Illustrative: migration and displacement corridors, between generated places

Risk Academy, led by the Nexus Consortium · Hazards, Disasters and Resilience

Migration and human mobility

People move toward opportunity and away from risk, and each move changes exposure at origin and destination.

Map migration and human mobility on a real place

01Model

The model, step by step

The model

From a wage gap to a migration flow: how population, income differentials, distance and a diaspora enter a gravity model

DataModelGateDecisionStandard it teachesStandard it relies onNeighbouring discipline

7 steps
Emigration rate on this corridor
0.91 per thousand a year
Flow from the gravity terms alone
10.6 thousand a year
Flow with the diaspora effect
18.3 thousand a year
/

The model From a wage gap to a migration flow: how population, income differentials, distance and a diaspora enter a gravity model

02Scope

What the discipline covers

The subtopics its courses and labs teach.

Migration and human mobility: 0 primary courses open, 1 in preparation and 0 also taught here, across 8 subtopics and 2 connected disciplines. Courses: RAN-358 L2 in preparation.
Migration and human mobility at a glance
  • Open, 0
  • In preparation, 1
  • Subtopics, 8
Course codes from the curriculum; study levels L1 to L4.
Courses
In development
Levels
In development
Labs
In development
  • Drivers of migration
  • Labour migration and remittances
  • Climate-related mobility
  • Planned relocation
  • Immobility and trapped populations
  • Urbanisation and migrant exposure
  • Migration governance
  • Data on human mobility

Courses in development extend the scope to one further subject: Migration, mobility and risk.

03The discipline

The field and its scope

For analysts, planners and policy officers who need to read migration data, understand why people move or stay, and see how mobility changes exposure to hazards in places of origin and destination.

04Measures

Quantities and units

05Methods

Methods and their limits

Each method is listed with what it assumes and where it fails.

06Debates

What the field debates

07Bodies and data

Bodies that set practice, and the data they publish

Bodies and standards are named so learners can find and apply their published work; the Academy teaches their use and links to the publisher, and no affiliation is implied.

08Simulator

Run the discipline's simulator

Migration and human mobility's own model, as a live chart: move each parameter and read how the outputs respond.

09Maps

Build a twin of any place

Search any place or open the world; the layers and generators follow migration and human mobility on the planet map, the globe and in 3D.

The Kahramanmaras earthquake sequence of 2023: a flat plan of the faculty twin. Terrain 59 to 3,044 m; 2 reference earthquakes, M7.5 to M7.8; 3,643,786 people in the box, 2020; Earthquakes M4.5 and above, past week: read live when the 3D twin opens; USGS ShakeMap intensity contours: read live when the 3D twin opens. Contours every 500 metres from the elevation grid; population count 2020, worldpop 1 km as four classes per cell (edges 11, 47, 405); reference earthquakes as marks.
The Kahramanmaras earthquake sequence of 2023, Turkiye. Flat plan of the same data: relief, the two epicentres with magnitude and depth, the WorldPop count grid and the numbers below. The 3D twin opens on devices with WebGL once its data and library have been checked.
  • Terrain 59 to 3,044 m
  • 2 reference earthquakes, M7.5 to M7.8
  • 3,643,786 people in the box, 2020
  • Earthquakes M4.5 and above, past week: read live when the 3D twin opens
  • USGS ShakeMap intensity contours: read live when the 3D twin opens
Credits and dates per layer are listed under the stage. Relief in the twin is exaggerated ×1.5 for legibility.

Drag to move, right drag or Shift with a drag to turn and tilt, Ctrl with the wheel to zoom. Keyboard: arrows move, Shift with arrows turn and tilt, + and - zoom, 0 resets, V steps through the views, Escape clears.

Flat plan of the same data: relief, the two epicentres with magnitude and depth, the WorldPop count grid and the numbers below. The 3D twin opens on devices with WebGL once its data and library have been checked.

The boundaries, names and designations shown do not imply any judgement on the legal status of any territory, or any endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Countries: Natural Earth (public domain).

10Nexus Standards

Nexus Standards it teaches and relies on

The Nexus Standards the discipline teaches toward, grouped by master standard, with the disciplines that teach each.

11Research hub

Research hub: papers, preprints and datasets

Open scholarly sources searched with the subject terms of Migration and human mobility.

Search termsMigration and human mobility; Drivers of migration; Labour migration and remittances; Climate-related mobility; Planned relocation; Immobility and trapped populationsDerived from the Risk Academy page on Migration and human mobility.

  • OpenAlexlisted for reference; not queried
  • Crossreflisted for reference; not queried
  • DataCitelisted for reference; not queried
  • Zenodolisted for reference; not queried
  • arXivlisted for reference; not queried
  • Europe PMClisted for reference; not queried
  • OpenAIRE Graphlisted for reference; not queried

No source is enabled for live display on this site yet: the sources are listed for reference and none is queried. Once the publisher of record enables a source after its terms are reviewed, recent works are listed here. Metadata and links only: title, authors, venue, year, type, open-access status and licence as each source records them; works are listed for orientation, not reviewed or endorsed.

12Hub

Research and tools

Research and preprints as they are published, by discipline, with the faculty's other tools.

The hub lists the newest research and preprints for Migration and human mobility, each with its source and date. Open the research hub

13What is changing now

What is changing now

Recent developments in migration and human mobility, each with its source; sources checked on 16 October 2026.

  1. Dataset

    Internal displacement dips slightly but conflict displacements hit a record

    IDMC's 2026 global report counted 82.2 million people internally displaced at end-2025, the first decrease in a decade, while conflict displacements rose about 60% to a record 32.3 million and disaster displacements fell to 29.9 million.

    Why it matters. Returns do not equal durable solutions, and IDMC notes data gaps; mobility risk analysis needs to combine conflict and disaster triggers in the same places.

    Source: Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, 2026 Global Report on Internal Displacement (GRID), 1 May 2026.

14Courses

Courses in this discipline

Courses for this discipline are in development; until they open, study it through the connected courses and open lessons below.

The connected disciplines below teach the methods it builds on.

15Technology in this area

How technology helps and what risk it brings

AspectIn this area
Technology that helpsDigital public infrastructure and digital identity.
Risk technology createsExclusion, surveillance and the automation of work.
  • RAN-350 Digital Public Infrastructure: Safeguards and Resilience In development
  • RAN-352 Workforce Risk and the Future of Work In development
  • RAN-369 Autonomous Vehicles, Drones and Uncrewed Systems Risk In development
16Achievements

Achievements in this discipline

  1. Course achievements

    One for each course with this as its primary discipline, earned when you pass the course's assessed activities.

  2. Department: Humanitarian Action, Mobility and Community Resilience

    Earn two discipline achievements in the Department of Humanitarian Action, Mobility and Community Resilience. In development.

  3. Nexus: Climate, migration and cities

    Courses in connected disciplines and a passed integrative task. In development.

An achievement is a record of the learning completed and assessed here. How recognition works.

17Where this is practised

Where the subject is practised

Field platforms of the ecosystem where the subject is studied and applied.

18Practised in

The two Nexus Foundry systems where it is practised

  • Nexus FoundryGRIx systemMobility and population statisticsData room
  • DSS systemMobility under alternative futuresScenarios room

Nexus Foundry system pages describe what each system and its rooms are designed to do; the courses teach the methods these systems apply.

20Across the ecosystem

Across the ecosystem

22References

Core references and where to begin

Start with Lee, then Massey, then Foresight.

NRNexus Reports gateway · GW-ACADEMY

Contribute to Nexus Reports from this page.

Nexus Reports is the Consortium's quarterly publication. What you know about this subject can become evidence, a case or a correction in the next edition, credited to you and published under CC BY 4.0 where it is your own work.

Risk Academy
Migration and human mobility

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Open courses in connected disciplines teach the methods this discipline will build on.

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