TransRe

Building resilience through translocality. Climate change, migration and social resilience of rural communities in Thailand (TransRe)

Projektleiter: Patrick Sakdapolrak (IfGR, Universität Wien)
Wissenschaftliche MitarbeiterInnen: Sopon Naruchaikusol, Kayly Ober, Simon Peth, Luise Porst, Till Rockenbauch (Forschungsgruppe Umwelt und Migration, Universität Bonn)

Laufzeit: 10/2013 – 09/2017

Finanziert vom Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (DE)

Abstract

Climate change and migration are drawing increasing interest from researchers and policy makers, as well as from the general public. Much attention has been given to climate change as a push factor contributing to migration, and to the potential conflicts and humanitarian crises that may result. The proposed project offers a fresh perspective on the climate change-migration nexus. It starts from the assumption that, regardless of the accuracy of the projections of future environmental changes, migration is already occurring and will continue to be a major dynamic of global change. Migration is connecting people, transforming places, and facilitating flows of knowledge and resources, and thus creating networked and interconnected translocal spaces. Through this intensifying translocal connectedness, the ability of households and communities to respond to climatic risks and sustain their livelihoods and well-being – that is, their social resilience – has the potential to be strengthened. The proposed project focuses on resource-dependent households and rural communities that are particularly vulnerable to climate-related risks. It seeks to decipher the relations between migration, translocality and social resilience to climate change. It follows a place-based and multi-sited fieldwork approach and seeks to generate empirical evidence based on case studies carried out in Thailand and in the places of destination of migrants. The research will focus on the following areas:

a) vulnerability and resilience with regard to climatic risks;

b) the effects of migration networks on social resilience;

c) translocal social practices and their effects on the place of origin of migrants;

d) stakeholder and policy analysis in the field of migration and climate-change adaptation.

In collaboration with the Raks Thai Foundation, a member of CARE International, the project will implement pilot projects aimed at resilience-building in translocal communities. It will also develop a toolkit for policy-makers and practitioners, which will guide the integration of migration-based social resilience support into community development and climate-change adaptation plans and policies. The project will seek to disseminate its findings to the scientific community, policy-makers and practitioners using a combination of dissemination instruments. Communication of the findings to relevant policy-makers on both the national and the international level will be ensured through collaboration with UNU-EHS, IOM Thailand, DIE, NGOs and high-level contacts with policy makers in Thailand.

Further updated information see our project web page.