Abstract
Planetary climate change call for transformative responses from all actors in society. Successful transformations will require an understanding of how diverse actors participate in sustainability to accelerate such changes. While migration is a primary driver of population growth in high-income countries, migrants’ roles in sustainability remain overlooked. This literature review recognizes diverse forms of participation, explores how migrants participate in sustainability, and identifies enablers/barriers to transformations. With this literature review we aim to: (1) explore migrants’ participation in sustainability transformations, (2) map participation and sustainability from shallow to deep to further understand the potential for transformative change and (3) identify challenges and supporting factors influencing participation. We identified 45 relevant studies from the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia, varying across many sustainability sectors, including but not limited to, domestic practices, transportation, agriculture, urban land use, and education. Most articles found migrants to be positively participating in sustainability in their new countries, with varying degrees of impact. We have evaluated migrants’ participation and sustainability from shallow superficial involvement to deep reflexive engagement that can enable transformative change. While there is evidence for effective participation in sustainability transformations, there are also challenges, including economic realities, assimilation, and structural barriers which limit migrants’ levels of engagement. In addition, exclusion, xenophobia, and integration difficulties also persist. Perspectives and recommendations from existing literature suggest policy and inclusion can embolden and empower migrant participation further to enable sustainability transformations. This review shows that migrant participation offers broader insights on participation in sustainability transformations.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Migration, Immigration, Refugees, Sustainability, Transformations
