Maintaining and building ‘place’ through managed and forced community relocations: Lessons for a climate changed world
Adams, Helen, Alaniz, Ryan, Bronen, Robin and McNamara, Karen (2015). Maintaining and building ‘place’ through managed and forced community relocations: Lessons for a climate changed world. UNU-EHS Working Paper. UNU-EHS.
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Sub-type Working paper Author Adams, Helen
Alaniz, Ryan
Bronen, Robin
McNamara, KarenTitle Maintaining and building ‘place’ through managed and forced community relocations: Lessons for a climate changed world Series Title UNU-EHS Working Paper Volume/Issue No. 16 Publication Date 2015-02 Place of Publication Bonn Publisher UNU-EHS Pages 23 Language eng Abstract Climate-induced environmental change is likely to render some of the places in which people live and maintain livelihoods uninhabitable. While our understanding of the interactions between environmental change and migration has increased, less attention has been paid to places becoming uninhabitable and the processes of relocating entire communities. Therefore this article attempts to fill this gap in our understanding, by applying concepts from place attachment literature to two different relocation cases through the experiences of affected communities: a managed and voluntary relocation of a coastal village in Alaska; and a forced relocation post-disaster in Honduras. In this article, we posit that a decrease in resilience is, in part, a function of how resilience is bound up in place and identity, and associated with the specific characteristics of the location. Four main findings emerge. Firstly, place attachment is transferable between locations if certain resources to which attachment and identity are formed remain constant. Secondly, to increase resilience we may want to break attachment with place, when this attachment is to negative practices and relationships. Thirdly, positive place attachment associated with resilient communities can be created in new locations, representing a case of ‘building back better’. Finally, access to decision-making processes by communities is crucial for successful relocation. Taking into account place attachment and identity not only increases resilience to climate change impacts and extremes but raises both collective social capital and individual wellbeing. Copyright Holder UNU-EHS Copyright Year 2015 Copyright type All rights reserved -
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