IFF Social Ecology e-Newsletter No. 24 – August 2011
CONTENTS
+ News
– Job vacancy: Assistant “Social Metabolism”
– UNEP Report 2011
– Samothraki: Biosphere Reserve
– Winter Semester 2011/2012: Guest professors
+ Upcoming Events
– World Resources Forum 2011 in Davos
– td-conference 2011 in Berne
– 12. Austrian Climate Research Day in Vienna
+ Public Outreach (German only)
+ Staff news
+ New publications
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+News
– Job vacancy: Assistant “Social Metabolism”
The Alpen-Adria-Universitaet Klagenfurt is pleased to offer the position of Assistant “Social Metabolism” at the Institute of Social Ecology in Vienna. We invite applications for the position of Assistant of “Social Metabolism” (B1, 50%, with the possibility of full employment financed by project funds) starting in September 2011 and limited to four years.
The applicant will help to advance the understanding of interrelations in socio-ecological systems. He or she will contribute to research in social metabolism, modeling and scenario building in support of policy processes. We are looking for an individual with an interdisciplinary background (natural and social sciences) and experience in methods of industrial ecology. We are seeking a committed and creative person with intellectual curiosity, strong communicative skills, organizational talent and enthusiasm for team work.
Details at the official job announcement: http://www.uni-klu.ac.at/career/inhalt/269_761.htm
– “Humanity Can and Must Do More with Less: UNEP experts warn: ‘Decouple’ resource consumption and economic growth rates”
By 2050, humanity could devour an estimated 140 billion tons of minerals, ores, fossil fuels and biomass per year – three times its current appetite – unless the economic growth rate is “decoupled” from the rate of natural resource consumption, warns a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme.
UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner and International Resource Panel Co-Chair Ashok Khosla, together with lead authors Marina Fischer-Kowalski and Mark Swilling, launched the report 12 May 2011 at the 19th annual meetings of the Commission for Sustainable Development, UN Secretariat, New York.
The full report, “Decoupling natural resource use and environmental impacts from economic growth,” is available at www.unep.org/resourcepanel/decoupling/
– Samothraki: Biosphere Reserve
Marina Fischer-Kowalski, Laz Xenidis and Simron J. Singh gladly announce that the municipality of the Island of Samothraki has submitted an application to UNESCO for becoming a Biosphere Reserve. This is an important milestone in a transdisciplinary project supported by the Austrian Academy of Sciences to create the first Biosphere Reserve in Greece. The Island of Samothraki is among the rare remaining examples of island natural beauty and rich biodiversity in the Aegean archipelago; most of its territory is mountainous, and there are numerous streams and waterfalls that flow all year round. Samothraki is also known for its rich archaeological heritage – the famous “Nike of Samothraki” is now exhibited in the Louvre, but the impressive remains of the “City of the Great Gods” where it came from attract many visitors. This project resulted from a collaborative effort of local NGOs, scientists and local administration directed at preserving the island from destruction by animal grazing and mass tourism, and seeking for a sustainable way of living for its inhabitants, which will be subject to a number of follow-up projects.
For pictures by a local photographer see http://samothrakisphotoblog.com/index.php?showimage=2661.
– Winter Semester 2011/2012: Guest professors
We are happy to announce two guest professors for the coming winter semester
An Environmental History of Fire
Geoff Cunfer, PhD; SE (1 SWS/2 ECTS)
Kick-off: 05.10.2011 from 14:00-15:00, blocked seminar: 19. Oct – 30. Nov 2011
Qualitative Approaches to Sustainability Research
in the Social Sciences
Henrike Rau, PhD & Dr. Ricca Edmondson; SE (1 SWS/2 ECTS)
Kick-off: 05.12.2011, blocked seminar: 5. Dec – 16. Dec 2011
Detailed information on course information can be found on our website in September: http://www.uni-klu.ac.at/socec/
For further information please contact: michael [dot] neundlinger [at] aau [dot] ac [dot] at
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+ Upcoming Events
– World Resources Forum, Davos, September 19-21, 2011
Shaping the Future of Natural Resources – Towards a Green Economy,
The World Resources Forum (WRF) is a science-based platform to exchange knowledge about the economic, political and environmental implications of global resource use. WRF promotes innovation for resource productivity by building bridges between researchers and policymakers, business, NGO’s and the public. Flagship activity is the bi-annual conference, held in Davos, Switzerland.
Marina Fischer-Kowalski will give a plenary talk on “Sociometabolic regimes, revolutions and transitions.“
Details: http://www.worldresourcesforum.org/program-overview
– td-conference 2011: Evaluation of Inter- and Transdisciplinary Research
Berne, 14-16 September 2011
Workshop: Sustainability Sciences: Evaluating Strategies of Setting and Shifting Boundaries
Organizers: Willi Haas and Barbara Smetschka (Institute of Social Ecology Vienna, SEC, Alpen-Adria University), Alexander Bogner (Austrian Academy of Sciences)
Details: http://www.transdisciplinarity.ch/e/Conference/international/2011/
– 12. Austrian Climate Research Day (German only)
Forschung zu „Klima, Klimawandel, Auswirkungen und Anpassung“ in Österreich.
Zeit: Mittwoch, 21. September bis Donnerstag 22. September 2011
Ort: Exnerhaus der Universität für Bodenkultur, 1190 Wien, Peter Jordanstraße 82
Details: http://www.austroclim.at/index.php?id=klimatag2011
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+ Public Outreach / Media resonance (German only)
– Susanne Strnadl
Die Ökonomie als Organismus betrachtet
Der Standard, Wissenschaft/Forschung Spezial, Mittwoch, 29.Juni 2011, Seite 20
– Karin Krichmayr
Die Natur ist kein Handelspartner
Der Standard, Wissenschaft/Forschung Spezial, Mittwoch, 18.Mai 2011, Seite 30
– Josef Kirchengast
Vier Weltkriege, das Frühstück und ein Dorf in Oberösterreich
Der Standard, Crossover, Dienstag, 5.April 2011, Seite 8
– Sebastian Gilli
Hinter dir dein Fußabdruck
Der Standard, Kultur, Mittwoch, 30.März 2011, Seite 31
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+ Staff News
– Karlheinz Erb was elected junior member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) due to his ERC Starting grant.
– Marina Fischer-Kowalski was elected vice-president of the board of the European Society of Ecological Economics (ESEE).
– Marina Fischer-Kowalski has been coopted as a member of the ERC Starting Independent Researcher Grant peer review panel for a third period.
– We welcome new team members Thomas Kastner (Human Ecology) and Christian Lauk (Social Ecology).
– Michael Neundlinger has finished his MA in Social Ecology with honours.
– Causing Ignition: Biofuels and Social Conflicts
Anke Schaffartzik was awarded a DocTeam fellowship for interdisciplinary teams by the Austrian Academy of Sciences for her PhD project on the potential of biofuels.
The potential to fuel future economies was ascribed to biofuels early in the public discourse. As of late, it seems that their spark ignites conflicts rather than engines.
Biofuels have been promoted as a solution to the multiple global crises of rising energy prices, climate change, and economic downturn. Internationally, economic powers such as the EU, the USA, Brazil, China, and India are determined to expand and develop the use of biofuels. Mandatory blending to motor fuels, most notably in the European Union, has created a strong demand for biofuels resulting in the emergence of a growing global market. Due to its strong impact on land use the production of biofuels is directly linked to cultural, ecological, economic, political, as well as social change.
– Prof. Geoff Cunfer has joined the Institute of Social Ecology as a visiting scientist from July to December 2011.
Prof. Cunfer is an environmental historian and Professor at the Department of History
and at the School of Environment and Sustainability at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. He is investigating land use change and environmental change in the North American Great Planes region and links historical and ecological approaches in his work. In cooperation with Fridolin Krausmann he is currently engaged in building up a research network on “Sustainable farm systems: long-term socio-ecological metabolism in western agriculture”.
The “New York Times” issue (26th of July 2011) includes an article about historical
GIS, including some discussion of Prof. Cunfers research about the history of the Dust
Bowl: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/27/arts/geographic-information-systems-help-scholars-see-history.html
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+ New Publications
Bogner, Alexander, Gaube, Veronika, and Smetschka, Barbara (2011): Partizipative Modellierung. Beteiligungsexperimente in der sozialökologischen Forschung. In: Österreichische Zeitschrift für Soziologie 36(2), pp. 74-97.
Eisenmenger, Nina, Schaffartzik, Anke, Krausmann, Fridolin, and Milota, Eva (2011): Ressourcennutzung in Österreich. Wien: Bundesministerium für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Umwelt und Wasserwirtschaft.
Fischer-Kowalski, Marina (2011): Analyzing sustainability transitions as a shift between socio-metabolic regimes. In: Environmental Innovation.and Societal.Transitions 1(1), pp. 152-159.
Fischer-Kowalski, Marina, Mayer, Andreas, and Schaffartzik, Anke (2011): Zur sozialmetabolischen Transformation von Gesellschaft und Soziologie. In: Groß, Matthias (Ed.): Handbuch Umweltsoziologie. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, pp. 97-120.
Gaube, Veronika, Smetschka, Barbara and Lutz, Juliana (2011). Sozialkapital und Nachhaltigkeit am Beispiel transdisziplinär entwickelter Computermodelle. In: Stefan Vater, Wolfgang Kellner, Wolfgang Jütte (Hrsg.): Erwachsenenbildung und Sozialkapital (Studies in lifelong learning, Band 4). Berlin: Lit Verlag, pp. 133-143.
Gingrich, Simone (2011): Foreign trade and early industrialisation in the Habsburg Monarchy and the United Kingdom – Two extremes in comparison. In: Ecological Economics 70(7), pp. 1280-1288.
Gierlinger, Sylvia and Krausmann, Fridolin (2011): The physical economy of the United States of America: Extraction, trade and consumption of materials from 1870 to 2005. In: Krausmann, Fridolin (Ed.): The socio-metabolic transition.Long term historical trends and patternsin global material and energy. Social Ecology Working Paper 131. Vienna: IFF-Social Ecology, Social Ecology Working Paper
Haberl, Helmut (2011): Feeding & fueling the 9 billion – sustainably. In: Options Summer 2011, pp. 8-9.
Haberl, Helmut and Erb, Karl-Heinz (2011): Feeding and fuelling the world 2050 – a new perspective on the food versus fuel debate. In: GLP News 7, pp. 5-6.
Jirsa, Franz and Winiwarter, Verena (2010): Eingeweidewürmer in Galens Schriften. Intestinal Helminths in the works of Galen. In: Wiener klinische Wochenschrift 122(1), pp. 14-18.
Kastner, Thomas and Nonhebel, Sanderine (2010): Changes in land requirements for food in the Philippines: A historical analysis. In: Land Use Policy 27(3), pp. 853-863.
Kastner, Thomas, Erb, Karl-Heinz, and Nonhebel, Sanderine (2011): International wood trade and forest change: a global analysis. In: Global Environmental Change 21, pp. 947-956.
Kastner, Thomas, Kastner, Michael, and Nonhebel, Sanderine (2011): Tracing distant environmental impacts of agricultural products from a consumer perspective. In: Ecological Economics 70(6), pp. 1032-1040.
Krausmann, Fridolin (ed.) (2011): The socio-metabolic transition.Long term historical trends and patterns in global material and energy use. Vienna: IFF-Social Ecology (Social Ecology Working Paper; 131).
Krausmann, Fridolin (2011): The global metabolic transition: a historical overview. In: Krausmann, Fridolin (Ed.): The socio-metabolic transition.Long term historical trends and patternsin global material and energy. Social Ecology Working Paper 131. Vienna: IFF-Social Ecology, Social Ecology Working Paper, pp. 74-102.
Krausmann, Fridolin, Fischer-Kowalski, Marina, Schaffartzik, Anke, Steinberger, Julia K., Eisenmenger, Nina, and Weisz, Ulli (2011): Trends and Developments of the Use of Natural Resources in the European Union. Vienna: IFF Social Ecology (Social Ecology Working Paper; 123).
Krausmann, Fridolin, Gingrich, Simone, and Nourbakhch-Sabet, Reza (2011): The metabolic transition in Japan: A material flow account for the period 1878 to 2005. In: Krausmann, Fridolin (Ed.): The socio-metabolic transition.Long term historical trends and patternsin global material and energy. Social Ecology Working Paper 131. Vienna: IFF Social Ecology, pp. 4-23.
Milota, Eva, Schaffartzik, Anke, and Eisenmenger, Nina (2011): Ressourcendaten – Verbesserung des statistischen Datenmaterials im Bereich natürliche Ressourcen. Projektbericht. Wien: Statistik Austria
Schaffartzik, Anke (2011): A Toe in America, a Heel in Asia? A Discussion of the Applicability of the Ecological Footprint to International Trade. In: Journal für Entwicklungspolitik 26(4), pp. 89-110.
Singh, Simron J. (2011): Introduction: The “nature” of development studies. In: Journal für Entwicklungspolitik 26(4), pp. 4-13.
Singh, Simron J. and Köhler, Bettina (eds.) (2011): Journal für Entwicklungspolitik (JEP) [Austrian Journal for Development Studies]: The “nature” of development studies. An ecological perspective on uneven development. Vienna: Mattersburger Kreis für Entwicklungspolitik an den österreichischen Universitäten26(4).
Singh, Simron J. and Haberl, Helmut (2011): Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research (LTSER) across Temporal and Spatial Scales. In: GLP News 7, pp. 15-16.
Steinberger, Julia K. and Krausmann, Fridolin (2010): What do economic resource productivities measure? In: Proceedings of the International Society for Ecological Economics conference: Advancing sustainability in a time of crisis, 22-25 August 2010, Oldenburg – Bremen, Germany. Oldenburg: ISEE, pp. 1-22.
UNEP (2011): Decoupling Natural Resource Use and Environmental Impacts from Economic Growth. A Report of the Working Group on Decoupling to the International Resource Use Panel. Fischer-Kowalski, M., Swilling, M., Weizsäcker, E.U., Ren, Y., Moriguchi, Y., Crane, W., Krausmann, F., Eisenmenger, N., Giljum, S., Hennicke, P., Romero Lankao, P., Siriban Manalang, A. Nairobi: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Singh, Simron J., Krausmann, Fridolin, Gingrich, Simone, Haberl, Helmut, Erb, Karl-Heinz, and Lanz, Peter (2011): India’s biophysical economy, 1961 – 2008. Sustainability in a national and global context. In: Krausmann, Fridolin (Ed.): The socio-metabolic transition.Long term historical trends and patternsin global material and energy. Social Ecology Working Paper 131. Vienna: IFF-Social Ecology, Social Ecology Working Paper, pp. 50-73.
Virgl, Christoph (2011): Protest in der Weltgesellschaft. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag
Weisz, Ulli, Gingrich, Simone, Winiwarter, Verena, Radits, Franz, Soukup-Altrichter, Katharina, Schmied, Christopher, Spranz, Astrid, Antic Aleksandar, Bosina, Christine, Ecker, Irene, Kalla, Maximilian J., Petrin, Walter, and Steinkellner, Gudrun (2011): Schüler(innen) auf der Suche nach den Wurzeln unserer Umweltprobleme. Umwelthistorische Forschung in technischen Schulen als Beitrag zur Bildung für nachhahaltige Entwicklung. In: GAIA 20(2), pp. 122-128.
Winiwarter, Verena (2010): Abordagens sobre a História Ambiental: um guia de campo para os seus conceitos. In: Abordagens Geográficas 1(1), pp. 1-21.
Winiwarter, Verena (2011): Rezension von Aloys Winterling (Hg.), Historische Anthropologie. (Basistexte 1, ed. Winterling), Stuttgart, Franz Steiner, 2006, 301 S., in: 2, 295-297.
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