The Hugo Observatory, located at the department of Geography at the University of Liège, is the world’s first research structure specifically dedicated to the study of environmental migration. 

The Hugo Observatory began as an informal group of researchers formed at the University of Liège to treat questions of environmental migration. Rapidly, the team gained international visibility and proudly claimed a place at the forefront of the research evolution on these issues. The team is today widely recognized for its excellence in the field, and continues to attract new researchers and students each year. It has developed empirical expertise in a number of regions of the world, in particular in West Africa, Southeast Asia and the South Pacific, aided in the field by a number of local partner institutions.

The Hugo Observatory's objectives are: 

• Develop empirical and theoretical research related to mobility dynamics in the context of environmental degradation
• Inform public debate
• Federating research forces on climate change and migration
• International Association on the Study of Environmental Migration (Plateform)
• Consultative Mission FAO, World Bank, ect.