IFF Social Ecology e-Newsletter Nr. 40 – February 2018

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The Institute of Social Ecology Vienna (SEC) at Alpen-Adria University Klagenfurt (UNI-KLU) seeks highly qualified and motivated candidates for

1 PhD position (3 years) in
Socio-ecological metabolism approaches to analyse telecoupling related to international trade

starting from 01 September 2018 or earlier. Funded by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie ITN Programme,
GA agreement 765408.
+++ Closing date 16th of March, 2018 +++

Topic

International trade of land-based products is one major process behind telecouplings. Trade is growing exponentially, much faster than aggregate global production and consumption of land-based resources, thereby resulting in growing challenges with managing telecouplings for sustainability.However, the relation between traded products flows and impacts of land is all but straightforward. Land is a hugely heterogeneous resource due to its vastly differing quality (e.g. soil fertility, ruggedness, accessibility, precipitation or temperature) and land-use intensity. Empirically tracing telecouplings associated with flows of traded products needs to take these differences into account, while still generating indicators facilitating quantitative assessments.This ESR will be focused on using and expanding the social metabolism framework to develop robust biophysical indicators to quantify the extent, magnitude, and dynamics of telecouplings due to biomass trade (e.g., embodied land demand, HANPP, nitrogen use, agricultural labor, changes in ecosystem carbon stocks, or biodiversity impacts.) These indicators will be used to quantify and analyze the global to regional effects of telecouplings on land-use efficiency, resource-use intensity and trade-offs for the period 2000-2015. One major task will be to establish consistent global databases allowing to trace and account for global trade flows on a high level of disaggregation using bilateral (country-by-country) trade matrices for all countries with a high product resolution (dozens to hundreds of products), including an assessment of uncertainties and variability of patterns over time. The developed framework will be applied to Leuphana University of Lüneburg’s trade-related cases, in order to explore analytical usefulness in the context of governance analysis at different scales.Expected results are:a global database on telecouplings resulting from biomass trade, the development of indicators tracing how telecouplings affect resource efficiency and environmental impacts, an insights into the trade-offs and synergies of different strategies to manage and govern telecouplings.

Location

The Institute of Social Ecology Vienna (SEC) is a subdivision of the Faculty of Interdisciplinary Studies (IFF) at Alpen-Adria University Klagenfurt (UNI-KLU). Research and teaching at the Institute of Social Ecology deals with the interrelationship of social and natural systems in the context of sustainable development. The institute’s staff comprises 25 researchers and 6 administrative staff members as well as a number of PhD students. Researchers come from interdisciplinary backgrounds such as biology, ecology, sociology, anthropology, political and technical sciences. SECs methodological spectrum includes material and energy flow analysis (MEFA), geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing methods, systemic actor-oriented and organizational analyses, and the use of historical sources. SEC researchers make increasing use of modelling techniques for data simulation, a synthetic presentation of results and as a basis for scenarios. SEC offers a doctoral program on Social Ecology and a master program on Social and Human Ecology.

We seek

A candidate with an above-average MSc (or equivalent degree) in interdisciplinary environmental sciences such as Ecological Economics, Social Ecology, Human Ecology, Geography or or related fields. We expect strong interest in land use and land system science and sustainability problems and interdisciplinary work. Required skills include a sound background in quantitative methods, handling of large databases, proficiency in database management software, programming ability and strong analytic skills. GIS expertise is welcome.

If you consider applying, please go to:
http://coupled-itn.eu/recruitment/

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Institute of Social Ecology Vienna (SEC)
Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt, Wien, Graz (AAU)
A-1070 Vienna, Schottenfeldgasse 29, Austria
sec [dot] newsletter [at] aau [dot] at
www.aau.at/sec

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IFF Social Ecology e-Newsletter Nr. 39 – January 2018

Projects – Publications – Media Resonance – Publication Download – Data Download – Job Announcements

New Publication

Social Ecology. State of the Art and Future Prospects

Kramm, J., Zimmermann, M., Pichler, M. and Schaffartzik, A. (Eds.)

Social Ecology. State of the Art and Future Prospects” Special Issue in Sustainability
MDPI, 2017

Buy this publication

Over the last decades, social ecology has made important contributions to interdisciplinary sustainability studies. Established in the late 1980s, social ecology was developed as a deliberate provocation to the more ‘disciplined’ natural and social science environmental research. With its focus on the specific interrelations between societies and their natural environment (consisting of social and biophysical processes), it has challenged disciplinary assumptions about environmental problems. The particular conceptualization of society-nature interrelations in social ecology yields strong arguments for the necessity of inter- and transdisciplinary analyses of and responses to the ecological crisis which integrate different knowledge types and stakeholder perspectives.While both the hybrid subject matter and the inter- and transdisciplinary approach were highly contested at the beginning, social ecology is now widely accepted within sustainability research and beyond. The contributions to this special issue should take stock of these developments and evaluate major conceptual and empirical achievements and current frontiers of social ecology.Inter- and transdisciplinarity are fundamentally integrated into the social ecology research framework. This integration rests on the development of concepts and methods for the specific purpose of this type of research. Through the transdisciplinary participation of societal actors, socio‑ecological research is faced with both the advantage and challenge of working with heterogeneous knowledge. The concept of regulation and transformation of societal relations to nature as well as the model of social-ecological provisioning systems (SEPS), for example, can be used to specify these interrelations and can be combined with analytical tools such as an ideal model of a transdisciplinary research process and social-ecological lifestyle analysis. A strong focus on the systemic framework within which these society-nature relations can be researched has led to the development of socio-economic metabolism research. The concepts of metabolism and of colonization help to characterize society-nature relations and are complemented by analytical tools such as material flow accounting and the human appropriation of net primary production.The aim of this special issue is not to present one monolithic approach to social ecology but to present the variety in the existing research, to discuss how mutual irritation can be productive and to reflect on how the different conceptual achievements must be understood in light of the current socio‑ecological challenges to which they respond.

Download all 11 chapters:

Gizicki-Neundlinger, M., Güldner, D. and, 2017. Surplus, Scarcity and Soil Fertility in Pre-Industrial Austrian Agriculture—The Sustainability Costs of Inequality. Sustainability 9. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9020265

Görg, C., Brand, U., Haberl, H., Hummel, D., Jahn, T., Liehr, S., 2017. Challenges for Social-Ecological Transformations: Contributions from Social and Political Ecology. Sustainability 9. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9071045

Haas, W., Andarge, B.H., 2017. More Energy and Less Work, but New Crises: How the Societal Metabolism-Labour Nexus Changes from Agrarian to Industrial Societies. Sustainability 9. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9071041

Haberl, H., Wiedenhofer, D., Erb, K.-H., Görg, C., Krausmann, F., 2017. The Material Stock–Flow–Service Nexus: A New Approach for Tackling the Decoupling Conundrum. Sustainability 9. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9071049

Hummel, D., Jahn, T., Keil, F., Liehr, S., Stieß, I., 2017. Social Ecology as Critical, Transdisciplinary Science—Conceptualizing, Analyzing and Shaping Societal Relations to Nature. Sustainability 9. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9071050

Kramm, J., Pichler, M., Schaffartzik, A., Zimmermann, M., 2017. Societal Relations to Nature in Times of Crisis—Social Ecology’s Contributions to Interdisciplinary Sustainability Studies. Sustainability 9. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9071042

Liehr, S., Röhrig, J., Mehring, M., Kluge, T., 2017. How the Social-Ecological Systems Concept Can Guide Transdisciplinary Research and Implementation: Addressing Water Challenges in Central Northern Namibia. Sustainability 9. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9071109

Mehring, M., Zajonz, U., Hummel, D., 2017. Social-Ecological Dynamics of Ecosystem Services: Livelihoods and the Functional Relation between Ecosystem Service Supply and Demand—Evidence from Socotra Archipelago, Yemen and the Sahel Region, West Africa. Sustainability 9. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9071037

Schaffartzik, A., Pichler, M., 2017. Extractive Economies in Material and Political Terms: Broadening the Analytical Scope. Sustainability 9. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9071047

Schleyer, C., Lux, A., Mehring, M., Görg, C., 2017. Ecosystem Services as a Boundary Concept: Arguments from Social Ecology. Sustainability 9. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9071107

Völker, C., Kramm, J., Kerber, H., Schramm, E., Winker, M., Zimmermann, M., 2017. More Than a Potential Hazard—Approaching Risks from a Social-Ecological Perspective. Sustainability 9. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9071039

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Institute of Social Ecology Vienna (SEC)
Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt, Wien, Graz (AAU)
A-1070 Vienna, Schottenfeldgasse 29, Austria
sec [dot] newsletter [at] aau [dot] at
www.aau.at/sec

To unsubscribe simply reply to this email with „unsubscribe“ in the subject line.

IFF Social Ecology e-Newsletter Nr. 38 – October 2017

Projects – Publications – Media Resonance – Publication Download – Data Download – Job Announcements

Call for application in ITN COUPLED network on „Operationalising Telecouplings for Solving Sustainability Challenges for Land Use”

Become part of a new generation of young scientists solving sustainability challenges in land-use – the call for 15 PhD positions is now open!

Deadline: 24 November 2017, 23:59 CET

PhD at the Institute of Social Ecology:

Socio-ecological metabolism approaches to analyse telecoupling related to international trade

International trade of land-based products is one major process behind telecouplings. Trade is growing exponentially, much faster than aggregate global production and consumption of land-based resources, thereby resulting in growing challenges with managing telecouplings for sustainability.

However, the relation between traded products flows and impacts of land is all but straightforward. Land is a hugely heterogeneous resource due to its vastly differing quality (e.g. soil fertility, ruggedness, accessibility, precipitation or temperature) and land-use intensity. Empirically tracing telecouplings associated with flows of traded products needs to take these differences into account, while still generating indicators facilitating quantitative assessments.

This ESR will be focused on using and expanding the social metabolism framework to develop robust biophysical indicators to quantify the extent, magnitude, and dynamics of telecouplings due to biomass trade (e.g., embodied land demand, HANPP, nitrogen use, agricultural labor, changes in ecosystem carbon stocks, or biodiversity impacts.) These indicators will be used to quantify and analyze the global to regional effects of telecouplings on land-use efficiency, resource-use intensity and trade-offs for the period 2000-2015. One major task will be to establish consistent global databases allowing to trace and account for global trade flows on a high level of disaggregation using bilateral (country-by-country) trade matrices for all countries with a high product resolution (dozens to hundreds of products), including an assessment of uncertainties and variability of patterns over time. The developed framework will be applied to LUL’s trade-related cases, in order to explore analytical usefulness in the context of governance analysis at different scales.

Expected results are:

a global database on telecouplings resulting from biomass trade,
the development of indicators tracing how telecouplings affect resource efficiency and environmental impacts, and
insights into the trade-offs and synergies of different strategies to manage and govern telecouplings.

Find all details on: http://coupled-itn.eu/recruitment/available-position/

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Institute of Social Ecology Vienna (SEC)
Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt, Wien, Graz (AAU)
A-1070 Vienna, Schottenfeldgasse 29, Austria
sec [dot] newsletter [at] aau [dot] at
www.aau.at/sec

To unsubscribe simply reply to this email with „unsubscribe“ in the subject line.

IFF Social Ecology e-Newsletter Nr. 37 – March 2017

Projects – Publications – Media Resonance – Publication Download – Data Download – Job Announcements

2 PostDoc Stellen am Institut für Soziale Ökologie

PostDoc-Assistentin / PostDoc-Assistent (Dienstort Wien) am Institut für Soziale Ökologie (SEC), Fakultät für Interdisziplinäre Forschung und Fortbildung (IFF), Standort Wien, im Beschäftigungsausmaß von 50 % (20 Wochenstunden, Uni-KV: B1 lit. b). Das monatliche Mindestentgelt für diese Verwendung beträgt € 1.813,30 brutto (14 x jährlich). Voraussichtlicher Beginn des auf sechs Jahre befristeten Angestelltenverhältnisses mit Dienstort Wien ist ehestmöglich.

Der Aufgabenbereich umfasst:

selbständige Forschung im Bereich inter- und transdisziplinäre Nachhaltigkeitsforschung mit Schwerpunkt nachhaltige Ressourcennutzung auf unterschiedlichen Skalenebenen (von lokal bis global) und unter Berücksichtigung gesellschaftlicher Aspekte
Mitarbeit an und Leitung von interdisziplinären Forschungsprojekten
selbständige Lehrtätigkeit im Rahmen des Masterstudiums „Sozial- und Humanökologie“ und des DoktorandInnen-Kollegs „Soziale Ökologie“
Mitarbeit an administrativen und organisatorischen Aufgaben in Institut, Fakultät und Universität
Mitwirkung am Ausbau der internationalen wissenschaftlichen Kontakte des Instituts für Soziale Ökologie

Voraussetzung für die Einstellung:

abgeschlossenes Hochschulstudium mit einem fachlich der Sozialen Ökologie zuzuordnenden Doktorat
Erfahrung in der universitären Lehre
Publikationstätigkeit in internationalen wissenschaftlichen Büchern und peer-review Zeitschriften im Bereich nachhaltige Ressourcennutzung auf unterschiedlichen Skalenebenen (von lokal bis global), vorzugsweise unter Einbeziehung gesellschaftlicher Aspekte
Vortragstätigkeit (insbesondere auch bei internationalen Konferenzen) mit Schwerpunkten im oben genannten Bereich
Erfahrungen in einschlägigen inter- und transdisziplinären Forschungsprojekten im oben genannten Bereich

Erwünscht sind:

Erfahrung in der Akquisition und Leitung von Forschungsprojekten im Drittmittelbereich
Eigeninitiative und Engagement zur Weiterqualifizierung (z.B. Habilitationsvorhaben oder einschlägige Projekte)
gute Englischkenntnisse (Wort und Schrift)
kommunikative Kompetenz und Teamfähigkeit
Die Stelle wird ohne die Möglichkeit des Abschlusses einer Qualifizierungsvereinbarung ausgeschrieben.

Die Universität strebt eine Erhöhung des Frauenanteils beim wissenschaftlichen Personal an und fordert daher qualifizierte Frauen zur Bewerbung auf.

Menschen mit Behinderungen oder chronischen Erkrankungen, die die geforderten Qualifikationskriterien erfüllen, werden ausdrücklich zur Bewerbung aufgefordert.

Allgemeine Informationen finden BewerberInnen unter www.aau.at/jobs/information.

Bewerbungen sind mit den üblichen Unterlagen bis spätestens 22. März 2017 unter der Kennung 811/16 an die Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt, Dekanatekanzlei/Recruiting, ausschließlich über das Online-Bewerbungsformular unter www.aau.at/obf zu richten.

Es besteht kein Anspruch auf Abgeltung von Reise- und Aufenthaltskosten, die aus Anlass des Aufnahmeverfahrens entstehen.

PostDoc-Assistentin / PostDoc-Assistent (Dienstort Wien) am Institut für Soziale Ökologie (SEC), Fakultät für Interdisziplinäre Forschung und Fortbildung (IFF), Standort Wien, im Beschäftigungsausmaß von 50 % (20 Wochenstunden, Uni-KV: B1 lit. b). Das monatliche Mindestentgelt für diese Verwendung beträgt € 1.813,30 brutto (14 x jährlich). Voraussichtlicher Beginn des auf sechs Jahre befristeten Angestelltenverhältnisses mit Dienstort Wien ist ehestmöglich.

Der Aufgabenbereich umfasst:

selbständige Forschung im Bereich integrierte, partizipative sozial-ökologische Modellierung mit einem Schwerpunkt auf Wechselwirkungen zwischen sozio-ökonomischen Faktoren, Entscheidungsverhalten von Akteuren und deren Auswirkungen im Hinblick auf die Nutzung biophysischer Ressourcen (Land, Materialien, Energie)
Mitarbeit an interdisziplinären Forschungsprojekten
selbständige Lehrtätigkeit im Rahmen des Masterstudiums „Sozial- und Humanökologie“ und des DoktorandInnen-Kollegs „Soziale Ökologie“
Mitarbeit an administrativen und organisatorischen Aufgaben in Institut, Fakultät und Universität
Mitwirkung am Ausbau der internationalen wissenschaftlichen Kontakte des Instituts für Soziale Ökologie

Voraussetzung für die Einstellung:

abgeschlossenes Hochschulstudium mit einem fachlich der Sozialen Ökologie zuzuordnenden Doktorat
Erfahrung in der universitären Lehre
Publikationstätigkeit in internationalen, peer-reviewed wissenschaftlichen Zeitschriften im Bereich integrierte sozial-ökologische Modellierung, vorzugsweise unter Einbeziehung von partizipativen Elementen
Vortragstätigkeit (insbesondere auch bei internationalen Konferenzen) mit Schwerpunkten im oben genannten Bereich
Erfahrungen in einschlägigen interdisziplinären Forschungsprojekten im oben genannten Bereich

Erwünscht sind:

Erfahrung in der Akquisition und Leitung von Forschungsprojekten im Drittmittelbereich
Eigeninitiative und Engagement zur Weiterqualifizierung (z.B. Habilitationsvorhaben oder einschlägige Projekte)
gute Englischkenntnisse (Wort und Schrift)
kommunikative Kompetenz und Teamfähigkeit

Die Stelle wird ohne die Möglichkeit des Abschlusses einer Qualifizierungsvereinbarung ausgeschrieben.

Die Universität strebt eine Erhöhung des Frauenanteils beim wissenschaftlichen Personal an und fordert daher qualifizierte Frauen zur Bewerbung auf.

Menschen mit Behinderungen oder chronischen Erkrankungen, die die geforderten Qualifikationskriterien erfüllen, werden ausdrücklich zur Bewerbung aufgefordert.

Allgemeine Informationen finden BewerberInnen unter www.aau.at/jobs/information.

Bewerbungen sind mit den üblichen Unterlagen bis spätestens 22. März 2017 unter der Kennung 812/16 an die Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt, Dekanatekanzlei/Recruiting, ausschließlich über das Online-Bewerbungsformular unter www.aau.at/obf zu richten.

Es besteht kein Anspruch auf Abgeltung von Reise- und Aufenthaltskosten, die aus Anlass des Aufnahmeverfahrens entstehen.

Like us on Facebook

Impressum
Institute of Social Ecology Vienna (SEC)
Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt, Wien, Graz (AAU)
A-1070 Vienna, Schottenfeldgasse 29, Austria
sec [dot] newsletter [at] aau [dot] at
www.aau.at/sec

To unsubscribe simply reply to this email with „unsubscribe“ in the subject line.

1 PhD position (3 years) in Socio-ecological metabolism approaches to analyse telecoupling related to international trade

1 PhD position (3 years) in
Socio-ecological metabolism approaches to analyse telecoupling related to international trade