The refugee crisis has increased in intensity over the past few years and will only worsen under climate change. A new camp model must be created that both helps protect children and improves the environment, health, and education for these vulnerable populations. This collaborative cross-grounds project will look at the consequences for long- and short-term refugees and help figure out interventions, testing them in real-world scenarios. A bridge between democracy and sustainability, the project will bring together public health science, social science, statistics, and policy to look for new solutions for organizations like the United Nations.

The UVA Humanitarian Collaborative (HC), is motivated by the premise that greater collaboration between policy and operational organizations and the academic community will enrich both research and practice while increasing UVA’s influence within the global humanitarian engagement sphere. To date, we have achieved the following:

• Overall, we have established 5 thematic areas and this year launched two new global initiatives that integrate research, partner engagement, and advocacy efforts.
• We have strong cross-Grounds interdisciplinary partnerships with faculty and students. This year we involved 12 faculty and staff and 26 students.
• Beyond UVA, we established and deepened 9 influential Practitioner Partnerships with organizations including Sesame Workshop, the United Nations (UN), New York Review of Books, the LEGO Foundation, The European Union Institute, and Innocenti, UNICEF’s Office of Research. Plus, this year we worked with 11 Practitioner Fellows. Together these partnerships have helped us build a global presence that now includes projects and partners in Costa Rica, France, Indonesia, Tanzania, England, the Netherlands, Mexico, Colombia, Italy, and Panama.
• We are continuing to have global influence by disseminating our work and gaining policy uptake at conferences and high-level meetings.
• We secured partnerships and contractual arrangements for additional resources from Sesame Workshop, the UVA Environmental Institute, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), the Center for Global Inquiry and Innovation, and Scientific Systems Company, Inc (SSCI).
• We also deepened our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion both through our projects and through our practices and policies. For example, we are actively bringing in voices of the Global South and affected communities in our research and policy engagement. We also focused on institutionalizing stronger diversity, equity, and inclusion practices and policies within the HC.

This grant supported the establishment and influence of the UVA Humanitarian Collaborative. The Humanitarian Collaborative supports collaboration between academics and organizations working on global humanitarian policy and operations to enrich both research and practice, while elevating the visibility and influence of UVA in the humanitarian space. Our main achievements are described below:

1. We formed collaborative teams and expanded UVA’s platform for academic-practitioner partnerships and activities that facilitate real-time public policy impact. We developed approximately 46 influential Practitioner Partnerships with organizations including various United Nations agencies, the European Union Institute, the International Rescue Committee, the Migration Policy Institute, Save the Children, Sesame Workshop, and several local and national non-governmental organizations. We brought in 19 Practitioner Fellows from over 12 countries who have worked with students, co-developed research projects, contributed funding, supported classroom discussions, and co-authored publications.
2. We generated and disseminated high-quality, policy-relevant research products and engagement initiatives that contributed to improving the lives of crisis-affected populations. We produced 66 publications, including 21 peer-reviewed articles and 45 policy reports. Our dissemination of this work through global conferences, prominent meetings, academic journals, and practitioner outlets has helped us achieve global influence and ensure policy influence and uptake. We also shared this work with broader audiences via high-profile media outlets like the New Yorker, National Public Radio, Chronicle of Philanthropy, the Washington Post, and CNN. We published two books through renowned international publishers.
3. We enhanced the UVA student experience and contributed to their development as global leaders. We brought over 60 students into the Humanitarian Collaborative as Research Assistants, co-authors, mentees, and conference participants. We co-authored publications with many of these students and at least 3 attended international conferences to engage in policy dialogue. We also launched a new initiative to provide recent graduates with opportunities in a humanitarian career path through the Batten Humanitarian Fellowship, in collaboration with the World Food Programme - USA.