Rethinking the design models of refugee camps

This research aims to find architectural and urban design related solutions to enhance the living conditions of refugees, and to lessen the burden on the refugee hosting communities

Addressing housing needs in minimising the problems of post conflict housing reconstruction

Depleted human and social capital, displacement of people, destruction of property, weakened institutions and ruined economy are some of the legacies of conflicts. Within this context, post conflict reconstruction contributes to overcome the legacies of conflict through reactivating the development process that has been disrupted by the conflict. Among the post conflict reconstruction interventions, post conflict housing reconstruction is paramount important as it contributes to development and peace through restoring the economic and social life of conflict affected people. Despite the importance, the success of post conflict housing reconstruction is hindered by a number of problems such as lack of strategies to address the unique challenges faced by vulnerable households, lack of involvement of local people, lack of use of local building material and technology, lack of local economic development, lack of community linkages, lack of cultural and local consideration, overlooked socio-economic conditions of occupants, standardised housing models, housing models imported from different cultures, lack of beneficiary consultation, poor performance of agencies, bribery and corruptions and lack of post occupancy evaluation. If not properly managed, these issues lead to hinder the success of post conflict housing reconstruction and its contribution to the development and peace. This paper argues that lack of concern on housing needs has directly or indirectly given rise for most of these issues through a comprehensive literature review on post conflict housing reconstruction and housing needs. The paper establishes the link between the problems of housing reconstruction and lack of addressing housing needs. Accordingly, it concludes that adequate housing measures provide a general guideline in addressing housing needs and addressing such needs leads to minimise the problems of post conflict housing reconstruction

Rethinking temporary shelter and settlements through participatory design: a proposal for the Samos Closed Controlled Access Centre

openRefugee camp is a concept that materializes in the common imagination as a temporary settlement, which is placed within an emergency context lasting a maximum of a few years. From this fallacious idea derives a management and planning of refugee camps focused on the short term, which does not always take into consideration the actual life cycle of refugee camps and the dynamics that inhabit them. Participatory design is an approach that, applied to this context, allows the transformation of the site involving those who live within it in the processes of designing, modifying and adapting structures to develop a sense of ownership over their lives and the place that at that moment means home. In 2021 the Greek government, with the support of the European Commission, opened a facility centre, defined Closed Controlled Access Centre, in Samos. A top-down approach, based on close control by the local authorities, was used for both the design and management of the camp. The paper aims to outline a proposal to implement a participatory approach in the rethinking of the camp's structures and spaces by its inhabitants

Climate-Induced Migration a New Normal? A Systematic Research Analysis of the Climate-induced Migration Crisis in Bangladesh

Today, the contemporary world is witnessing a growing number of individuals facing displacement due to the escalating frequency and intensity of extreme climate events. Devastating disasters such as floods, tornadoes, typhoons, storms, tsunamis, heatwaves, and droughts are causing the displacement of thousands, if not millions, of people globally. As temperatures continue to rise, these extreme events are expected to worsen, leading to rising sea levels, increased droughts, and further displacement of vulnerable populations especially in developing countries. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC) highlights a concerning trend, revealing a steady increase in the number of climate refugees forced to leave their homes since 2008. The estimated figure of 318 million people worldwide displaced due to climate change between 2008 and 2021 underscores the urgency of addressing this issue. Regrettably, efforts to address this significant and persistent challenge have been largely limited in both national and international spheres. Climate migrants have often been inadequately protected and their plight insufficiently acknowledged. Additionally, a disconcerting absence of a clear legal classification exists for climate migrants, with the 1951 Refugee Convention failing to encompass their specific circumstances. This paper presents a comprehensive exploration of the climate-induced refugee crisis, with a particular focus on Bangladesh as a case study. By shedding light on the effects of climate change on individuals and society at large, the aim is to draw global attention to the increasingly unacknowledged challenge of climate refugees. Employing a blend of community risk assessment tools, this study adopts an engaged scholarship research paradigm to investigate awareness, vulnerability, adaptation, and resilience-building concerning climate change impacts. The findings of this research underscore the persistence and exacerbation of the climate refugee crisis. Consequently, the paper asserts that it is incumbent upon governments and policymakers worldwide to urgently develop effective policy mechanisms that ensure the protection of global citizens affected by climate change and the recognition of climate refugee status within the UN system. Such mechanisms should facilitate the accommodation and provision of necessary care for climate refugees both within their home countries and abroad. Addressing this pressing issue requires immediate attention and concerted international efforts to safeguard the rights and well-being of those affected by climate-induced displacement

Natural Disaster and International Development

Recovery from natural disaster has for many years been seen in objective terms as simply the time taken to replace damaged infrastructure. Increasingly, however, social scientists are describing the large part that human capital plays in the recovery from natural disaster in the form of ‘resilience’. The purpose of the chapter is to delineate, from a social scientific perspective, the main factors involved in disaster rehabilitation from a necessarily superficial but nevertheless accurate and useful viewpoint. The main areas to be considered are infrastructural impacts, psychological impacts and communication factors. The chapter concludes by defining various perspectives that contribute to the quality of resilience that underscores the investment in human capital in post‐disaster zones

Complex natural disasters and the role of the university

This repository item contains a single issue of Issues in Brief, a series of policy briefs that began publishing in 2008 by the Boston University Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future.What is the potential and future role of the university in disaster mitigation and humanitarian emergencies? The complexity and imminence of disasters and humanitarian emergencies demand multidisciplinary and innovative approaches, as has been seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the Haitian earthquake. In this brief, Enrique Silva suggests that universities need to harness the wealth of knowledge and interest within and across their institutions to think critically about and work creatively on “natural” disasters, and cites examples of how this effort has begun at Boston University and elsewhere

Healing Through Humanitarian Design: Understanding the Refugee Crisis and Designing for the Future

This project is an exploration into understanding the qualities of the built environment to attain a level of dignity for refugees in their healing process. Architecture cannot solve these social issues but seeks to understand the impact of the built environment on individual people. This research will focus on the humanitarian design response method and how it can be improved in the future. Can healing take place through design created by architects and does the design of a refugee camp have anything to do with that healing process? This research will use the global refugee situation as a vehicle to understand humanitarian design response. This research will interrogate global partners that are working towards the goal to support the healing process in refugee camps and understand how this process is approached within those companies and to further gain an understanding if the structure of a camp could influence the ability for people to heal. What if humanitarian design response was something that planners, designer and architects were prepared for, rather than something designers are always trying to catch up with. This research will reveal what strategies have been currently achieved as a humanitarian response in order to uncover any gaps that could provide a holistic solution in the future

A built environment perspective on post-disaster and conflict- induced displacement.

Displacement is one of the most pressing challenges faced by the society today. REGARD (REbuildinGAfteR Displacement) is a collaborative research project co-funded by EU Erasmus+ programme, which set out to investigate the role of built environment in the context of displacement. The REGARD project launched in September 2018 with an aim to develop competencies in rebuilding communities following a disaster and conflict-induced mass displacements from the perspective of the built environment. The project consortium consists of five international universities in four different countries: University of Huddersfield, UK (project lead); Lund University, Sweden; University of Central Lancashire, UK; Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia; University of Colombo, Sri Lanka