Our Stories

On 26th July, Dr. Homer J. Yabut, Director of the Social Development Research Center at De La Salle University, Philippines, met with ECH Co-Director Prof. Sabine Pahl and Research Facilitation Coordinator Dr. Gemma Carr. The exchange focused on strategies to support collaborative research and build successful partnerships, and explored how research centres like the ECH promote excellence, impact, and international collaboration to address key challenges of the Sustainable Development Goals.

“Climate change and urban heat stress” was the topic of the 11th “Environmental Dialogue” on May 28 at the NHM Vienna. Experts from the fields of environmental medicine, psychology, law, and politics discussed measures for cities such as Vienna with the audience. Mathew White gave the keynote speech, and welcoming remarks were provided by NHM Director General Katrin Vohland, ECH Co-Director Thilo Hofmann, and the Rector of the University of Vienna, Sebastian Schütze. Over 200 guests attended.

About 200 guests attended the inauguration and launch event of the Environment and Climate Research Hub (ECH) on 8 March in the Great Hall of the University of Vienna.

On International Women’s Day, March 8th, 2024, the ECH awarded its first Environment and Climate Award in two categories. Taking place during the celebration of the Hub’s kick-off event, two outstanding young scientists from the University of Vienna, Tatiana Konrad and Lucia Fuchslueger, were honored with the “ECH Research Award”. Katharina Rogenhofer, alumna of the University and committed advocate of evidence-based climate policy, received the Society Award for Environment and Climate.

At the beginning of this calendar year, the Austrian recycling guidelines for the yellow bin were revised. During the coronavirus pandemic, images of large quantities of medical and laboratory waste spread on the Internet, and everyone is concerned about how we handle waste materials to solve environmental issues. The question of how we handle waste is ubiquitous, which provided the basis for interesting discussions during the event.

Numerous public and academic debates focus on healthy and sustainable diets. Our eating habits affect not only human health but also the planet through agriculture. The ninth edition of Environmental Dialogue addressed this complex topic, reflecting the University of Vienna’s semester question: Agriculture and planetary health – Opportunities for a healthy and sustainable diet. The event highlighted the interconnectedness of food systems and environmental well-being.