What About the Human Side of Climate-Induced Migration? …
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is facing unprecedented large-scale migration due to socioeconomic, political and
environmental challenges, forcing people to flee their homeland; and failure to adapt
to climate change is inducing even more displacement and migration due to severe
droughts, floods, sea-level rise, salinization and natural catastrophes (Berchin et al.
2017).
From the 8 MDGs to the 17 SDGs, education, health, food security and the environment are at the core of discussions. Both MDGs and SDGs support stronger
multi-stakeholder partnerships to promote sustainable development, and universities
should be at the core of these arrangements, leading by example. Particularly, SDG
10 “Reduced Inequality”, aiming to “facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible
migration and mobility of people, including through the implementation of planned
and well-managed migration policies”; and SDG 4 “Quality Education”, aiming to
create an “immigration status parity index for achieving at least a fixed level of
proficiency in functional skills, by numeracy/literacy skills”.
Universities have a unique capacity to innovate and to promote social inclusion
at the same time, developing creative environments to induce cognitive learning
by exposing students to a daily routine of good practices. Innovative universities,
through its campuses, are frequently referred by the literature as a living laboratory
(Evans et al. 2015; Berchin et al. 2020; Crea 2016).
There are many cases of universities supporting the inclusion of refugees in
their activities, promoting education, cultural activities and social inclusion—e.g.
the University of South Santa Catarina in Brazil, which has a program to “welcome
migrants”, providing capacity building and education, and promoting their inclusion
with the students and local community (Unisul 2016); among many other universities
that have committed to support refugee students (https://refugeeswelcomemap.eua.
be/Editor/Visualizer/Index/34).
Students’ engagement in universities’ initiatives is key for integrating refugees and
making them feel welcomed. Guilford College (USA) relies on its students to host
many refugee families and in enrolling in activities on campus, such as developing
artwork and podcasts that discuss the challenges experienced by immigrants and
refugees. Guilford College started the “Every Campus a Refuge” (ECAR) initiative
in 2015, for universities and colleges to invest their resources with municipal agencies
to guarantee housing, food and other assistance needed by refugees until they can
become independent (Guilford College 2017).
Language is an important barrier for refugees to adapt to their country of destination. Therefore, understanding the language spoken in this country is crucial to
refugee’s integration in the new community and their access to job opportunities that
can contribute to their quality of life. In this regard, the Federal University of Santa
Catarina (Brazil) created the PLAM project, which teaches the Portuguese language
to immigrants and refugees with the help of volunteer professors and academics from
the Language Department (UFSC 2020). As discussed in SDG 4, quality education
offers greater chances of finding jobs and it also helps to reduce poverty (SDG 1)
and hunger (SDG 2) whilst improving the families’ well-being (SDG 3) (UN 2020a).
However, prejudice and xenophobia are still a big challenge.
161
is facing unprecedented large-scale migration due to socioeconomic, political and
environmental challenges, forcing people to flee their homeland; and failure to adapt
to climate change is inducing even more displacement and migration due to severe
droughts, floods, sea-level rise, salinization and natural catastrophes (Berchin et al.
2017).
From the 8 MDGs to the 17 SDGs, education, health, food security and the environment are at the core of discussions. Both MDGs and SDGs support stronger
multi-stakeholder partnerships to promote sustainable development, and universities
should be at the core of these arrangements, leading by example. Particularly, SDG
10 “Reduced Inequality”, aiming to “facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible
migration and mobility of people, including through the implementation of planned
and well-managed migration policies”; and SDG 4 “Quality Education”, aiming to
create an “immigration status parity index for achieving at least a fixed level of
proficiency in functional skills, by numeracy/literacy skills”.
Universities have a unique capacity to innovate and to promote social inclusion
at the same time, developing creative environments to induce cognitive learning
by exposing students to a daily routine of good practices. Innovative universities,
through its campuses, are frequently referred by the literature as a living laboratory
(Evans et al. 2015; Berchin et al. 2020; Crea 2016).
There are many cases of universities supporting the inclusion of refugees in
their activities, promoting education, cultural activities and social inclusion—e.g.
the University of South Santa Catarina in Brazil, which has a program to “welcome
migrants”, providing capacity building and education, and promoting their inclusion
with the students and local community (Unisul 2016); among many other universities
that have committed to support refugee students (https://refugeeswelcomemap.eua.
be/Editor/Visualizer/Index/34).
Students’ engagement in universities’ initiatives is key for integrating refugees and
making them feel welcomed. Guilford College (USA) relies on its students to host
many refugee families and in enrolling in activities on campus, such as developing
artwork and podcasts that discuss the challenges experienced by immigrants and
refugees. Guilford College started the “Every Campus a Refuge” (ECAR) initiative
in 2015, for universities and colleges to invest their resources with municipal agencies
to guarantee housing, food and other assistance needed by refugees until they can
become independent (Guilford College 2017).
Language is an important barrier for refugees to adapt to their country of destination. Therefore, understanding the language spoken in this country is crucial to
refugee’s integration in the new community and their access to job opportunities that
can contribute to their quality of life. In this regard, the Federal University of Santa
Catarina (Brazil) created the PLAM project, which teaches the Portuguese language
to immigrants and refugees with the help of volunteer professors and academics from
the Language Department (UFSC 2020). As discussed in SDG 4, quality education
offers greater chances of finding jobs and it also helps to reduce poverty (SDG 1)
and hunger (SDG 2) whilst improving the families’ well-being (SDG 3) (UN 2020a).
However, prejudice and xenophobia are still a big challenge.