In Osmosis

“In particular, today I would insist on the emergence of post-disciplinary arenas as political ecology and environmental humanities as an opportunity to go beyond disciplines and their intrinsic limitation in understanding the current socio-ecological crisis.”

-       Marco Armiero, KTH Royal Institute of Technology

This is what this blog has been all about: contributing to this emergent discussion on the importance of transdisciplinarity and the need for new polyvocal practices and daring pedagogical tools. I have contended with the importance of the concept of Nature, in particular how we define and imagine it. I have explored its intersections with disciplines such as art, politics and marketing and with this concluding post I aim to take this exploration further. There are many fields of knowledge that influence social and ecological realities. These include – but are not limited to – fashion, religion, philosophy, anthropology, economics, gender studies mental health studies and journalism. In this post, however, I will focus on three key disciplines associated with climate-induced displacement, one of the biggest socio-ecological urgencies of this century.

Much like the undergoing global reshuffle of biodiversity, climate change is going to lead to mass human migrations. The list is interminable, but some key statistics are the most shocking:

à Many Pacific Island nations, such as the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu are disappearing due to rising sea levels. 

Source: https://350.org/350-pacific-we-are-not-drowning-we-are-fighting/

à The UN refugee agency estimates that 22.5 million people have been displaced since 2008 due to climate-related disasters.

à In 2014 alone 19.3 million people from over 100 countries were forced to flee their homes due to climate-related disasters (this accounts to basically one person every second).

And note my use of the word ‘statistics’. All of these numbers are comprised of people with complex individual stories, hopes, dreams and ambitions, but the mere shock and awe of the upcoming mass climate destabilization is expected to bolster the narrative of dehumanization that these people face.

Graph showing the number and percentage of regional populations effected by drought

Source: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTSOCIALDEVELOPMENT/Resources/SDCCWorkingPaper_MigrationandConflict.pdf

Law

Despite unilateral steps taken by some countries to address the impending climate refugee crisis – such as New Zealand issuing special visas to those fleeing climate disasters and Fiji investing in a legal framework to relocate those that have been displaced – there is no international, legally binding agreement on how (especially developed) countries should mitigate this.

The UN’s 1951 refugee commission does not recognize climate-induced displacement as grounds for providing asylum. The concluding agreement of COP21 in Paris does not mention “refugees” or “migration”. The COP23 in Germany set the discussion for climate refugees, without making any actual tangible progress or setting binding commitments.

Source: http://www.ibtimes.com/kiribati-climate-change-relocation-refugee-crisis-sinking-low-lying-island-nations-2127526

Global Health

The most comprehensive report on climate change and health states that “climate change exacerbates social, economic, and demographic inequalities, with the impacts eventually felt by all populations”.

à There is a “growing vectorial capacity for the transmission” of diseases, such as dengue fever, Lyme’s disease, anthrax, malaria and schisostomiasis.

à By compromising access to resources such as clean air, water and food climate change is expected to cause an additional “250 000 additional deaths per year, from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and heat stress” between 2030 and 2050 according to the WHO.

Millions of people facing extreme heatwaves, droughts and floods will be forced to flee their homes, thus forming new transmission pathways for infectious diseases across migrating populations and host communities.

These extreme weather events are diminishing land productivity, thus human societies increasingly have to shift their focus from expansion to efficiency.

Architecture

From Chinese ‘forest cities’ aiming to curtail air pollution to architect Shigeru Ban’s ‘humanitarian architecture’ using recycled materials to build effective and cheap shelters in refugee camps all over the world.

From Ikea’s renewable-energy-powered refugee settlements to enormous urban farming projects across the world and the tiny house movement in the United States. 

21^st century architecture is addressing the most pressing issues of our time, such as pollution, mass migration, food insecurity, energy efficiency, community-building and environmental degradation.

It becomes clear then how different areas of knowledge interact, adapt and evolve in the face of change. This dynamic relationship between problem-facing and problem-solving is dispersing across borders both in the natural world and in the human knowledge collective.

Staying with the…

Trouble! There will be an immense amount of it in the 21^st century. We should allow it to anger and inspire us, but not incapacitate us. There are many different socio-ecological struggles around us, each developing with different means but towards the same end: A more fair, democratic and inclusive society.

Whether it’s composing a song, running an economic analysis or writing a scientific report we should delve into this cross-fertilization of disciplines and formulate new and exciting new languages to address our not-so-new problems until maybe the time comes when we hear the phrase ‘brave new world’ and we tingle with anticipation instead of cowering with fear.