Professor Samuel Nii Ardey Codjoe, Provost of the College of Education and Project Lead
The College of Education has recently received its first funding after approval was granted for Colleges to host projects on 1st September, 2023. The “ImmobiliTy in a changing Climate (ITHACA) Project”, sponsored by the Belmont Forum, is set to run for 3 years with a total funding of approximately 300,000 Euros.
This project is being led by Prof. Samuel Nii Ardey Codjoe, Provost of the College of Education and Dr. Mumuni Abu from the Regional Institute for Population Studies (RIPS). They are joined by a consortium of other distinguished partners, including the Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies in Sweden, The Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazonia in Brazil, Climate Analytics in the USA and the Centre for Research on Governance and Development in Mozambique.
The ITHACA Project is poised to bridge the existing gap in empirical studies pertaining to immobility in the face of a changing climate. Recognising the potential of climate change to exacerbate societal inequalities and communities at risk, the project seeks to shed light on the overlooked area of immobility, whether voluntary or involuntary, as a potential mechanism for adaptation under changing climate, focusing on reasons for staying, whether by choice or by constraints. Additionally, the project will delve into the factors influencing people's return after being affected by climate impacts, considering specifics such as duration and frequency of returning. These two aspects of immobility have received limited attention in scholarship on migration studies and in climate-related work.
A pressing inquiry emerges from the premise that if immobility is created by a lack of capacity to adapt (lack of capability), then does that broadly open up populations to being more exposed to climate risks and immobility resulting in maladaptation? For instance, some make the case that macro-level migration will be limited by climate change and create populations therefore that are more exposed and with less options.
Cognisant of these critical implications, ITHACA poses several critical questions such as; What are life chances for those who stay? To what extent does climate risk influence decisions to stay? Are there new opportunities and how much potential is lost or reduced by climate warming? What kinds of capacity need to be developed for those who stay and how can climate policy support people who return? Are there cases where climate policy support will not be provided for people who return?
Addressing these queries necessitates a transdisciplinary approach and ITHACA aims to unravel the intricate phenomenon of immobility through novel methodologies. The project will conduct in-depth empirical studies in five case study coastal urban sites globally—namely, Bahamas, Brazil, Ghana, Mozambique, and Sweden. Notably, the funding for the Ghana component of this groundbreaking project is sponsored by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).