In this paper, the authors propose a novel application of Factors Constellation Analysis (FCA) for climate (im-)mobility research. Through the application of FCA, the authors advance an interdisciplinary research agenda which attends equally to mobility and immobility, and integrates perspectives and approaches from both natural and social sciences.
The authors set out a framework which bridges disciplinary divides to better understand climate (im-)mobility.
The complex, multicausal nature of climate-related (im-)mobility demands a genuinely integrative, interdisciplinary approach which bridges climate research and the social sciences. In this paper, the authors set out a research agenda which addresses this need: their interdisciplinary approach enables the analysis of how both climatic and non-climatic drivers interact to shape people’s livelihoods and decisions to move or stay in a changing climate.
The authors review existing analytical frameworks, assessing how they conceptualize interactions among mobility drivers, their relationship to climate change, and the ways in which climate change reshapes mobility dynamics. In light of this analysis, the authors then propose a research agenda which attends equally to mobility and immobility, and integrates perspectives and approaches from both natural and social sciences.
To do this, the authors advance a new analytical model based on Factors Constellation Analysis (FCA). FCA originates in health sciences, where it was developed to assess the impact of constellations of risk factors on public health. The authors adapted FCA to analyse how climatic, environmental, demographic, social, cultural, political and economic factors influence mobility outcomes. Their efforts integrated quantitative, qualitative, and scenario-based models, primary and secondary data, and considered climate vulnerable regions around the world. Working with this new model, the authors lay out seven steps for advancing a research agenda on climate change and human (im-)mobility. These steps help to identify which constellations of factors provoke specific patterns of mobility or immobility.
The new interdisciplinary approach facilitates more robust and predictive climate mobility forecasting, which in turn will provide a stronger scientific basis for climate adaptation and (im-)mobility policy at national and regional levels.
Event on 18 November in Antalya / The COP31 side event examines how to make locally led adaptation investable through stronger business models, suitable finance and more equitable access.
Collection / In a new series, SEI experts explore how the 2026–27 El Niño is deepening existing vulnerabilities on a planet already under accelerating climate change.
Other publication / This EU Researcher article explores how Nature-based Solutions can support participatory governance, biodiversity, climate resilience and human well-being.
