Research Focus

More than 85% of people at risk do not migrate despite being frequently affected by hazardous events, and the number is even higher for women. A mounting body of literature finds complex, context-dependent relationships between (non-)migration and environmental risk and examines how households may use (non-)migration as an adaptive strategy. However, one understudied dimension of the relationship between environmental risk and (non-)migration is gender. Knowledge regarding how people respond to livelihood threats – either migrating or staying – within a particular environment is often handed down through generations. Likewise, attitudes towards gender roles are also intergenerational. Thus, how female (non-)migration evolves in the face of environmental risk remains a significant knowledge gap.

FeStay has been designed to address this gap through the innovative use of an empirically comparative approach across communities in Bangladesh. It examines:

1. The historical dimensions of environmental risk related to female non-migration.
2. The role of intergenerational experience and knowledge of female non-migrants in climate adaptation.

Increased knowledge about such intergenerational dynamics and interlinkages between environmental (non-)migration and gender will support locally-driven action plans.

Research Objectives

The research objective addresses three interrelated research questions:

1. How voluntary is female (non-)migration in different settings and types of households?
2. By what mechanism does female (non-)migration influence the well-being of households?
3. How do these mechanisms differ intergenerationally across environmental hazards?

These RQs will provide an advanced theoretical understanding of the intergenerational grounding of female environmental (non-)migration to inform more integrated interventions to support gender-inclusive adaptation planning in risky locales in the Global South, particularly for Bangladesh.