Climate change will have a progressively increasing impact on environmental degradation and environmentally dependent socio-economic systems with potential to cause substantial population displacement. The key concerns in Less Developed Countries (LDCs) will include serious threats to food security and health, considerable economic decline, inundation of coastal areas, and degradation of land and fresh water resources (Reuveny in Polit Geogr, 2007). The relationship between environmental change and potential humanitarian crises has been captured by: McGregor (Geography and refugees: patterns and processes of change,

How can we ethically research “the social” in times of social distancing? This paper considers the effects of a global pandemic on anthropological practice and scholarship. We suggest that, while much can be learned about the human experience during times of strife, we must first reflect on whether our research is beneficial, collaborative, or necessary. These considerations must constitute an ongoing conversation with research collaborators, and we should work with them in assessing the sociopolitical and biophysical risks our work entails, given that many anthropologists collaborate with members of disenfranchised and politically-marginalized groups. Acknowledging the highly social and oftentimes mobile nature of anthropological research, we call for a dialogue on research’s “new normal.” Due to anthropology’s understanding of the interconnectedness of sociopolitical, historical, and cultural factors in crisis contexts, we encourage our colleagues to commit to the design of ethically-relevant responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is widely accepted that climate change may be contributing to population movement and has gendered effects. The relationship between climate change as a direct cause of migration continues to give rise to debates concerning vulnerabilities, while at the same time gendered dimensions of vulnerabilities remain limited to binary approaches. There is limited cross-fertilization between disciplines that go beyond comparison between males and females but interrogate gender in association with climate change and migration. Here, we seek to develop an analytical lens to the nexus between gender, migration and climate change in producing, reproducing and sustaining at risk conditions and vulnerabilities. When gender and mobility are conceptualized as a process, and climate change as a risk modifier, the nexus between them can be better interrogated. Starting by using gender as an organizing principle that structures and stratifies relations entails viewing gender not as a category that distinguishes males and females but as a discursive process of social construction that (re)produces subjectivities and inequalities. Gender is a dynamic process that shapes and (re)produces vulnerabilities and consequently shapes mediation of climate impacts and migration and is also shaped by symbolic processes that go beyond households and communities.

In the world we live in today, the presence and claims of crisis abound – from climate change, financial and political crisis to depression, livelihoods and personal security crisis. There is a challenge to studying crisis due to the ways in which crisis as a notion, condition and experience refers to and operates at various societal levels. Further, different kinds of crisis can overlap and intersect with each other, and act as precursors or consequences of other crises, in what can be thought of as inter-crisis relations or chains of crises. This article makes an enquiry into how to develop more adequate analytical tools for understanding crisis as a multidimensional phenomenon. We ask how crisis can be conceptualised and what the analytical potentials of a distinct crisis perspective might be? In this article we suggest a multi- and interdisciplinary approach to bridge between traditionally separated realms. Our ambition is to present a case for the development of Interdisciplinary Crisis Studies as a field of scholarly enquiry, which allows for new perspectives on data collection and analysis. Using the cases of, first, crisis and security and, second, crisis and climate, conflict and migration, we illustrate how studying and intervening in crises requires non-linear approaches which connect across disciplines to develop more comprehensive, interdisciplinary understandings of societal problems and better solutions. In concluding the paper, we assert that key features of Interdisciplinary Crisis Studies must include (1) temporality, spatiality and scale; (2) multi-layeredness, processuality and contradictions; and (3) gender, intersectionality and social inequalities.

Conservation organizations are increasingly applying adaptive capacity assessments in response to escalating climate change impacts. These assessments are essential to identify climate risks to ecosystems, prioritize management interventions, maximize the effectiveness of conservation actions, and ensure conservation resources are allocated appropriately. Despite an extensive literature on the topic, there is little agreement on the most relevant factors needed to support local scale initiatives, and additional guidance is needed to clarify how adaptive capacity should be assessed. This article discusses why adaptive capacity assessment represents a critical tool supporting conservation planning and management. It also evaluates key factors guiding conservation NGOs conducting these assessments in tropical island communities, and explores alternative priorities based on input from academic experts and key local stakeholders. Our results demonstrate that important differences exist between local stakeholders and nonlocal academic experts on key factors affecting adaptation and coping mechanisms. The exclusion of local community input affects the validity of adaptive capacity assessment findings, and has significant implications for the prioritization and effectiveness of conservation strategies and funding allocation.

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A cohesive society is not only characterised by the availability of basic services and facilities, but also promotes economic equality and inclusion, democracy, and social solidarity. Forced displacement due to disasters and conflict constantly disrupt the path to a sustainable and cohesive society. Displaced communities often struggle with a lack of access to livelihood and a lack of financial independence and social and family stability. With these challenges, a lack of provision of basic services and facilities will create a competition for housing, health, and education between the displaced and host communities. Additionally, the economic competition for jobs and the role of international aid in terms of fairness create social tension between the displaced and the host. Likewise, multiple aspects weaken the social cohesion between displaced and host communities. Within this context, we investigated approaches to enhance social cohesion following disaster-induced and conflict-induced displacement. With the identification of this research need, the research team of the project titled REGARD (REbuild-inG AfteR Displacement) conducted 47 in-depth interviews in four partner countries (U.K., Sweden, Estonia, and Sri Lanka) with community representatives, social support networks, agency networks, officials, etc. Moreover, focus group discussions were conducted with community members in Sri Lanka. The collected data were analysed through a qualitative data analysis procedure. The findings present eight approaches to strengthen the social cohesion between displaced and host communities. These eight approaches include the adequate provision of basic services and facilities without limiting the capacity of the host, support services aimed at local integration, economic integration between the displaced and host, and social cohesion through the built environment.