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Conference “Daughters of the Climate Emergency”: closing a stage in research on the effects of climate change and pollution on perinatal health

Dec 16, 2025 | Conferences, Diseminación

The conference “Daughters of the Climate Emergency: rebuilding futures, rethinking motherhood, inhabiting Barcelona”, held on 20 November at Espai Ca l’Alier, marked the conclusion of the research project Viure l’embaràs a Barcelona: dones i persones gestants davant l’emergència climàtica, developed by the AFIN research group at the UAB, with the support of Barcelona City Council and the collaboration of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu and Hospital del Mar.

The event brought together anthropologists, architects, urban planners, physicians, nurses and public policy experts, who discussed the effects of climate change and pollution on maternal and child health. In addition, AFIN researchers Carolina Remorini, Ana Cerezuela and Helena Montasell presented the main results of the study in poster format, with the aim of placing the findings of the anthropological research in dialogue with the experiences and perspectives shared throughout the different activities of the conference.

Dr Carme Valls-Llobet (CAPS) delivered the keynote lecture Science, health and reproduction: the biological, social and environmental crossroads, and the round tables addressed, from an interdisciplinary perspective, the interactions between climate change, maternal and child health and public policies. Participants included María Dolores Gómez Roig (Hospital Sant Joan de Déu), Sònia Hernández-Montaño Bou (Arquitectura Sana), Darko Kramer (Ecoserveis), Nicolás Olea (University of Granada), Miguel Felipe Sánchez Saúco (HCU Virgen de la Arrixaca), Anna Espart (SOCSA), Anaïs Bas Mantilla (Cíclica) and Laia Pineda (Institut Infància i Adolescència de Barcelona).

In addition, the artist and educator Chari Cámara carried out a live graphic intervention that captured the emerging themes, as well as a participatory activity in which attendees were invited to create collective care networks in the urban context.

Several media outlets highlighted that the research points to the difficulties that, according to the study participants, the city of Barcelona presents for caregiving and child-rearing during pregnancy and early childhood, as well as the way in which economic inequalities seriously condition families’ ability to protect maternal and child health in the face of the climate crisis. The conclusions underline the need to promote structural public policies in the areas of environmental health, urban planning and children’s rights. In this sense, the meeting benefited greatly from the interdisciplinary nature of the programme and served as a starting point for potential lines of research and intervention addressing the different aspects that shape the context and environment of people living in the city.

These are some of the news published in the media and on social media:

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