MORU CHART: Moving Climate & Health Research from Evidence to Action

Sep 7

3 min read

From 25–27 August 2026, MORU and MOTIP hosted MORU CHART: Climate & Health Action for Research Translation, bringing together researchers from across the MORU network with experts in climate science, policy, health economics, ethics, community engagement, research translation and funding.

The event was structured as a three-day journey — Explore & Connect → Build & Test → Refine & Commit — with one central question: how can climate and health research move from understanding risks to developing solutions that can be used in the real world?

Day 1 — Explore & Connect

Day 1 established the climate and health landscape and opened discussion around where research can make the greatest difference.

Dr. Shihui Zhang from the Lancet Countdown Regional Centre for Asia presented evidence on the growing health impacts of climate change across Asia, while also highlighting the need to strengthen the connection between climate science, health, economics and policy.

The Future Directions in Climate & Health roundtable brought together perspectives from research, government, climate science and funding. A recurring message was that the field increasingly needs to move beyond demonstrating that climate affects health towards understanding which solutions work, for whom, in what settings, and at what cost. Participants also highlighted gaps in integrating climate, health and socioeconomic data, understanding compounding risks, and ensuring research responds to the needs of decision-makers and communities.

Practical sessions reinforced these themes. HITAP shared examples of how health economics, evidence generation and cross-sector collaboration can support climate and health policy in Thailand. A case study from OUCRU on dengue early-warning systems in Vietnam demonstrated that technical performance alone is not enough: successful tools must also fit existing workflows, policy structures, local capacity and the decisions users actually need to make.

Sessions on ethics and equity, science communication and climate finance further broadened the translational picture, while researcher lightning pitches showcased emerging ideas and helped participants identify potential collaborators.

Day 2 — Build & Test

Day 2 shifted from discussion to hands-on project development.

Participants brought their own ideas through three complementary lenses: policy and stakeholders, climate data and evidence, and translation and implementation. Rather than creating separate exercises, each workshop challenged teams to progressively refine the same project.

The Thailand Policy Lab (UNDP) helped participants map stakeholders, decision-making systems and potential policy entry points. UN ESCAP then focused on how climate-risk data can strengthen health research questions, including the importance of matching hazards, exposure, vulnerability and spatial resolution to the problem being studied.

The University of Melbourne Climate CATCH Lab completed the day by asking teams to work backwards from impact: who would ultimately use the research, what action could it enable, what evidence would be needed for adoption, and what would be required to sustain implementation?

By the end of Day 2, teams had tested their ideas against policy realities, data constraints and pathways to real-world use.

Day 3 — Refine & Commit

The final day focused on strengthening projects and identifying concrete next steps.

Participants heard about climate and health funding opportunities from Wellcome and the new MOTIP Translational Climate & Health Funding Call, before moving into project showcases and consultations with reviewers.

The aim was not to leave with a finished proposal. Instead, teams were encouraged to leave with a clearer and more actionable project — a better-defined problem, stronger climate-to-health pathway, clearer stakeholder and data needs, and specific next steps towards collaboration, evidence generation or funding. This progression from early concept to refined project was built into the Days 2–3 Project Navigator.

What Did We Take Away?

Across the three days, several messages repeatedly surfaced. Climate and health research needs to move from describing risks towards evaluating solutions. Translation should start at the beginning, with users, policymakers and communities involved early in shaping the research. Projects should build multidisciplinary teams around the problem, connecting climate science and health research with economics, policy, social science and community knowledge. And solutions must remain locally relevant and equitable, recognising that climate risks and the capacity to respond vary substantially across communities.

Looking Ahead

MORU CHART was designed as the beginning of a longer process.

MOTIP is now developing a Translational Climate & Health Project Portfolio to bring together emerging projects across the MORU network, identify shared needs and connect teams with relevant expertise and collaborators. The MOTIP Translational Climate & Health Funding Call provides an immediate pathway for promising ideas to take their next step.

The event reinforced a principle that sits at the heart of translational research:

translation does not happen after the research is finished — it has to be built in from the beginning.