Phd Bontenbal Ilona and working group (Sea Level Rise -ryhmä)

Sinking Islands in Europe: Understanding perceptions and Future Imaginaries of Climate Migration in European Contexts Influenced by Sea Level Rise

Tieteellinen tutkimus / siihen pohjautuva työ | Kolmivuotinen

There is a gap between research finding regarding climate migration and the portrayal of climate migration, particularly related to sea level rise in popular discourse. The popular discourse on climate migration has been centered around portrayals of massive numbers of migrants coming towards Europe. Migrations scholars have however been critical about linking climate change and migration directly in an overly simplistic way. We investigate the gap between expert perceptions and stakeholders´ perception. We want to understand how mobility (to Europe as well as within Europe) is perceived in selected European local and national contexts by various stakeholders. We then want to critically analyse the perceptions of stakeholders in comparison to those of experts in the field. The perspectives we focus on a) policy makers´, b) local residents in areas at particular risk of sea level rise c) some of whom may be migrants themselves, d) experts such as researchers and project managers in the field of sea level rise, and e) the mainstream media. Bringing the voices of people influenced by sea level rise, and particularly that of migrants, gives a bold and experimentational character to the project, since identifying and finding individuals whose migration has been influenced by climate change related factors is challenging, because of the complex nature of climate migration. Previous studies on sea level rise have mainly focused on how low- and middle-income island nations and communities will be impacted by environmental change and particularly sea level rise. Our research presents a new opening in the field by focusing on wealthy European nations. By focusing on European communities influenced by sea level rise and contrasting them to previous findings from low- and middle-income countries, we bring to the forefront questions regarding inequality in adaption to sea level rise.