMAN, Ilan; Justyna ORLOWSKA; Himani UPADHYAY; Robert STOJANOV; Christian WEBERSIK; Andrea C SIMONELLI; David PROCHÁZKA and Daniel NĚMEC. Does climate change influence people’s migration decisions in Maldives? Climatic Change. Springer Netherlands, 2019, vol. 153, 1-2, p. 285-299. ISSN 0165-0009. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-019-02376-y. URL info
Approaches, practices, and methods used in teaching
Lectures, discussions, seminars, team presentations of students. The course is taught based on the concept of research based teaching.
Method of verifying learning outcomes and course completion requirements
Combination of oral (presentations) and written (readings, homeworks).
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught once in two years.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
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