2020•03•10     Jakarta, Indonesia

© UNICEF / Seyba Keïta

What do decision makers in policy and practice need to know about risk and adaptation futures?

That is the leading question of the Summer Academy on World Risk Futures and Adaptation, which tackles a different topic every year. This year’s special focus will be on social protection and its implication for future vulnerability and exposure towards climate risks.

The Summer Academy 2020 aims to look at the emerging trends in social protection from the climate change adaptation perspective. Social protection is of key importance for shaping human vulnerability towards floods, droughts, storms and other hazards. It includes important elements such as health insurance, cash transfer assistance, disability benefits or food assistance programmes. All of these are of key relevance for mitigating vulnerability and buffering the effects of future climatic hazards. At the same time, they are currently under massive transformation in many countries, mostly with uncertain outcomes and unclear effects on vulnerability. The existing methodological toolkits and bodies of knowledge are, however, strikingly thin to date, calling for substantially increased scientific efforts. Assessing plausible scenarios of future trajectories in social protection – and especially its breadth and depth – is therefore of great urgency. The goal of the Summer Academy is to generate science and knowledge contributions that feed back into policy and practice.

The 2020 Summer Academy will take place virtually from 21 to 25 September, then in person in the first quarter of 2021. Young professionals, including academics, policymakers and practitioners are invited to apply by 20 April 2020. 

The “World Risk and Adaptation Futures – Social Protection” Summer Academy 2020 is being jointly organized by United Nations University’s Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), Munich Re Foundation (MRF) in collaboration with the UNFCCC. The Ludwig Maximilians University Munich (LMU) in Germany and Munich Climate Insurance Initiative (MCII) are associate partners for the 2020 summer academy.

To find out more about the academy, including how to apply, please click here.

COVID-19 Notice

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the format of “World Risk and Adaptation Futures – Summer Academy 2020” has been adjusted. Preparatory virtual events on social protection, the theme of this academy, will take place during 21-25 September. The in-person academy will now take place in the first quarter of 2021. The notification of acceptance to the selected candidates will be provided as soon as the new dates of the academy are finalized. We kindly ask for your patience. Ensuring sound health and safety of everyone involved is our prime concern and we will continue monitoring the situation. Further information will be provided on our website as soon as possible.
For assistance, you can reach us at sa20@ehs.unu.edu.