Cambodia is the fastest growing economy in Southeast Asia and continues to experience significant in-country migration to urban centers. At the same time, most of the population continues to reside outside of cities, working in traditional agricultural occupations. Both those in non-city and city spaces are highly vulnerable to climate change, albeit with varying risks and nuanced effects, as Cambodia experiences increasing heat and water-related extreme events. The confluence of interconnected changes in the climate, resource use, urbanization, and economic conditions are transforming the physical and social landscapes across the country. This workshop will convene scholars with expertise in environmental and spatial modeling, urbanization, migration, microfinance, agricultural development, and sustainability to investigate these changing complex dynamics between the countryside and city. The workshop will explore how economic, environmental, and sociopolitical factors are affecting Cambodians’ ways of life, with implications for household security, land use, well-being, migration, and the composition and tenability of rural and urban livelihoods.

This invite-only event is sponsored by the Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society, UChicago Global, the Committee on Environment, Geography and Urbanization (CEGU), and the Department of Anthropology, with support from the Yung Hung Ching Cambodia Community Fund.