New Regional Formations

Changing environmental conditions and
dynamic migration systems in coastal
regions set the stage for research on the
relationship between these two realms. In
the context of climate change, this field
of studies has recently gained significant
attention.
Project Consortium
The current state of research suggests that environmental factors alone are not able to explain
the dynamics in migratory systems. These can
only be understood in their local and regional
contexts, taking political, social, economic, and
cultural factors into account.
Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology (ZMT),
Bremen (Prof. Dr. Hildegard Westphal, SP1: Environmental change,
and Prof. Dr. Achim Schlüter, SP4: Economic strategies)
artec Sustainability Research Center, University of Bremen
(Prof. Dr. Michael Flitner, Dipl. Geogr. Johannes Herbeck,
SP5: Policy responses)
Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities (KWI),
Essen (Prof. Dr. Volker Heins, SP 2: Risk cultures)
Institute of Geographical Sciences, Centre for Development
Studies, Free University of Berlin (PD Dr. Felicitas Hillmann,
SP 3: Migrant trajectories)
Partners and Advisors
Prof. Dr. Mariama Awumbila, Centre for Migration Studies,
University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
Dr. Silja Klepp, artec Sustainability Research Center,
University of Bremen, Germany
Associate Prof. Dr. Muh Aris Marfai, Faculty of Geography,
Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Economic
strategies
Policy
responses
Dr. Ernst Spaan, Nijmegen International Center for Health System
Research and Education, Radboud University Nijmegen, NL
Risk cultures
Migrant
trajectories
Environmental change
Apl. Prof. Dr. Theo Rauch, Institute of Geographical Sciences,
Free University of Berlin, Germany
New Regional Formations
Cecilia Tacoli, Senior Researcher, International Institute for
Environment and Development, London, UK
Associate Prof. Dr. Ton van Naerssen, Nijmegen Centre for Border
Research (NCBR), Radboud University Nijmegen, NL
Contacts
Prof. Dr. M. Flitner
(Spokesperson)
Dipl.-Geogr. J. Herbeck
(General project coordinator)
artec Sustainability
Research Center
University of Bremen
28359 Bremen, Germany
Phone: +49-421-218-61833
< [email protected] >
The project is supported by:
PD Dr. F. Hillmann
(Coordinator migration research)
Institute of Geographical Sciences
Free University of Berlin
Malteserstr. 74-100
12249 Berlin, Germany
Phone: +49-30-838-70120
< [email protected] >
New
Regional
Formations
Coastal regions are at the centre
Rapid environmental
change and migration
in coastal regions of
Ghana and Indonesia
same time, coasts are continuously
of two key challenges for today’s
societies: environmental change
and migration. They are traditionally both origins and destinations
of migratory movements. At the
transformed by geomorphological, climatic and other forces. This
ongoing change is expected to
increase with global warming.
Objectives
Research Areas
Subprojects
This research project focuses on how environmental changes and respective risk cultures
intersect with evolving migration patterns
(such as migrant trajectories), economic strategies of households, and policy responses, to
create differing sets of constraints and opportunities for “new regional formations”. These
are characterised by a range of different actors,
negotiation arenas, policies and concrete adaptation measures that are emerging along with
environmental change.
The coastline of eastern Ghana where the city of
Keta is located has experienced substantial coastal
erosion in the course of the 20th century. The construction of major dams on the adjacent Volta River
is believed to have accelerated the dramatic recession of the coastline from the 1960s onwards by
reducing the amount of sediments transported to
the coast. Diverse technological and environmental
adaptation strategies have been adopted, shifting
environmental stress to other regions or actors.
SP 1: Environmental change
The reconstruction of changes in the coastal environment over
the last decades provides the basis for investigating their role
as background condition for emerging regional formations.
The changes in coastline morphology and in availability of
resources (agriculture, marine resources) are caused by a
combination of natural forces and anthropogenic processes.
The research questions focus on the specific drivers and dynamics in the two research regions which are studied in parallel
to provide a basic understanding of their role in each of the
regional contexts.
Over the past decades, population has notably
grown in urban areas of low- and middleincome countries, and growth has concentrated on low-lying coastal regions. Small to moderate-sized cities have experienced particularly high growth rates and have been integrated
into existing mobility regimes. We therefore
focus on such smaller and medium-sized urban
agglomerations situated along coastal strips
that experience ongoing, massive changes of
their morphology and ecosystems: the eastern
coast of Ghana and the northern coast of Java
(Indonesia). Both regions are part of dynamic
migratory systems and also nodal points of
international migration
trajectories.
In the Semarang district of Central Java, the coast
is characterised by substantial land subsidence,
which is attributed to a number of factors such as
consolidation of alluvium soils, excessive groundwater extraction and massive construction works.
This is associated with a rising occurrence of tidal
flooding in urban settlements along the shoreline,
resulting in land and infrastructure losses.
SP 2: Risk cultures
The subproject studies risk cultures as a second background
condition for the emergence of new regional formations. It is
assumed that they are also subject to gradual change, and the
project will look at the circumstances that might lead some of
the affected groups to embrace new, potentially less localised
systems of meanings. These can influence regional adaptation
policies, migration patterns, economic strategies and broader
institutional change.
SP 3: Migrant trajectories
This subproject concentrates on migrant patterns and trajectories as a constitutive part of emerging regional formations. It is
assumed that patterns of migration are non-linear and not directly driven by geomorphological changes in the regions, but
culturally and institutionally mediated in the regional context.
The research focuses on key characteristics of migration in the
two coastal regions, looking at migration drivers, consequences for the transformation of those regions, and connections to
national and global circuits, including diasporas.
SP 4: Economic strategies of households
Given that there is no uniform societal response towards changes in the ecological system, this subproject studies individual
and collective responses and strategies of households as they
are shaped by highly specific cultural and socio-economic
contexts. The research acknowledges the complex realities of
contemporary migration and concentrates on the economies
and the risk portfolios of livelihood systems, extending from
traditional fisheries to international remittances.
SP 5: Policy responses
The processes leading to the emergence of regional formations
are influenced by new transnational actors and networks,
including non-governmental organisations and diasporic communities. Research suggests that such new actor constellations
and according institutions can influence adaptation policies in
a substantial manner. The project investigates in how far this
creates new options for increased participation and inclusion,
and what could be strategies to obviate new forms of political
marginalisation.