ABOUT THE CENTER FOR CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH (3CEH)
Our Mission & Evolution
Established at the Asian University for Women (AUW) in April 2021, the Center for Climate Change and Environmental Health (3CEH) is dedicated to confronting the interconnected crises of environmental degradation, health inequity, and climate injustice across Asia. Our mission is to advance climate justice by integrating work on climate change mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage, and environmental health. We focus on low and middle-income countries through a transdisciplinary model of education, research, community engagement, and policy advocacy that centers local knowledge and empowers women as leaders and researchers.
Our Pillars: An Integrated Approach
From the beginning, 3CEH has operated on the understanding that climate change, environmental pollution, and social vulnerability are inextricably linked. Our work is structured around three core, interconnected pillars:
- Environmental Health & Equity: Addressing the burden of pollution and toxic environments that undermine public health and disproportionately impact marginalized communities. We research and act on issues of air and water quality, chemical exposures, and occupational hazards to promote health justice.
- Climate Adaptation & Resilience: Developing and supporting strategies that enable communities, especially in climate-vulnerable regions like Bangladesh, to anticipate, withstand, and recover from climate impacts such as floods, cyclones, heatwaves, and erosion, with foundational mitigation efforts.
- Climate Justice & Addressing Loss and Damage: Focusing on the disproportionate burdens borne by the most vulnerable. Our work examines non-economic and economic losses from climate impacts, advocates for equitable policy and finance, and seeks solutions for recovering from impacts beyond adaptation.
The Challenge We Address
Asia’s developing nations sit at the epicenter of a dual crisis of systemic environmental pollution and escalating climate impacts. Regulatory gaps and rapid industrialization create severe health risks, while low-lying coastal cities and agrarian communities face existential threats from a changing climate. The South Asian region, and especially Bangladesh, exemplify this convergence, ranking high on global climate risk indices. These crises deepen existing inequalities, with women, the poor, and marginalized groups facing the greatest dangers. 3CEH was founded to tackle this complex nexus directly.
Research & Action Clusters
To translate our pillars into actionable scholarship, our work coalesces around dynamic, overlapping clusters:
– Health in a Changing Climate: Linking climate variables (heat, humidity, disease vectors) with pollution to study compound health risks.
– Community-Led Adaptation & Resilience: Co-designing locally-owned solutions for water security, sustainable agriculture, and disaster preparedness.
– Governance, Finance & Just Policy: Analyzing and advocating for fair governance mechanisms and financing for adaptation, loss and damage, and pollution control.
– Women’s Agency in Climate & Environmental Action: Empowering women as essential researchers, decision-makers, and innovators for just solutions.
Our Model: Partnership & Leadership
3CEH connects AUW faculty with a global network of scholars, policymakers, and practitioners through key partnerships with institutions like the University of Victoria, Oxfam, UNHCR, and Save the Children. Central to our model is the empowerment of women researchers and students from across Asia, providing them with the skills and platform to lead essential research and advocacy. This focus is a natural extension of our justice-oriented mission, ensuring those most affected by the crises are leading the search for solutions.
Through our programs, training initiatives, and community projects, we are committed to building a resilient, healthy, and equitable future for Asia and beyond.
Introducing Our Latest Updates and News
The Center for Climate Change and Environmental Health (3CEH) of Asian University for Women (AUW) orchestrated a pivotal event in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh addressing the challenges of education, environment, and health in the Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMN) camps. Supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada, the two-day event commenced with a symposium on March 6, 2024 and a field visit the following day to the Rohingya camp-16, Ukhiya, in Cox’s Bazar.
The symposium included presentations, panel discussions and a book launch with an aim to foster knowledge exchange, dialogue, and collaboration to find sustainable solutions to the challenges confronted by Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, home to one of the largest refugee camps globally. The event was Chaired by Dr David Taylor, Interim Pro-Vice Chancellor at AUW, while Dr Sayed Mohammad Nazim Uddin, Founding Director of 3CEH and Associate Professor of Environmental Science, set the stage for discussions as the Co-Chair.
Special guests and speakers included Her Excellency Lilly Nicholls, The High Commissioner of Canada in Bangladesh; Dr Edgard Rodriguez, Senior Program Specialist at IDRC; Mr Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner; Dr Monira Ahsan, Post-Doctoral Researcher, Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok; Khan Md. Ferdous, Senior Manager, Education in Emergencies, Save the Children, Cox’s Bazar; Dr Mukesh Kumar Gupta, Assistant Professor of Environmental Sciences, AUW; Paul McCallion, Senior Energy officer, Energy and Environment Unit, UNHCR; Dr. Muhammad Talut, Deputy Secretary of the RRRC; and Dr Nazmul Alam, Associate Professor and Director of the Public Health Program at AUW.
AUW students and alumnae took to the stage to showcase their own commitment to improve the lives of Rohingya people through studies and research carried out while at AUW and in their postgraduate degrees, presenting on challenges including child marriage and teenage pregnancy, maternal health, fire outbreaks, pollution and energy access. Thank you to our students: Mosaddika Monnin, Master’s student; Nazifa Rafa, AUW Alumni, Phd Fellow, University of Cambridge; Parmin Fatema, UG3 student; Taslima Razzak, Master’s student; Nafisa Islam, AUW Alumni; Omar Salma, AUW Alumni; and Tofrida Rahaman, Master’s student.
While the conference established a platform for open dialogue and knowledge sharing on the matters raised, the site visit on March 7 allowed participants to engage directly with refugees, gaining first-hand insights into their daily lives, challenges, and aspirations. Overall the events organised left attendees with a strengthened resolve to work towards sustainable and innovative solutions with a strong commitment to ongoing advocacy and implementation of the strategies discussed.
Newsletter-3 Update
The 3CEH Newsletter, Volume 1, Issue 3 (December 2025), titled *“Community-Based Research: A Movement of Possibility,”* underscores the Center for Climate Change and Environmental Health’s (3CEH) emergence as a globally engaged leader in inclusive, community-centered climate and environmental health research. Supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), this issue showcases internationally recognized initiatives, including the K4DM Fellowship’s empowerment of Myanmar youth, CATA-Earth’s high-impact planetary health collaborations with global academic partners, and influential field-based research in climate-vulnerable coastal communities. Collectively, these efforts highlight 3CEH’s expanding international footprint, research excellence, and sustained contribution to equitable climate action across regions.
