Translating into Policy

Climate change is a problem that is truly global in scope, and to be effective, policy solutions must embrace a wide range of cultural and social complexities. SAS faculty are pursuing questions that are vital in informing good policy, including issues in environmental anthropology, environmental history, politics and governance, environment-society relations, and climate economics.

Highlights

A large crowd of people from a high vantage point. There are no gaps nor is the edge of the crowd in frame.

The Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy

In its 2023–24 theme year, the Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy explored the risks posed by climate change to democratic norms, as well as the capacity of democratic institutions to address the issue. While it is possible to imagine a future in which natural disasters and democratic failures compound one another, the Center asked how climate solutions and democratic values might reinforce each other and lead to greater political and environmental resilience.

A hurricane covering the Caribbean and close to making landfall in Florida

Climate Change Certificate Program

An online certificate program in climate change offered by the College of Liberal and Professional Studies (LPS), Penn’s home of lifelong learning, offers students with diverse academic and professional backgrounds a pathway to develop skills and expertise that are critical to effective policies that reduce risk and better adapt to a changing environment.

A city scape of densely packed colorful buildings. Behind it is a mountain range partially obscured by haze.

PDRI-Devlab

Penn Development Research Initiative-DevLab focuses on social, political, and economic challenges affecting people in developing countries. Their research program is addressing impacts of climate change on internal and external migration, and the how climate-induced migration is contributing to the problem of human trafficking.