Narratives on climate change and migration

About the training

This intensive, in-person journalist training is designed to strengthen reporting and storytelling on climate change and migration in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region. Journalists will explore the complex relationships between climate impacts, human mobility, livelihoods, and resilience, while developing the skills needed to communicate these issues accurately, ethically, and engagingly to diverse audiences. The training will equip participants with the knowledge and tools to interpret climate science, analyse migration narratives, work with data and expert sources, and produce nuanced, evidence-based stories grounded in lived experiences and local realities.

Climate change is increasingly reshaping patterns of mobility and displacement across the world. Rising temperatures, extreme weather events, food and water insecurity, and loss of livelihoods are already affecting vulnerable communities, many of whom have contributed the least to global warming. In some contexts, migration can serve as a strategy for adaptation and resilience; in others, climate impacts can deepen inequalities, intensify resource pressures, and compound existing vulnerabilities. Yet media narratives on migration often remain oversimplified, crisis-driven, or disconnected from the experiences and agency of affected communities.

This training seeks to bridge these gaps by helping journalists critically engage with dominant narratives around climate-related mobility and migration. By strengthening evidence-based and human-centred reporting, the training aims to move beyond fear-based and crisis-driven framings, creating space for more diverse, nuanced, and rights-based understandings of climate mobility.

Through practical exercises, collaborative learning, and story development sessions, participants will strengthen their ability to produce compelling, well-sourced stories that inform public understanding, elevate underreported perspectives, and support more informed decision-making on climate change and migration in the HKH region.

This training programme falls under the Foresight Intervention within the Strategic Group on Resilient Economies and Landscapes at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development

(ICIMOD), funded through the Successful intervention pathways for migration as adaptation (SUCCESS) project (Project no. 110007-003) by UK aid from the UK government and by the International Development Research Centre (IDCR), Ottawa, Canada as part of Climate Adaptation and Resilience (CLARE) research programme. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of the UK government, IDRC, its Board of Governors or ICIMOD.

Course objectives

The training will capacitate journalists from South Asia with the knowledge and skills to report on the complex links between climate change and migration in the HKH, with a focus on how climate impacts shape mobility, livelihoods, resilience and their representation in media narratives.

It supports more nuanced and critical engagement with dominant framings of climate-related migration while encouraging more balanced, context-sensitive, and inclusive storytelling approaches. This includes the careful use of terminology, avoiding alarmist narratives, centring the lived experiences and perspectives of affected communities, and critically examining how data is sourced, constructed, and interpreted.

Overall, it equips participants with the expertise to develop and present scientifically sound stories that are easily accessible and understandable to the general public.

Expected output

Upon completion of the training, participants will:

Gain improved understanding for nuanced reporting, myth-busting strategies, and stronger ethical reporting mindsets in climate migration coverage.
Cover various elements of a compelling storytelling including how narratives can help raise awareness on the climate-migration dynamics.
Gain a grounded approach to reporting climate-linked migration challenging simplified narratives.
Strengthen professional network: Connect about 25-30 journalists and experts, expanding professional networks.
Contribute to a community of practice: Cross-exchange among participants and experts continued beyond sessions.
Cultivate a community of young climate migration reporters across the HKH/South Asia.
Publish at least one story in international, national, or local media. Journalists are expected to have their stories published or broadcast by December 2026. Stories may be printed or broadcast in local languages as well as English.

Agenda summary

Day 1: Rethinking climate change, migration, and media narratives

Global and regional perspectives on climate-induced mobility and migration
Getting the language right: key climate change and migration terminologies
Common myths and misconceptions in climate-related mobility reporting
Roots and routes: understanding rural-to-urban movement, displacement, and adaptation pathways
The hot seat: conversations with journalists from across the HKH
World café-style participant interaction and peer exchange

Day 2: Data, visual storytelling, and intersectional reporting

Understanding climate and migration data: identifying trends, interpreting evidence, and developing newsworthy stories
Visualising climate and migration: imagery, language, framing, and emotional narratives in visual media
Intersectionality in climate change and migration reporting
Reporting beyond crisis narratives: resilience, adaptation, and lived experiences
Migration as adaptation: insights and findings from the SUCCESS project

Day 3: Editorial practice, story development, and pitching

Analysing dominant narratives in regional media coverage on climate change and migration
- Cross-country media analysis of English-language media in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh
- Review of climate mobility narratives in Nepali-language media
Newsroom simulation
- Group work: Analysing articles – visuals, framing, and ethical considerations
Story pitch lab
- Group exercise: Drafting stories using more nuanced and evidence-based approaches

Who can apply?

This training is for early to mid-career freelance and staff journalists working in print, digital/web and photojournalism who regularly report on environmental issues, particularly climate change and its impacts, in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan.

Selection criteria

Minimum of 2-4 years of journalism experience
Experience in the reporting environment
Proactive and highly motivated to develop expertise in climate migration reporting and storytelling
Decent photography, video shooting and editing skills
Available for 100% of the training period
Willing to be a part of a network of climate migration storytellers
Basic understanding of climate change issues, climate change adaptation, migration and mobility preferred
Women and participants from marginalised communities are strongly encouraged to apply.

Eligible applicants

This is a public notice to ensure that all interested and qualified individuals have a fair opportunity to submit applications for funding. The eligible applicants must be located within ICIMOD’s working areas – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan. In addition, applicants should not be affiliated with a political party or engaged in any political activities and not be focused solely on religious activities.

How to apply

Submission instructions

- The application must be submitted no later than the deadline (23:55 NPT, Tuesday, 26 May 2026) or subsequently announced deadlines if additional reviews are announced.
- Incomplete applications, or those submitted after the deadline, shall not be considered.
- The selected participants will be announced on the event page. They will also receive a receipt confirmation of their selection.

Participation costs

ICIMOD will cover all direct costs related to the workshop, including international airfare, visa processing, local transport, accommodation, and food during the workshop for all selected participants.