Environmental change and migration

Abstract/Description

Due to changing conditions such as the climate, inhabited areas are increasingly threatened by natural hazards. Worldwide, the focus lies mostly on sea level rise of coastal regions, whereas in Switzerland, hazards such as rockfalls, debris flows, avalanches or floods can force people to relocate. Thereby, manifold difficulties arise for the affected community, such as social, financial, and legal aspects. In Switzerland, the decision-making process on measures varies greatly and is typically conducted individually for each case concerned. Relocation is only carried out if no other measures, such as technical measures, are possible. However, as the problem increases, relocation of people at risk may not only be considered as a last option but should be included as a possible solution from the very beginning, as this may bring advantages.
In this study, a decision support and evaluation framework is developed, which should enable a structured, integrative and yet individual approach to decision making on managed retreat and serve as a guideline. For this, case studies of historical and current cases from Switzerland, in which a relocation was evaluated or implemented, are analyzed. From the resulting scoping study, the influencing social, financial and legal aspects are elaborated, which form the inner core of the framework. The outer circle of the framework is formed by the whole evaluation and monitoring process which includes aspects such as communication. For this purpose, literature search, expert interviews, and interviews with affected people have been done.
This study shows that sustainable decisions on such sensitive issues as managed retreat can be facilitated and disentangled with the help of an integrative but individually adaptable framework. The relative importance of different factors for those affected by a (possible) relocation is also indicated.
As managed retreat and relocations will gain further importance in the future, it is important to approach and implement the measures in a comprehensive and coordinated way. Such an approach may also open opportunities for those affected, in addition to the (unavoidable) negative aspects.