On 25 June 2009, the Economist published a detailed article on environmentally induced migration titled "A New (Under) Class of Travellers". The articles cites the "In Search of Shelter" expert report on the issue, which was co-authored and published by CARE International, UNU-EHS, Columbia University and UNHCR.

To read the full article in English, please click here.

A delegation of three interdisciplinary experts from Congo Brazzaville was dispatched to South Africa from 4th – 11th June where they attended, amongst others, the training course on “Disaster Risk Reduction and Vulnerability”, a United Nations University Vice Rectorate in Europe (UNU-ViE) initiative organized by the UNU-EHS and the Disaster Risk Management Training and Education Centre for Africa (DiMTEC) of the University of the Free State (UFS). The ultimate goal of the trainings is to establish a center for disaster risk management and prevention in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo.

At the open event „Science meets Media” the lecturing scientist and media expert Dr Karla Sponar gave tips on how to contact the media and said that although it is difficult for scientists to get their message across, there is a growing market for reliable expert information which needs to be focused and easy to understand.

Scientific messages for the media need to focus on one aspect of a topic in order to get through because “the media has its own world”, said Dr Sponar and explained: “The media landscape has changed, journalists need to produce news to use. They work in very busy new rooms and need to produce news to sell.” This makes it difficult for complex scientific issues to be covered in detail.

Based at the UNU Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) and UNU Vice Rectorate in Europe (UNU-ViE) Bonn, Germany, the Communications Trainee will contribute to the communications unit including the publishing of diverse publications, information materials, and web editing. Under the supervision of the Head of Communications Unit the incumbent will be assisting within public relations and communication activities and related tasks thereto.

The candidate requires a Bachelor, preferably Masters, in one or more of the following: Communication, Journalism, Media Sciences; Public Relations or equivalent. Some practical experience in journalism and/or public relations as well as good writing skills in German and English are also a requirement.

Closing day for applications: 10 July 2009

For more information please download the vacancy announcement here.

“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.