Interrogating drivers of climate-related migration in Africa
This topic is part of the project HABITABLE (Linking Climate Change, Habitability and Social Tipping Points: Scenarios for Climate Migration - HABITABLE (habitableproject.org))
Climate change and migration are understood to have a complex relationship. In fact, disentangling climate change from other drivers of migration (conflict, food security, agricultural production, etc.) is so difficult that there is not even an internationally accepted definition of climate change migration. The Habitable project (https://habitableproject.org/) aims to contribute to a better understanding of how and when climate change influences migration in Kenya, Ghana, Ethiopia, Mali, and Thailand. How and when people decide to move depends on their capacities, aspirations, and external conditions. We use Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping (FCM) to sollicit individual mental maps of the factors influencing a person’s decision to migrate. This gives us insight into the perceptions of reality that contribute to that final ‘tipping point’ when a person decides to move.
ITC contributes to Habitable mainly through collection and analysis of 600 fuzzy cognitive maps – 120 maps from each country. This student thesis would use this rich data set to analyze different aspects of migration decision-making. For example: Is climate change of greater concern to women than to men? Does an employment offer in the city have a greater influence than shrinking farm yeilds? According to their interests, students might consider comparing FCM results from origin and destination areas in each country, or dig deeper into a single country and focus on gender, age, or other indicators. Students are free to develop their own research question under the supervision of Reckien and Keeton.
The overarching aim is to add nuance and depth to the state-of-the-art knowledge on climate change migration. There is flexibility for the student to develop their own perspective on this complex and urgent topic.
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- Olazabal, M. and Reckien, D. (2015) Fuzzy cognitive mapping: applications to urban environmental decision - making. In: Handbook of research methods and applications in environmental studies / edited by M. Ruth. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2015. ISBN: 978-1-78347-464-6. (Handbooks of research methods and applications). pp. 148-176.
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- Reckien, D. (2016) Identifying most feasible adaptation options to heatwaves and heavy rain events in New York City. In: Proceedings of the 2016 IEEE international conference on fuzzy systems (FUZZ-IEEE), 24-29 July 2016, Vancouver, Canada. Piscataway: IEEE, 2016. ISBN: 978-1-5090-0626-7. pp. 1391-1397Salvia, M., Pietrapertosa, F., De Gregorio Hurtado, S., Geneletti, D., D'Alonzo, V., Di Leo, S. and Reckien, D. (2013) Urban responses to climate change in Italy. In: Proceedings of the 3rd international exergy, life-cycle assessment and sustainability workshop and symposium (ELCAS 3), 7-9 July 2013, Nisyros Island, Greece / edited by C.J. Koroneos, D.C. Rovas and A.Th. Dompros. Brussels: COST, 2013. ISBN: 978-960-243-691-2. pp. 705-721.
- Matmir S., Reckien D., Flacke J. (2017) What do New Yorkers Think about Impacts and Adaptation to Heat Waves? An Evaluation Tool to Incorporate Perception of Low-Income Groups into Heat Wave Adaptation Scenarios in New York City. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-information. 6(8), [229]. DOI:10.3390/ijgi6080229