Population Dynamics in a Changing Climate – Future Directions for Climate Demography
Organiser: University of Bologna (POPCLIMA – ERC Consolidator Grant), in collaboration with the European Association for Population Studies (EAPS) Working Group on Climate and Demographic Change and the International Union for the Scientific Study of Populations (IUSSP) Scientific Panel on Climate and Environmental Demography
Location: University of Bologna, Italy, 28-29 January 2027
Scope
Five years into the ERC POPCLIMA (Population Dynamics Under Global Climate Change) project, evidence has firmly established that climate change influences fertility, mortality, migration, and population health. As climate risks increasingly interact with conflict, economic instability, food insecurity, and other global challenges, climate demography is entering a new phase.
This hybrid (in-person and online) conference aims to define the next research agenda for the field by focusing on three emerging frontiers. First, moving beyond one-way relationships to understand dynamic feedback between population change, climate and environmental systems, and socioeconomic development. Second, improving causal identification and measurement of climate impacts through better representation of temperature extremes, nonlinear exposure metrics, consideration of compound events, and other methodological advances. Third, harnessing new data sources and analytical tools—including geospatial and digital data, artificial intelligence, and advanced modelling techniques—to improve demographic analysis and population projections under climate change.
This closing conference brings together leading international researchers and early-career scholars to take stock of evidence and to set a forward-looking research agenda. The programme includes invited speakers, thematic paper sessions, a dedicated session presenting the key outputs of the ERC POPCLIMA project, and a panel discussion of future directions for population projections, a multidisciplinary roundtable bridging science across demography, climate science, economics, and related disciplines.
The conference will feature several keynotes and a panel discussion with Valentina Bosetti, Emanuele Campiglio, Jesus Crespo Cuaresma, Jessica Fanzo, Maria Gültzow, Roman Hoffmann, Wolfgang Lutz, Maria Cristina Rulli, Ebru Sanlitürk, and Massimo Tavoni.
We invite in-person and online contributions on topics including, but not limited to:
Climate change and demographic processes: fertility, mortality, migration, health and ageing.
Dynamic population–climate interactions: feedback between population change, socioeconomic development, environmental change and climate.
Population as a driver of climate change and mitigation pathways: demographic dividend and emissions trajectories, household composition and per-capita carbon footprints, urbanization and land-use change, aging populations and workforce capacity for the green transition, population redistribution's downstream effects on land use and emissions
Climate measurement and causal inference: temperature extremes, nonlinear exposure metrics, compound hazards, climate indicators and methodological advances.
New data and computational methods: geospatial and remote-sensing data, digital trace data, AI, machine learning, microsimulation and other innovative approaches to study climate-population interactions.
Population projections and climate futures: demographic forecasting, uncertainty, adaptation, and resilience under climate change.
Submission
Please submit the following:
A short abstract (maximum 250 words); and
Either a 2-4-page extended abstract or a full paper.
Applicants may submit their materials through the online submission portal Here.
Note: A Google account is required to upload your submission. If you do not have one, please contact us.
Important dates
Submission deadline: 20 September 2026
Notification of acceptance: 9 October 2026
Registration deadline and confirmation of attendance: 15 November 2026
Fees and travel support: There are no fees for this conference, but participants are required to arrange and cover their own travel costs. Limited travel funding may be available for early-career researchers and researchers from low- and middle-income countries; details will be announced closer to the conference.
Participation: Hybrid participation will be possible. Registration to participate in person without presenting may be possible at a later stage, permitting capacity.
Organising committee:
Risto Conte Keivabu – Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Convenor of EAPS Working Group on Climate and Demographic Change
Jasmin Abdel Ghany – University of Oxford, Co-Chair of IUSSP Scientific Panel Climate and Environmental Demography
Sirinya Kaikeaw – University of Bologna
Raya Muttarak – University of Bologna, PI POPCLIMA project
Chiara Puglisi – University of Bologna
Tobias Rüttenauer - Goethe University Frankfurt, Co-Chair of IUSSP Scientific Panel Climate and Environmental Demography
Nkechi Srodah Owoo – University of Ghana
Questions:
Should you have any questions, please reach out to ercpopclima@gmail.com; Sirinya Kaikeaw (sirinya.kaikeaw@unibo.it) or Jasmin Abdel Ghany (jasmin.abdelghany@nuffield.ox.ac.uk).