EMIGMA

EMIGMA was a research project funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) between 2010 and 2013. It was part of the research project “Soziale Dimensionen von Klimaschutz und Klimawandel” [Social dimensions of climate protection and climate change] carried out under the auspices of the BMBF’s Social-Ecological Research programme (SÖF). The project researched the environmental conduct and environment-related attitudes of Turkish and Russian-speaking migrants and developed approaches to strengthen their commitment to climate protection. This approach is also reflected in the title of the research project: “EMIGMA – Empowerment von Migranten für den Klimaschutz” (EMIGMA - empowerment of migrants for climate protection.)

The research project was undertaken by a project group from the University of Applied Sciences in Dortmund led by Professor Marcel Hunecke and Professor  Ahmet Toprak. The group comprises both environmental psychologists along with educational and social scientists. In addition to Dortmund University of Applied Sciences, the ifeu-Institute in Heidelberg was also part of the research consortium. ifeu was primarily responsible for the analysis of environmental behaviour, with particular emphasis on the CO₂ balance sheet. ifeu was therefore able to incorporate the scientific perspective into the research project.

In addition to the research establishments, representatives of migrant organisers were involved in the project as practice partners. These practice partners include:

• Dr Turgut Altug, Türkisch-Deutsches Umweltzentrum Berlin (Turkish-German Environmental Centre Berlin)
• Gülcan Nitsch, Yeşil Çember im BUND Berlin e.V.
• Ümit Kosan, Verbund sozial-kultureller Migrantenorganisationen Dortmund e.V.
• Dr. Larissa Graf, Tangere - Gesellschaft für interkulturelle Zusammenarbeit e.V. (Berlin)
• Nadja Dorokhova, Migranten für Agenda 21 Hannover e.V.
• Igor Wenzel, Forum Russlanddeutscher in Essen e.V

In the first phase (2010-2012) a representative survey was conducted using standardised interviews in the four regions of Dortmund, Berlin, Munich and Baden-Württemberg to record environmental behavior, environment-related attitudes, and the level of commitment in three areas of action – everyday mobility, housing and nutrition. The knowledge was then further consolidated through qualitative interviews. The CO₂ calculator developed by ifeu was used to quantify the environmental behaviour.

In the second phase (2012/2013), environmental psychology intervention measures (information, behavioural feedback, behavioural offers and incentives) were adapted to specific target groups and problems, and their effectiveness assessed.