Scientific frontiers on migration and sustainability

This is the final version. Available on open access from the National Academy of Sciences via the DOI in this recordEconomic and Social Research Council (ESRC)Dutch Research Council (NWO)Italy’s Ministry for Environment, Land and Se

Commentary: Inequality, precarity and sustainable ecosystems as elements of urban resilience

This is the final version. Available on open access from SAGE Publications via the DOI in this recordThe science of resilience suggests that urban systems become resilient when they promote progressive transformative change to social and physical infrastructure. But resilience is challenged by global environmental risks and by social and economic trends that create inequality and exclusion. Here we argue that distortionary inequality and precarity undermine social processes that give access to public infrastructure and ecosystems thereby undermining urban resilience. We illustrate how inequality and precarity undermine resilience with reference to social exclusion and insecurity in growing urban settlements in the Asia-Pacific region. Inequality and exposure to environmental risks represent major challenges for governance that can be best overcome through inclusion and giving voice to marginalised populations.Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)International Development Research Centr

Political economy of planned relocation: A model of action and inaction in government responses

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.Planned relocation has been shown to have significant impacts on the livelihoods and wellbeing of people and communities, whether the resettlement process is inclusive or coercive. For states, planned relocation represents risks to those communities but also to government investments and political legitimacy. Evaluations of relocations commonly focus on the risks and benefits of government interventions while overlooking the consequences of not intervening. Here we develop a conceptual framework to examine the factors that influence government decision-making about whether or not to undertake planned relocation of populations in the context of environmental change. The study examines planned relocation decisions and non-decisions by government agencies in West Bengal in India for communities seeking relocation due to coastal flooding. It focuses on three localities facing river erosion losing significant land areas in small islands and communities where populations recognize the need for public intervention, but where there has been a diversity of responses from the state authorities. Data are derived from interviews with key respondents involved in planning and implementing relocation and with residents affected by those government decisions (n = 26). These data show that government action is explained by a combination of risk aversion within political systems to avoid perceived negative consequences, and a lack of government accountability. The empirical cases demonstrate the uneven application of action and inaction and the consequent uneven distribution of potential outcomes on populations. The study suggests that while there may be a growing demand for planned relocation in places affected by environmental change, its implementation is likely to be uneven, with profound socioeconomic implications for those living in such localities.International Development Research Centr

Migration and sustainable development

This is the final version. Available on open access from the National Academy of Sciences via the DOI in this recordData, Materials, and Software Availability: No original data or software were mobilised in support of this work. All public domain sources are referred to in the text.To understand the implications of migration for sustainable development requires a comprehensive consideration of a range of population movements and their feedback across space and time. This Perspective reviews emerging science at the interface of migration studies, demography, and sustainability, focusing on consequences of migration flows for nature-society interactions including on societal outcomes such as inequality; environmental causes and consequences of involuntary displacement; and processes of cultural convergence in sustainability practices in dynamic new populations. We advance a framework that demonstrates how migration outcomes result in identifiable consequences on resources, environmental burdens and well-being, and on innovation, adaptation, and challenges for sustainability governance. We elaborate the research frontiers of migration for sustainability science, explicitly integrating the full spectrum of regular migration decisions dominated by economic motives through to involuntary displacement due to social or environmental stresses. Migration can potentially contribute to sustainability transitions when it enhances well-being while not exacerbating structural inequalities or compound uneven burdens on environmental resources.Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)Dutch Research Council (NWO)Italy's Ministry for Environment, Land and Se

Human security of urban migrant populations affected by length of residence and environmental hazards

This is the final version. Available on open access from SAGE Publications via the DOI in this record. It is widely suggested that migration is a key mechanism linking climate change to violent conflict, particularly through migration increasing the risks of conflict in urban destinations. Yet climate change also creates new forms of insecurity through distress migration, immobility and vulnerability that are prevalent in urban destination locations. Here we examine the extent and nature of human security in migration destinations and test whether insecurity is affected by length of residence and environmental hazards. The study develops an index measure of human security at the individual level to include environmental and climate-related hazards as well as sources of well-being, fear of crime and violence, and mental health outcomes. It examines the elements of human security that explain the prevalence of insecurity among recent and established migrants in low-income urban neighbourhoods. The study reports on data collected in Chattogram in Bangladesh through a survey of migrants (N = 447) and from qualitative data derived using photo elicitation techniques with cohorts of city planners and migrants. The results show that environmental hazards represent an increasing source of perceived insecurity to migrant populations over time, with longer-term migrants perceiving greater insecurity than more recent arrivals, suggesting lack of upward social mobility in low-income slums. Ill-health, fear of eviction, and harassment and violence are key elements of how insecurity is experienced, and these are exacerbated by environmental hazards such as flooding. The study expands the concept of security to encompass central elements of personal risk and well-being and outlines the implications for climate change.Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)University of Glasgo

The Migration-Sustainability Paradox: Transformations in Mobile Worlds

Migration represents a major transformation of the lives of those involved and has been transformative of societies and economies globally. Yet models of sustainability transformations do not effectively incorporate the movement of populations. There is an apparent migration-sustainability paradox: migration plays a role as a driver of unsustainability as part of economic globalisation, yet simultaneously represents a transformative phenomenon and potential force for sustainable development. We propose criteria by which migration represents an opportunity for sustainable development: increasing aggregate well-being; reduced inequality leading to diverse social benefits; and reduced aggregate environmental burden. We detail the dimensions of the transformative potential of migration and develop a generic framework for migration-sustainability linkages based on environmental, social, and economic dimensions of sustainability, highlighting identity and social transformation dimensions of migration. Such a model overcomes the apparent paradox by explaining the role of societal mobility in achieving sustainable outcomes

The migration-sustainability paradox: transformations in mobile worlds

This is the final version. Available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record. Migration represents a major transformation of the lives of those involved and has been transformative of societies and economies globally. Yet models of sustainability transformations do not effectively incorporate the movement of populations. There is an apparent migration-sustainability paradox: migration plays a role as a driver of unsustainability as part of economic globalisation, yet simultaneously represents a transformative phenomenon and potential force for sustainable development. We propose criteria by which migration represents an opportunity for sustainable development: increasing aggregate well-being; reduced inequality leading to diverse social benefits; and reduced aggregate environmental burden. We detail the dimensions of the transformative potential of migration and develop a generic framework for migration-sustainability linkages based on environmental, social, and economic dimensions of sustainability, highlighting identity and social transformation dimensions of migration. Such a model overcomes the apparent paradox by explaining the role of societal mobility in achieving sustainable outcomes.Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)European Research CouncilUniversity of Exeter European Network Fun

Urban sustainability and the subjective well‐being of migrants: The role of risks, place attachment, and aspirations

This is the final version. Available on open access from Wiley via the DOI in this recordData availability statement: The dataset for the analysis presented in the paper can be publicly and freely accessed through the Mendeley Data repository at DOI https://doi.org.10.17632/pr9d2cj2g8.2While material conditions of migrant populations on average tend to improve over time as they become established in new destinations, individual trajectories of material and subjective well-being often diverge. Here, we analyse how social and environmental factors in the urban environment shape the subjective well-being of migrant populations. We hypothesise these factors to include (a) perceived social and environmental risk, (b) attachment to place, and (c) migrant aspirations. We analyse data from a cross-sectional survey of 2641 individual migrants in seven cities across Ghana, India, and Bangladesh. The results show that the persistence of inferior material conditions, exposure to environmental hazards, and constrained access to services and employment affect migrants' subjective well-being. Hence, social and environmental risks constitute urban precarity for migrants whose social vulnerability persist in their destination. Meeting migration-related aspirations and developing an affinity to urban destinations have the potential to mitigate negative sentiments from perceived risks. These findings have implications for future urban planning and sustainability.International Development Research Centr

The need for bottom-up assessments of climate risks and adaptation in climate-sensitive regions

Studies of climate change at specific intervals of future warming have primarily been addressed through top-down approaches using climate projections and modelled impacts. In contrast, bottom-up approaches focus on the recent past and present vulnerability. Here, we examine climate signals at different increments of warming and consider the need to reconcile top-down and bottom-up approaches. We synthesise insights from recent studies in three climate-sensitive systems where change is a defining feature of the human-environment system. Whilst top-down and bottom-up approaches generate complementary insights into who and what is at risk, integrating their results is a much needed step towards developing relevant information to address the needs of immediate adaptation decisions

Survey on migration and adaptation in deltas in Bangladesh, Ghana and India

The datasets comprise four quantitative surveys conducted as part of the project Deltas, vulnerability and Climate Change: Migration and Adaptation (DECCMA). The datasets include four cross-sectional household survey in 50 migrant sending locations in each of the four deltas in South Asia (Bangladesh, GBM and India, Mahanadi and IDB) and in West Africa (Volta, Ghana) between March and October 2016. The sampling strategy consisted of a two-stage cluster design. The first stage of stratification created multi-hazard maps which divided the study areas into five hazard zones (very low, low, medium, high, very high) based on normalizing the hazard score and dividing into quintiles. Each cluster of households in the study area was assigned one of five hazard categories based on the modal risk category. For each multi-hazard zone, the number of clusters were selected proportional to the number of clusters in that zone. Once clusters had been selected, a household listing allowed randomized sampling. The survey data comprises 5450 completed household questionnaires of which 31 percent (N= 1668) stem from households that reported at least one migrant. The remaining 69 percent were defined as households not-engaged in migration. The design and collection of the cross-sectional survey involved researchers from University of Exeter (UK), University of Southampton (UK), Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Bangladesh), Jadavpur University (India), the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (Bangladesh) and University of Ghana (Ghana). The datasets described above were developed, designed and collected to capture information on demographic indicators, material wellbeing, subjective wellbeing, perceived changes in exposure to hazards, networks, place attachment, migration trajectories, and adaptation response to environmental hazards and change. The datasets can be used to investigate associations between environmental processes, migration pathways and social outcomes that are critical for environmental policy and development strategies for the delta regions in Ghana, Bangladesh and India, and deltas more generally. For example, variables on perceived level of exposure to hazards will allow researchers to examine the extent to which environmental change and risks play a role in individual migration decision-making or future migration intentions. The datasets are in .xls format and are accompanied by respective questionnaires. Additional details can be found in the ReadMe file