We explore how social, cultural, and economic transformations can support a just and sustainable response to environmental change.
How can our society transition from an unsustainable to a sustainable human-environmental system respecting planetary boundaries? Substantial changes are necessary in our relationship with the natural environment under climate change to ensure equity of access to water, energy, food, housing, healthcare, and mobility for the global population as well as future generations.
The focus area on changing society includes all scientists at the ECH that analyze facets of the socio-ecological transformation through the lens of the public sphere, economic factors, governance, and human behavior. Their unique interdisciplinary background fosters new and innovative research at the cross-section between nature, ecosystem services, and human society.
Observing nature can help us feel less pain. Now, for the first time, brain scans confirm what we subjectively feel, and point to why our perception of pain might change. Surprisingly, even virtual nature distracts our attention away from processing pain at a basic neurophysiological level. The researchers hope that this will also draw attention to how important nature is for our health and why we should protect it.
Science (and scientists) are increasingly confronted with criticism and the political dimension of their work. However, history suggests that not all criticism is the same. Some movements that have challenged scientific authority have ultimately driven social and scientific change. Should we revisit them today?
Under the Kyoto Protocol, countries must report their greenhouse gas emissions, including one of the most potent greenhouse gases: Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), used mainly as an insulator in the electrical industry. But the numbers don’t add up. A team of meteorologists has now published both global and regional SF6 emissions, confirming the discrepancies.
European researchers are creating an online tool that maps the entire ocean. Will it lead to more science-based diplomatic negotiations or just perpetuate existing problems? A political science perspective.
Literature cannot stop climate change, says ECH Member Eva Horn, a literary and cultural studies scholar at the University of Vienna. Yet, it can teach us much about how climate has always shaped human perception. We talked to her about insights from a humanities perspective.
Science has shown that a global approach is needed to stop plastic pollution. An international team, including environmental psychologist Sabine Pahl from the University of Vienna, sees the upcoming UN negotiations in South Korea (Nov 2024) as a historic chance for joint action. Their recent review in Science stresses the urgency of a global treaty to curb plastic pollution.
Kim Doell from the Faculty of Psychology was co-leading one of the largest experiments in the Psychology of Climate Change, together with Madalina Vlasceanu and Jay J. Van Bavel.
Talking to over 59 000 participants from 63 different countries, Kim and her co-investigators tried to develop a better understanding on what humans think about climate change and possible ways to combat it.
Alina Brad from the Department of Political Sciences and Etienne Schenider from the Department of Development Studies are part of the “FOCAL-Points” project.
Achieving climate neutrality by 2040 requires major transformations in all parts of society. Demand-side solutions are increasingly acknowledged as potentially powerful levers towards climate-change mitigation, reducing emissions by avoiding, shifting or improving final demand for emissions-intensive goods and services.
Mat White at the Cognitive Science Hub is leading “RESONATE” Horizon Europe funded project.
The University of Vienna is leading this project on nature-based social prescribing. Evidence suggests that contact with “nature” can help mitigate some of society’s most pressing health and social challenges, thus sparking the establishment of various interventions to support people’s access to nature.
Yuri Kazepov at the Department of Sociology is part of the “GetCoheSive” project and leads the Vienna case study.
GetCoheSive is an Interreg Central Europe project and experiments with new participatory strategies to enhance the democratic capacity in policymaking within four urban contexts: Berlin, Bologna, Ljubljana and Vienna.
Ulrich Brand at the Department of Political Sciences is part of the “Alternatives to Development” working group.
The group exists since 2010, has around 50 members (3 from Europe, the others from Latin America) and we discuss current hot topics on the continent.
Ulrich Brand at the Faculty of Political Sciences at the University of Vienna is part of the global working group “Beyond Development. Toward Systemic Emancipatory Transformations”.
Within Southeast Asia, countless grassroots initiatives exist that work to empower and organize communities to assert their rights to land, livelihood, and political-decision-making.
Oechsner, S., Rae, R., & Felt, U. (2025). Should I provide my health data for research? Citizens assessing the value of data provision. Big Data & Society, 1-12. https://doi.org/0.1177/20539517251361117
Gehrig, T., & Dietrich, D. (2025). Talk and The City: How Far to Trust Bankers (Not) Calling for Bailouts? Centre for Economic Policy Research CEPR.
Horn, C., & Felt, U. (2025). Collateral transitions. Reassembling societies, data centres and the twin transition. Environmental Science and Policy, 170, Article 104122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104122
Cologna, V., Meiler, S., Kropf, C. M., Lüthi, S., Mede, N. G., Bresch, D. N., Lecuona, O., Berger, S., Besley, J., Brick, C., Joubert, M., Maibach, E. W., Mihelj, S., Oreskes, N., Schäfer, M. S., Linden, S. V. D., Aziz, N. I. A., Abdulsalam, S., Shamsi, N. A., ... Todorova, B. (2025). Extreme weather event attribution predicts climate policy support across the world. Nature Climate Change, 15, 725-735. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-025-02372-4
Martin, L., White, M. P., Pahl, S., May, J., Newton, J. N., Elliott, L. R., Cirach, M., Grellier, J., Bratman, G. N., Gascon, M., Lima, M. L., Nieuwenhuijsen, M., Ojala, A., Roiko, A., van den Bosch, M., & Fleming, L. E. (2025). Nature contact and health risk Behaviours: Results from an 18 country study. Health and Place, 94, Article 103479. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2025.103479
Brocco, G., Meek, L. A., & Saffitz, J. L. (2025). Provincializing bodyminds, decolonizing disability. Social Science & Medicine, 376, 118048. Article 118048. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118048
Verstappen, S. (2025). Radfahren, Gender und Migration. Web publication, stape e.U. URBAN CONSULTING. https://www.stape.eu/2025/radfahren-gender-und-migration/
Felt, U. (2025). Residues that matter: Why innovation societies need to rethink their response-ability. Proceedings of the Paris Institute for Advanced Study, 21. https://paris.pias.science/article/residues-that-matter-why-innovation-societies-need-to-rethink-their-response-ability
Horn, C., & Felt, U. (2025). On the Environmental Fragilities of Digital Solutionism. Articulating “Digital” and “Green” in the EU’s “Twin Transition”. Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning. https://doi.org/10.1080/1523908X.2025.2515225
Brad, A. (2025). Die EU-Kommission sendet beim Klimaziel für 2040 fragwürdige Signale. Scilog - das Magazin des Wissenschaftsfonds FWF. https://scilog.fwf.ac.at/magazin/die-eu-kommission-sendet-beim-klimaziel-fuer-2040-fragwuerdige-signale
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