Co-organised by Durham and Edinburgh universities and sponsored by the Royal Anthropological Society (RAI), HEAT1 is a two-day international conference on planetary health and the environment. The conference will be hosted by Durham’s Department of Anthropology, one of only a few in the UK to integrate social, health, and evolutionary fields. Drawing from that diversity, HEAT aims to bring together perspectives from the full spectrum of contemporary anthropology.
As the world is getting fuller, faster, hotter, and sicker, HEAT asks how can anthropologists contribute to unfolding debates around health and environment on a changing and unequal planet? In what ways can medical and environmental anthropology work together and with other disciplines, communities, and stakeholders to help support the development of knowledge and resources for responding to environmental destruction and global heating?
Co-organised by Durham and Edinburgh universities, the Durham Centre for the Anthropology of Health, and sponsored by the Royal Anthropological Society, HEAT is a two-day international conference on planetary health and the environment. The conference is hosted by Durham’s Department of Anthropology, one of only a few in the UK to integrate social, health, and evolutionary fields. Drawing from that diversity, HEAT aims to bring together perspectives from the full spectrum of contemporary anthropology.
The conference will take place in person and online.
The programme (draft) can be downloaded here:
HEAT 2025 - Draft Programme
Keynote speaker
We are delighted to announceDr Bharat Jayram Venkat, founding director of theUCLA Heat Lab, will deliver the key note address.
Programme and timings
Streams and panels
The conference includes 20 panels formed into six streams, spread across six rooms running concurrently:
Stream 1: Toxicities
Stream 2: More-than-human health
Stream 3: Environments
Stream 4: Methodologies
Stream 5: Vulnerabilities, wellbeing, and livelihoods
Stream 6: Elements of health
Timings
The conference takes place from 9am to 7.30pm on 23 and 24 April.
Conference panels will run from 9am to 5pm.
There will be 30-minute breaks between the morning and afternoon panels, and a one-hour lunch break.
The welcome reception on the 23rd and keynote address on the 24th will run from 5.30pm to 7.30pm.
Online participation
Conference fees and registration
We have tried price the conference as fairly as possible. In-person conference fees cover costs of event management, lunch and breaktime refreshments on both days, and entry to the welcome reception on the evening of the 23rd. Online conference fees cover costs of event management. Higher tier pricing also helps to subsidise concession rates, free conference entry for volunteers, and a small number of travel grants for student and ECR participants.
In person fees | GBP |
RAI, ASA, EASA fellows | £150 |
RAI members | £170 |
Non-members | £190 |
Concessions - registered students, employed at LMIC institution*, unwaged | £80 |
Online fees | |
RAI, ASA, EASA fellows | £100 |
RAI members | £120 |
Non-members | £140 |
Concessions - registered students, employed at LMIC institution*, unwaged | £40 |
* Low and middle-income countries as defined by the OECD (https://www.oecd.org/en/topics/sub-issues/oda-eligibility-and-conditions/dac-list-of-oda-recipients.html)
You can join the RAI, ASA, or EASA by following these links:
Conference servery dinner
You are invited to a servery dinner on the evening of the 24th, following the keynote lecture. Participants can purchase a ticket for entry at time of registration or in person at the conference. The price of the dinner is £17.50 per person (cheaper than many restaurants in Durham!). There will also be a cash bar. Please do consider joining this event, as it’s a great opportunity to mingle with other participants!
Accommodation
Participants can book bed and breakfast accommodation in a university college for up to three nights, including 22nd, 23rd, and 24th April. The price is £56.25 per night. Alternatively, there are a range of (mostly more expensive) accommodation options in the city.
Volunteering opportunities
We will be looking to enlist the support of around 10 people to help manage the conference, including, especially, managing online participants and IT. Full training will be given. Volunteers will receive free entry to the conference and the servery dinner. Priority will be given to students and ECRs. Please email the conference organisers for more information (anthro.heat.conference@gmail.com).
Financial support
We are pleased to announce we will likely have a limited fund available to support travel to and from the conference for students and ECRs without other means of funding available. Those funds will be drawn from any surplus remaining from registration fees once the costs of running the conference have been met. As such, we unfortunately cannot offer funds upfront – we will instead make reimbursements towards costs incurred after the event. Please make a note of the following:
Only registered students and early career researchers on temporary contacts of employment may apply;
Priority will be given to those without other sources of funding;
All alternative sources of funding should have been explored and exhausted before applying to this fund;
Applicants should also consider volunteering at the conference alongside applying for financial support;
Only economy-class and direct travel to/from the conference can be considered;
Only applications with the accompanying documentary evidence, including proof of income and receipts, will be considered;
It is unlikely the fund will be able to reimburse the full amount of travel costs incurred;
We apologise we cannot be more generous with what we can offer!
Please email us at anthro.heat.conference@gmail.comto receive the application form.
Email inquiries
Please note, registration will close at 23:59 on Tuesday 8th April 2025.
