Migration has always been a contentious topic, and possibly become even more so in recent years. But how is it related to climate change, overall sustainability and other pressing issues? Researchers around the world are collaborating on the Migration, transformation and sustainability (Misty) project, which seeks to flesh out the unrecognised benefits of migration and the impact it has on sustainability.
“The project asks: ‘How does migration really work? And does it really lead to places becoming more or less sustainable?’,” says project lead Neil Adger, professor of human geography at the University of Exeter.
Sustainability, in this context, is action that has a positive environmental impact, such as when migrants help shift the economy to sectors with lower carbon emissions. Sustainability also requires a positive economic impact, such as sustained increases in people’s material wellbeing and diversifying the labour market; and a positive social impact on societies and communities.
The project, launched in 2018, is led by Exeter and is conducting research in Europe, North America, Africa and Asia, building on decades of research by Adger and his team. “We have this paradox,” he says. “Migration is one of the drivers of unsustainability because movement of labour contributes to over-exploitation of resources, such as the extraction of fossil fuels, or the cutting down of forests.” But on the other hand, migration is part of the transition to a more sustainable world. “It’s extremely positive for people who are migrants and it tends to enhance the places where people leave and where they move to,” Adger says.
The team of global researchers is looking into how migration affects each of the three dimensions of sustainability – economic, social and environmental – by global modelling, and conducting in-depth interviews and surveys with local and migrant populations, and urban and policy practitioners.
For example, in Chattogram, a port city on the south-eastern coast of Bangladesh, the project has brought together migrant communities and city planners. Through taking photographs, migrants have documented the challenges they face in the city – such as poor housing, or health and safety hazards – and come together with the city planners to discuss options for positive change.
“By starting the conversation, we hope the findings can influence decision making or be incorporated into a document such as a master plan,” says Ricardo Safra de Campos, a population geographer at the University of Exeter, who has been helping conduct the research.
The team has also been working in Amsterdam. In partnership with Amsterdam city council, the researchers interviewed first- and second-generation migrants about sustainability. In addition, they uncovered how the Covid-19 pandemic had changed people’s attitudes towards the cities in which they live.
The study found that the pandemic had increased people’s interest in sustainability. “People started to reconsider what sustainability meant for them, in terms of the environmental and social aspects,” Maria Franco Gavonel, a researcher on the Misty project, says. “So Covid was a wake-up call in a sense, because it exacerbated the need for migrants to assimilate into their new societies.”
Integration positively impacts sustainability outcomes, the Misty project has shown. “We know from social psychology, that if you feel invested in a place and feel like it’s your home, then you’re going to be much more invested in the future,” says Adger. “That’s one of the core ideas of Misty.”
Work such as this is important for a number of reasons. “A lot of research into what a sustainable future looks like sort of assumes people don’t move around,” he says. “But to understand sustainability we need to understand demographic trends, which include migration.”
Migration is a political as well as a humanitarian issue, and in some places has garnered a negative response. “In these times, where there is a backlash against globalisation, a project like this can highlight an important process that has been taking place throughout history,” says Franco Gavonel. “Migration is transformation and we’re trying to highlight the benefits, for the migrants themselves and for the societies that host them and that let them go.”
The climate crisis will make a lot of people’s lives more precarious and leave many without the financial ability or resources to migrate to a new home. “It’s important to get into the details so we can really understand the impact of a loss of mobility,” says Adger.
Adger’s team has been working at the forefront of research on sustainability and migration for the past decade, making the University of Exeter a leader in this area. The university has also examined its own sustainability – it was named the Guardian’s Sustainability university of the year in 2020, after it committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2040 in terms of direct emissions, and 2050 in terms of indirect emissions. It has also halted its investment in fossil fuel companies.
“Misty is the culmination of 10 years of research into how climate change is going to affect society,” says Adger. “This research really challenges us to think about the world we want and raises huge issues about identity and empathy with nature and with each other,” he says.
The University of Exeter is a leader in environmental sustainability and climate change. Take a look at courses available to study at the university in this field: greenfutures.exeter.ac.uk/courses
