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Enhancing the protection of persons displaced by natural disasters and the impacts of climate change will require sustained attention. This article identifies practical solutions, many of which are currently under consideration by governments and international organizations, to improve the lives of millions of people affected by environmental crises. It begins with a brief overview of why people move, the nature of those movements, and the relationship between human mobility and adaptation to environmental change by highlighting three types of mobility – migration, displacement and planned relocation. Next, the international and regional level will be discussed, with particular focus on legislative and policy frameworks for addressing human mobility in the context of environmental change. The article identifies gaps in existing frameworks as well as recent efforts to address them, particularly through mini-multilateral initiatives aimed at identifying principles and practices that should guide governmental action. The article concludes that efforts to improve responses require a better evidence base than currently exists on issues such as the environmental determinants of migration, displacement and planned relocation; the multi-faceted ways in which environmental factors relate to the many other causes of population movements in the cases of human mobility; and the impact of such movements on the well-being of migrants, communities of origin, and communities of destination.

This article examines a multiyear project funded by the Teagle Foundation to assess student learning in humanitarian studies. It explores outcomes derived from developing a collaborative learning approach to humanitarian action that emphasizes both cross-campus and cross-institutional peer-to-peer learning and exchange. Faculty, staff, and students from Fairfield, Fordham, and Georgetown Universities worked together as members of the Jesuit Universities Humanitarian Action Network (JUHAN) to design an innovative and comprehensive assessment process for curricular programs in humanitarian studies, as well as courses with significant humanitarian content. In particular, we focus on the value of establishing cognitive and affective learning objectives, developing tools and methods to assess learning (for example, rubrics and vignettes), demonstrating use of these tools through piloting and data analysis, and closing the assessment "loop." As the first of its kind assessment strategy for humanitarian studies at the undergraduate level, we argue that these efforts make important inroads in establishing a common baseline for measuring learning in the burgeoning field of humanitarian studies. They also contribute to preparing individuals for futures in the humanitarian profession and to becoming "men and women for and with others."

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