Climate Adaptation and Resilience Strategies (CLARS): Socio-Economic Vulnerabilities among Urban Migrants in the Lake Victoria Basin and Great Lakes Region

• Applicant: Dr. Diogo Andreolla Serraglio
• Subject Area: Human Geography ; Empirical Social Research
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 540704567

Migration is becoming a survival, coping, and adaptation strategy in regions where livelihood systems are either compromised or offer better opportunities to climate migrants. New waves of climate migration to specific climate resilient ‘hotspots’, not least urban centres, is impacting pre-existing socio-economic vulnerabilities, and precipitating hardships and unequal outcomes, for the individuals and households resettling to these areas. Achieving just and resilient outcomes will require engaging key stakeholders e.g., migrants and host communities to proactively prepare and plan for these climate-induced movements. CLARS aims to explore, design, and recommend co-produced adaptation strategies for reducing socioeconomic vulnerabilities (SEVs) and building resilience for vulnerable climate migrants and host communities across 5 Lake Victoria Basin (LVB) and Great Lakes Region (GLR) urban cities of Kampala, Mwanza, Eldoret, Detroit and Hamilton. Our specific objectives are to: (i) Examine the effectiveness of international and national policy responses to climate change and operationalise recommendations that meet the socioeconomic needs of climate migrants (including their human and labour rights) to fully integrate in urban host communities. (ii) Produce and share LVB and GLR urban climate predictive data and scenarios on urban migration flows, to comprehensively assess risks and socioeconomic protective factors and quantify climate impacts across scales by means of novel climate and impact emulators. (iii) Co-develop inclusive climate adaptation and resilience strategies that avert, minimise, and address climate migrants’ socioeconomic vulnerabilities across LVB and GLR urban communities. (iv) Stimulate knowledge exchange (KE) to advance co production and learning, inspiration and sharing of climate adaptation and resilience strategies and policies that improve migrants and host citizens’ socioeconomic vulnerabilities across LVB and GLR urban settings. CLARS’ novel and interdisciplinary project will be achieved through these approaches: (i) Critical review of local and international migration and refugee practices, policies, and interventions. (ii) Inclusive engagement in research, knowledge exchange and climate adaptation and resilience activities e.g., co-development of inclusive climate strategies and policy frameworks through Performing Arts and Stakeholder Engagement Events. (iii) Translate research findings into actionable policy recommendations.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Canada, United Kingdom, USA
• Cooperation Partners: Dr. Derek Van Berkel; Professor Gail Krantzberg, Ph.D.; Dr. Cedric Nkiko