Call for Submissions on Environmental Migration

Introduction

Lacuna is an online Magazine published by the Centre for Human Rights in Practice at the University of Warwick. It challenges indifference to suffering and promotes human rights. Its aim is to fill the gap between the short-term immediacy of daily journalism and long-term academic analysis.

Migration and the environment are key themes of the magazine. This was highlighted by our recent summer review of the year. Over the last year, we published a range of articles tackling international and domestic areas of migration, the laws governing the movement of people, why people move, and the human stories of those moving at time of increasing hostility towards immigrants and refugees. On the environment, we published the stories of environmental activists, raising issues of concern for the plannet, in all kinds of creative and inspiring ways. We now seek to bring these two issues together in a new call for submissions.

Call for Submissions

Migration is increasingly being driven by environmental issues, and climate change is set to create mass migration of hundreds of millions in the decades to come. Lacuna wants to tell the stories of ‘environmental migrants’ so that their need to move is better understood in the countries receiving them, and so that we increase our resolve to reduce greenhouse emissions so more people can remain in their own communities.

What environmental problems do people face in their home countries? What effects has this had upon their lives? Why are they moving? What issues and dangers have they faced in their migrating journeys? What has (and hasn’t) been done to address the problems they face?  What protections should they receive in the future? What are the longer term solutions to these issues? These, and a range of other related questions, could be addressed under this theme.

All forms of writing and visual art will be considered: non-fiction, fiction, poetry, film, animation and photography. You may wish to investigate a particular issue, to provide commentary, reportage or expert analysis. Or you may wish to review a book, a film, a piece of music, art or theatre connected to migration and the environment. For more information, read our guidelines for submissions.

Interested? Get in touch with Lacuna magazine to discuss your pitch at hello@lacuna.org.uk. Final deadline for submissions on this theme: 30th November 2016.