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MIGRADPT: Making Migration Work for Adaptation to Environmental Changes. A Belgian Appraisal.: Final Report

par Elodie, Hut;Thibaut, Lisa;Lietaer, Samuel ;Van Praag, Lore;Caroline, Michellier
Organisme financeur BELSPO
Publication Publié, 2021-11-01

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Résumé :

Environmental changes are increasingly part of migration journeys, and count amongst the factors that call into question the distinction made between migrants and refugees. Additionally, in the international negotiations on climate change, migration is increasingly perceived as a possible adaptation strategy to the impacts of climate change. But only few studies exist on how migration could actually work for adaptation, and none of them address migration in Belgium. Objectives MIGRADAPT aims to fill this gap by analysing how migration can support the adaptation and resilience of communities, building on its appraisal of the migration-environment nexus in Belgium. To achieve this goal, the project is divided into two parts. First, MIGRADAPT seeks to understand the role of environmental disruptions as drivers for migration to Belgium. The guiding research questions include: How do migrants perceive the environment to have influenced their migration journey? To what extent has the environment impacted upon the other drivers of migration? How do they perceive current environmental disruption in their countries of origin? Second, MIGRADAPT seeks to understand the effects and perceived effects of migration on the adaptation of the communities of origin. This is a key innovation of the project as it will consider the outcomes of migration for the communities of origin rather than just for the migrants themselves. The key research question guiding this analysis is: How (under which conditions) can migration to Belgium support the adaptation of communities affected by environmental changes? Conclusions Through qualitative fieldwork conducted in a selection of sites in Senegal, Morocco, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Belgium, this research demonstrates that although environmental changes are rarely identified as a primary driver of human mobility, migrants and non-migrants often perceive them to affect their migration aspirations, decisions, trajectories and transnational practices (including with regards to adaptation to environmental changes and related socioeconomic impacts), albeit in a localized, context-specific and non-linear manner. This study further advocates for the increased mainstreaming of the environmental component of migration into development and adaptation policies and programmes through a series of country-specific and more general evidence-based recommendations.