RELATIONS · REclaiming LAnd within Transformative adaptaTION in Small islands

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Project objective

Being extremely vulnerable to sea-level rise, climate change adaptation is a fundamental priority for Small Island States (SIS), which are creating new land from the sea through land reclamation to secure in-place futures. However, due to the predominant pattern of incremental change guiding current reclamation schemes, maladaptive outcomes are widespread while the effective implementation of transformative adaptation policies and actions remains hindered, with too little and vague empirical evidence. RELATIONS is based on two observations: (1) maladaptation and transformative adaptation are underexplored in both environmental and social science research; (2) due to the prevailing positivist and techno-scientific approaches in climate change adaptation, a relational understanding of land reclamation in island adaptation policies and practices is missing. This is evident in SIS, where reclamation is profoundly reconfiguring local geographies, but its implications for climate change adaptation remain overlooked. RELATIONS will be the first project to examine land reclamation as an under-explored yet increasingly required adaptive approach in a polycrisis era where climate change poses major threats to SIS with the aim of identifying Sustainable Reclamation features and develop practical tools that can support Intentional Transformative Adaptation in SIS. RELATIONS will employ a multi-sited, multi-temporal research design centered on two SIS: the Maldives (Indian Ocean) and Malta (Mediterranean Sea). Alternative reclamation and alternatives to reclamation will be both explored and integrated in policy-oriented outcomes. I will carry out RELATIONS at ISSI (UM) collaborating with Prof. Stefano Moncada, who has largely worked on the topic of (mal)adaptation in small islands, bringing extensive expertise to the project. With his and the ISSI network's support, I will complete RELATIONS. This will contribute to pave the way for the future well-being of SIS societies.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

• UNIVERSITA TA MALTA · MSIDACoordinatorMalta

Links

• View on CORDIS
• DOI: 10.3030/101277048