Climate-resilient and regenerative futures for Latin America and the Caribbean

Few events have had an impact as the global crisis caused by COVID-19. However, prior to the pandemic, Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries already had severe problems in terms of inequality, environmental degradation, and dysfunctional political systems. Added to this are the growing challenges that climate change poses for this highly vulnerable region. This historic turning point represents a new call to consider future studies to re-imagine and reinvent alternative futures for the LAC region. For this paper, we conducted an in-depth qualitative futures study to identify how Latin American and Caribbean countries could build long-term resilience, focusing on adaptability to climate change risks, considering existing sustainable development challenges and the detrimental effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economic, environmental, and social aspects. This study's findings provide recommendations for policymakers and decision-makers to achieve sustainable futures for LAC. Finally, it reflects on the value of collective action for a future-proof region

Transnational Investments of the Tunisian Diaspora: Trajectories, Skills Accumulation and Constraints

This chapter is based on recent empirical data on Tunisians living in Switzerland. It focuses on their migration pathways and experiences, and it examines their propensity to engage in entrepreneurial and business activities in their home country. Despite the hopes generated by the revolution of 2011, there are many people in Tunisia, especially young males from disadvantaged regions, who have not enjoyed the positive changes in employment opportunities and professional prospects. This has led them to them emigrate to Europe to ensure an income for themselves and their families back in Tunisia. An online survey accompanied by follow-up interviews enabled us to observe the experiences of Tunisian diaspora entrepreneurs and their current and potential future transnational business and investment activities. This chapter shows how the internationalization and accumulation of networks and skills by Tunisians, resulting from the multiple destinations they traversed before arriving to Switzerland, has influenced their professional capacities and their business and entrepreneurial projects in Tunisia. Tunisians feel a strong motivation to contribute to the development process in their home country, and they tend to invest and open businesses in their villages of origin. Several enablers and obstacles that influence their actions are observed. A number of policy recommendations based on the experiences and aspirations of these Tunisians are included in the conclusions

The Role of Linguistic Resources in the Institutional Organisation of the Armenian Diaspora in Finland

This chapter presents a linguistic ethnographic case study exploring the role of linguistic resources in the institutional organisation of the Armenian diaspora within the Finnish context. Even though the Armenian diasporas across the globe have been extensively studied in various countries, relatively little research has been conducted on linguistic resources employed in the institutional organisation of the Armenian diasporas. In addition, to our knowledge, no single research has focused on the Armenian diaspora residing in Finland or organisational work done at the institutional level within the Finnish context. The study reported here attempts to address these gaps by drawing upon multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork, more precisely, participant observations and informal interviews conducted with Armenian volunteers of the non-governmental organisation (NGO) promoting the organisation of the Armenian diaspora at the institutional level in Finland. To do so, we examine the landscape of the Armenian diaspora, which is shaped on the basis of different generations of historical and contemporary Armenian diasporas, who have increasingly diversified backgrounds regarding their migration grounds and legal statuses in addition to their linguistic and socio-economic characteristics. Some activities, events and festivities arranged by the NGO are then described to illustrate organisational work done by the volunteers with the cooperation of individuals, institutions, associations and schools, apart from with the support of the Armenian diaspora based in Finland. Finally, we discuss linguistic resources that are used by the volunteers in organisational work carried out through internal and external communication within the offline and online contexts. Overall, the study findings indicate that the volunteers of the NGO make use of different linguistic repertoires in organisational work as not all the Armenian diaspora members master Armenian, which is the shared main language for the majority of them. The study, thus, confirms that linguistic, especially multilingual, resources promote the institutional organisation of the Armenian diaspora since linguistic diversity is commonplace among the diaspora members. This chapter contributes to understanding of how the diaspora can be organised at the institutional level through multiple linguistic resources that provides new insights into diaspora communities with little or no common language.peerReviewe