ENVIU (Everyday Violence and Environmental Change in Uganda) is a research project that explores the relation between climate change and violence.

Climate change exacerbates exclusion and inequality and is seen to increase risks of violence and conflict. However, scholarly work predominantly describes this link in terms of tenuous causes and effects and at a large scale.

ENVIU will bring this relationship between climate change and violence closer to the ground. It will enrich the research on climate change and conflict by studying the forms, stakes, and implications of everyday violence from a decolonial and intersectional perspective among communities deeply affected by environmental change and degradation in Uganda.

Specifically, ENVIU investigates the extent and nature of this violence across different ‘socio-environmental fields’ from urban slums to forests and grasslands. As such, the study will show how farmers, urban youth, forest guards, fish inspectors and other directly affected local actors understand and relate their experiences of violence and conflict to broader issues of climate change and climate action.

By investigating how environmental change shapes experiences and practices of violence in people’s daily lives, ENVIU aims to generate knowledge that is both locally grounded and globally relevant. It seeks to inform inclusive climate action by producing critical empirical insights, strengthening local research capacity, and engaging and linking affected communities and key decision-makers.

Ultimately, the goal is to bring local voices into global conversations on climate change and conflict that is typically dominated by top down, macro-perspectives. In sum, the research thereby strives to support efforts that reduce violence, uphold environmental rights, and promote equity and social justice for communities most affected by climate change.