EC2U webinar invites PhD students to discuss extreme natural events

The webinar "EC2U Extreme - From Research to Action: Solutions to Address and Mitigate the Impacts of Extreme Events" will take place online on April 29, from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. (CET). It invites PhD students from the EC2U Alliance to reflect on the impacts of and responses to extreme natural events, whose frequency and intensity have been increasing globally. The webinar is open to doctoral candidates from different scientific fields across the nine EC2U universities.

About the Webinar

Organised by the four EC2U doctoral networks, the Virtual Institute for Good Health and Well-Being (GLADE), the Virtual Institute for Sustainable Cities and Communities (VISCC), the Virtual Institute for Quality Education - Modern Languages (VIQE-ML), and the Virtual Institute for Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions (VIPJSI), the webinar aims to promote interdisciplinary dialogue around phenomena such as heatwaves, severe storms, or floods, analysing them as physical, social, discursive, and relational realities with a direct impact on society.

The initiative challenges PhD candidates from different scientific areas to submit work that contributes to a more integrated understanding of these phenomena, as well as to the development of more effective and sustainable responses. Exploring how scientific knowledge and social intervention can work together to build more resilient, healthier societies better prepared to face extreme events is the central focus of this webinar.

Thematic Focus Areas

In this context, the discussion will be structured around four main thematic areas:

• The GLADE network will address the impacts of extreme events on human health and the need for strategies to promote health throughout life and to strengthen the resilience of health systems.
• The VISCC network will focus on the challenges these phenomena pose to urban environments, including risks such as flooding, landslides, and urban heat islands, encouraging the presentation of mitigation and adaptation solutions.
• The VIQE-ML network will center on analysing the communicative and discursive dimensions of extreme events, exploring how they are narrated and understood in different social and cultural contexts.
• The VIPJSI network will focus on the role of public institutions in disaster prevention, management, and response, highlighting the importance of robust legal frameworks, transparency, and the protection of human rights, particularly in emergency contexts.

Call for Contributions

PhD students are invited to submit their abstracts for presentation by 13 April at 11:59 p.m. (CET).

This is a unique opportunity to share your research, engage in interdisciplinary exchange, and contribute to innovative approaches addressing global challenges. Selected participants will be contacted by April 20.