We are pleased to announce the publication of a new CuHeMo consortium paper in Geo: Geography and Environment:
Ismail, N., Boas, I., Bunchuay-Peth, S., Zhu, A. L., Sasiwongsaroj, K., Husa, L., Berger, M., Kebede, A., Sall, A., Chaisingkananont, S., & Ndiaye, A. (2026). Cultural Heritage in Motion: Adaptive Mobile Cultures of (Semi)nomadic Indigenous People in Changing Climates. Geo: Geography and Environment. https://doi.org/10.1002/geo2.70054
Published as part of the Special Section “De- or Re-Colonising Climate Adaptation?”, this paper draws on multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork with Nyangatom pastoralists in Ethiopia, Fulani and Guet Ndar communities in Senegal, and Moken sea peoples in Thailand. It argues that the mobility practices of these communities are not merely survival strategies, but living cultural heritage — carrying knowledge, rituals, and identity across generations.
The paper introduces the concept of adaptive mobile cultures and challenges the sedentary bias embedded in global climate governance frameworks such as UNFCCC and UNESCO, which have long rendered mobile, intangible forms of heritage invisible. It calls for a fundamental reorientation of climate adaptation, mitigation, and Loss & Damage policy toward recognising and protecting mobile ways of life.
The paper is Open Access and freely available here:
