The Power Dynamics between Global North and Global South in addressing Climate Mobilities

Course dates

3 September 2025 – 5 November 2025

Registration period

1 August 2025 – 24 August 2025

Coordinating university

Tampere University

Instructors

Gintare Kudzmaite
Adriana Calvo Viota

Credits

5 ECTS

Course dates: 3.9. - 5.11.2025
Registration dates: 1.8. - 24.8.2025
Coordinating university: Tampere University Course code on Sisu: HAL.YPAT.341
Responsible teacher: Gintare Kudzmaite (if.inut@etiamzduk.eratnig) & Adriana Calvo Viota (moc.liamg@atoiv.ovlac.anairda)
Credits: 5 ECTS
Course offered: 1/3

Course summary:

Environmental factors have an increasing effect on migration. Since 2008, over 318 million persons have been displaced because of climate disasters, this is the equivalent of one person being displaced every second. In 2020 alone, almost 31 million people displaced because of environmental disasters linked to climate change. The countries most severely affected are in the Global South.

The link between environmental factors and migration was first acknowledged by the European institutions in 1999, when the European Parliament introduced the term ‘environmental refugees’. However, 25 years later, the EU’s discourse has shifted from promisingly associating climate and mobility to considering these issues separately in its newest migration (the New Pact on Migration and Asylum) and climate (the European Green Deal) policy packages.

Without connecting the two evidently interconnected problems, the EU, one of the leading political actors in the Global North, offers financial and other support to countries already affected by environmental crises (i.e. countries in the Global South). However, this also puts severe strain on these countries through expectations to act, build resilience and handle climate-induced displacement.

This course explores the complexity of climate (im)mobilities from multiple angles and emphasizes the power dynamics between those most affected by climate change and those providing assistance.

Learning outcomes:

The general aim of the course is to advance students’ critical thinking about the power dynamics between the Global North and the Global South in the context of climate mobilities.

At the end of the course, students will be:

• familiar with different theories and main concepts related to climate mobilities (climate adaptation, climate resilience, climate-induced displacement, etc.)

• able to make distinctions and connections between different perspectives on climate change and climate mobilities (i.e. the Global North and the Global South perspectives and the gender perspective)

• able to apply several methods to perform analytical tasks in climate mobilities research

• able to think in interdisciplinary and critical ways, defend their arguments and reflect on their positionality in research and society

• aware of the ways in which they can apply the learned concepts and practiced methods outside of the academic environment

Learning methods:

• Interactive sessions (45 min lecture + 45 min active learning)

• Group discussions and collaborative learning

• Problem-solving and social learning: students will analyse a pressing issue through a familiar social situation, requiring observation of their own social/lived environments (physical or digital) related to the topics of the course; this approach will also be encouraged in the final essay design

• Self-study of reading materials

Completion methods:

• Presenting a digital poster (1-2 min, 1 slide or page, presented in the last session)

• Submitting the final assignment - a short (7-9 pages) academic essay (delivered individually, in pairs or in groups) and an individual reflection (1 page). The final essay reports the student's small-scale project conducted throughout the course. The individual reflection specifies the student's take on the project and the personal learning outcomes. The final assignment to be submitted by 12.11.2025

• Attending min. 6 online sessions

Study material:

The study materials will be updated before the course.

• Bettini, G. (2017). Where Next? Climate Change, Migration, and the (Bio)politics of Adaptation. Global Policy, 8(S1), 33–39. https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.12404
• Butros, D., Brodén Gyberg, V. & Kaijser, A. (2021). Solidarity Versus Security: Exploring Perspectives on Climate Induced Migration in UN and EU Policy. Environmental Communication, 15(6), 842-856. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2021.1920446
• Keohane, R. O. (2015). The Global Politics of Climate Change: Challenge for Political
• Science. PS: Political Science & Politics, 48(01), 19–26. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049096514001541
• Neef, A., & Benge, L. (2022). Shifting responsibility and denying justice: New Zealand’s contentious approach to Pacific climate mobilities. Regional Environmental Change, 22(3), 94. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-022-01951-x
• Serraglio, D. A., & Thornton, F. (2024). Women on the move? Mainstreaming gender in policies and legal frameworks addressing climate-induced migration. Comparative Migration Studies, 12(1), 53. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-024-00412-0

Assessment criteria:

The course follows the assessment criteria standards of Tampere University. The grading scale is 1-5, and the passing grade is 3 (good). The graded activities are the poster and its presentation, the final essay and the individual reflection.

Maximum number of students:

45

Course timetable:

Date	Time (Helsinki)	Content
3.9.2025	15:00-16:30	Session 1: Introduction to the course
10.9.2025	15:00-16:30	Session 2: Theory: Climate mobilities
17.9.2025	15:00-16:30	Session 3: Theory: Climate mobilities through the border studies lens
24.9.2025	15:00-16:30	Session 4: Research skills in climate mobilities research
1.10.2025	15:00-16:30	Session 5: Perspectives on climate mobilities: The EU
8.10.2025	15:00-16:30	Session 6: Perspectives on climate mobilities: The Global South
22.10.2025	15:00-16:30	Session 7: The gender lens to climate mobilities and beyond
29.10.2025	15:00-16:30	Session 8: Wrapping up: The power dynamics in addressing climate mobilities
5.11.2025	15:00-16:30	Session 9: Poster session

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