Abstract
Environmental migrants are caught at the nexus of the climate crisis and the global migrant crisis. The problems of the migrant crisis are recognized globally as they are linked to the complex issues being addressed by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. The complexity of the issues makes it difficult to grasp the breadth and depth of this crisis. As a result, it can be understood as one of the “wicked problems” requiring us to respond through a lens that recognizes the interconnections of humans and the broader ecosystems within the physical surroundings. When approaching the migrant crisis from this perspective, professionals are challenged to create transdisciplinary, community-based response systems which are holistic, multi-pronged, and inclusive of migrants’ voices and strengths. Storytelling provides a venue for highlighting migrants' voices, engaging in change, and creating the space for individual and collective healing. Social workers are increasingly being called upon to become trained in this practice and to engage in complex change systems alongside other disciplines and community members. As they provide prevention, mitigation, resettlement, and relief efforts, social workers become a part of a global community of leaders engaged in transformative change. By working to address these challenges, they are securing a better world not only for environmental migrants, but also for our planet as a whole.
Highlights
Environmental migrants are caught at the nexus of the climate crisis and the global migrant crisis
Approaching the migrant crisis in its complexity, challenges social workers and other professionals to create response systems which are inclusive of migrant voices, vulnerabilities, and strengths while validating the environmental crisis that precipitates this migration crisis
Approaching environmental migration, and the overarching global migrant crisis as a wicked problem highlights the complexity of the issues, challenging us to think beyond simplistic uni-dimensional interventions
Summary
Environmental migration occurs at the nexus of complex and interwoven concerns: the global climate crisis and the global migrant crisis. Environmental migrants often flee their homes of origin due to violent conflict and/or because they face hardships (e.g., starvation) that result from climate change and prolonged conflict Their experience of loss is multi-layered, including the loss of family, friends, and home as well as the general comfort of the familiar, including culture and language, which impact whole communities. Wangari Maathai modeled the multi-pronged approach to change as she addressed the interconnection of environmental, social, and political problems It was in her community that she began her path as an activist and change agent to rebuild the ecosystem, repair the fundamental connections of people to their environment, and overcome political violence. Maathai created a movement with multiple threads that promoted processes engaging civic dialogue, critical assessment, and mechanisms that facilitated the empowerment of the community toward transformative change (Strides in Development, 2010)
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