Session 16.2

Climate-induced migration in West Africa is often framed in statistics, distant policies, or humanitarian responses. But on the ground, the crisis is intimate, embodied, and ongoing. In this panel, we present a deeply personal and community-rooted response to climate displacement through the lens of youth, art, and queer survival.

In 2022, Adora Richard founder of 3rdyearts initiatives became homeless after her agribusiness collapsed due to climate-induced failures. Struggling with debt and housing insecurity, she sought refuge on the beaches of Lagos. There, in the midst of personal crisis, she created a small gathering with friends to celebrate survival and creativity. What began as an act of defiance against erasure and despair ignited a movement that evolved into Dance on the Beach (DOTB), and the visionary project Eden for Creatives, a climate-resilient, inclusive artist residency.

This panel will explore how climate migration intersects with gender, sexuality, housing justice, and cultural identity. The speakers, all team members and co-creators of 3rdyearts Initiatives will offer layered perspectives on what it means to build sanctuary, not just shelter; to foster creativity, not just survival. They will share how their lived experiences of economic and environmental displacement have shaped new frameworks for home, community, and resistance.

Panelist Ikulaye will speak from her role as Communication Strategist and global sales manager at 3rdyearts, reflecting on how Dance on the Beach was born, a grassroots celebration on the beach, blending music, art, mental wellness, and sustainability.  Adora, the founder and ceo who is also an art/festival curator and consultant will speak on how arts can be a form of resistance and advocacy and on the impact of art and creativity on displaced communities.

From 10 people to a regional festival, DOTB now serves as both a healing space and a mobilizing platform for displaced and marginalized youth, especially queer and creative communities in Nigeria.

The panel will also introduce Eden Project for Creatives, a living solution to forced migration. Eden is a vision for an eco-conscious, low-cost, and communal housing structure that provides not just shelter but tools for long-term creative productivity and economic sustainability. With shared gardens, skill-building, storytelling spaces, and a circular art economy, Eden is designed to reduce climate vulnerabilities while restoring dignity to young, displaced creatives.

Together, the panelists will discuss:

• How informal festivals and creative projects like DOTB have become pipelines for stability, skill-sharing, and advocacy among displaced youth;

• The gaps in housing, mental health, and employment that disproportionately affect queer and female artists facing climate displacement;

• The opportunities that lie in embedding cultural and creative strategies within humanitarian and climate adaptation frameworks.

This conversation will serve as a blueprint for rethinking migration support mechanisms. Rather than treating climate migrants as passive victims, it centers them as active visionaries building alternative futures from the ground up.

The panel calls on NGOs, governments, development agencies, and donors to:

• Support climate-resilient, community-led cultural housing projects;

• Integrate art-based mental health and storytelling interventions into migrant support;

• Recognize creative leadership as essential in adaptation and transition strategies.

As climate pressures deepen, 3rdyearts Initiatives, Dance on the Beach festival , and Eden for Creatives stand as powerful cases of homegrown resistance. Through this panel, we share not just our story, but an invitation to co-create new blueprints of belonging, joy, and resilience in the face of climate crisis.