IFF Social Ecology e-Newsletter No. 29 - October 2013

CONTENTS

+ News

Verena Winiwarter is nominated for the Presse-Award “Austrian of the Year”
ENVIEDAN in „Humanities in the Societal Challenges“
Special Issue on “Land System Science: between global challenges and local realities”
Danube:Future
Winter Semester 2013/14: Course information online
Guest Professor and Guest Lecturer: Dr. Henrike Rau and Bo Poulsen
How to navigate Spaceship Earth’s food security and land-based mitigation
“BEST LECTURES LIBRARY”

+ Sustainability events

ISEE International Biennial Conference 2014: “Equity Within Planetary Boundaries”
ZUG-Minisymposium

+ Public outreach / Media resonance (mostly German)

+ Staff news

+ New publications

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+ News

Verena Winiwarter is nominated for the Presse-Award “Österreicher des Jahres “
The Environmental Historian and Dean of the Faculty for “Interdisziplinäre Forschung und Fortbildung”, and Member of the Institute of Social Ecology Vienna, and of the Center for Environmental History is nominated in the category “Science”. The Newspaper “Die Presse” invites all interested persons to vote till October 11.
For more information: http://www.uni-klu.ac.at/main/inhalt/uninews_42426.htm
Vote for her: http://diepresse.com/unternehmen/austria13/index.do

ENVIEDAN in „Humanities in the Societal Challenges – 12 Compelling Cases for Policymakers“
The FWF Project „ENVIEDAN Environmental history of the Viennese Danube 1500 – 1890: Understanding long-term dynamics, patterns and side-effects of the colonization of rivers“ was selected as one of 12 projects in Europe which make compelling cases for policymakers about the relevance of humanities’ scholarship. This is the first brochure produced by the Science Europe Scientific Committee for the Humanities. Its objective is to increase awareness of how the humanities are actually contributing to the Societal Challenges. The Humanities have important resources to offer and it is essential that in the formulation of the Horizon 2020 programme texts there is scope to include these valuable lines of research. The projects highlighted in the brochure not only have made a concrete, societal impact but also break through the usual stereotypes of the humanities and therefore widened the view on our field. The brochure was presented at the EU Presidency conference `Horizons for Social Sciences and Humanities in Vilnius, Lithuania.
See: http://www.scienceeurope.org/downloads

Special Issue on “Land System Science: between global challenges and local realities
Synthesis product of the Global Land Project (http://www.globallandproject.org/) published. In the journal ‘Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability (COSUST)’, a special issue on “Land System Science: between global challenges and local realities” was just released. It contains 14 internationally authored review articles and an editorial overview by the guest editors on the current research frontiers of land system science. Several members of the Institute of Social Ecology contributed to this special issue, including Karl-Heinz Erb who also served as guest-editor (together with Peter H. Verburg, Ole Mertz and Giovana Espindola).
See http://www.journals.elsevier.com/current-opinion-in-environmental-sustainability/

Danube:Future
Among the macroregional strategies of the EU, the Danube Strategy (EUSDR) is of particular relevance to Austria. Its 4 pillars are subdivided into 7 priority areas. The Danube:Future umbrella program has recently been endorsed by the Steering Committee of Priority Area 7 of EUSDR, “Knowledge Society” as a flagship project of PA7. This is an important step for the 13 Mio Euro initiative in the making. The project is lead by Verena Winiwarter on behalf of the Danube Rector’s Conference and the Alps-Adriatic Rector’s conference. Vienna’s University of Life Sciences (BOKU), University degli Studi Trieste (IT) and the University of Novi Sad are the partners of AAU in this endeavor. The project seeks to contribute with research and capacity building to the sustainable development of the Danube Region, with particular emphasis on the Humanities. The role of natural heritage for the sustainable development of the Danube Region is the focus of the next DIANET International School, to be held in Gorizia from March 21-31, 2014.
More information at http://www.danubefuture.eu/2014-edition

Fall term 2013/14: Course information online
Detailed information can be found on our website: http://www.uni-klu.ac.at/socec/downloads/KoVo-web-WS13.pdf
For further information please contact: mirjam [dot] weber [at] aau [dot] at

Guest Professor and Guest Lecturer: Dr. Henrike Rau and Bo Poulsen
Henrike Rau (Universität Galway, Irland) is a lecturer in Political Science and Sociology, specialising in environmental sociology and sustainability research. She is a member of the SAI committee (2009-present) and ISA-RC24 (Environment and Society). She is also co-chair of the Governance and Sustainable Development research cluster at NUIG and leader of the Socio-Economics and Policy cross-cutting theme in the Ryan Institute. Henrike Rau’s research focuses on socio-cultural and political aspects of (un)sustainable consumption, especially with regard to transport patterns. Her other areas of expertise include environmental sociology, social-scientific and interdisciplinary sustainability research and cross-cultural studies. She is particularly interested in the implications of human time use for sustainability, which enables her to link her previous research on time cultures and temporal practices in Germany and Ireland to her current interests in sustainability. In winter term 2013 Henrike Rau will give a seminar on “Sustainable Consumption: Concepts and Cases”.

Bo Poulsen from the Aalborg University, Denmark will give a seminar “The History of Oceans and Fishes – Interdisciplinary Perspectives” (11.-13. November 2013)

How to navigate Spaceship Earth’s food security and land-based mitigation
Sonja Vermeulen, Head of Research for CCAFS (Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security) appreciates the journal article „How much land-based greenhouse gas mitigation can be achieved without compromising food security and environmental goals?“ co-authored by Pete Smith and a global team of scientists, including Helmut Haberl, Karl-Heinz Erb and Christian Lauk of the Institute of Social Ecology in Vienna in „AgClim Letters, a regular analysis on science and policy“. See the September 2013 edition of AgClim Letters: http://ccafs.cgiar.org/blog/how-navigate-spaceship-earth%E2%80%99s-food-security-and-land-based-mitigation

“BEST LECTURES LIBRARY”
eseia is currently working on a project called “BEST LECTURES LIBRARY”: This project aim to gather the best lectures held during the STYRIAN ACADEMY, in order to make them available online. This collection will include a conceptual framework for how to run sustainable energy courses integrating the three sides of the knowledge triangle. The lecture of Marina Fischer-Kowalski was been selected for the purpose of dealing with „Energy and Society: The Great Transformation“. The best lectures library will display the Power point PDF the lectures, and it will be release on the eseia website by the end of September 2013 for all eseia members.

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+ Sustainability events

ISEE International Biennial Conference 2014: “Equity Within Planetary Boundaries”
Save the date: The ISEE Conference will take place from 13 – 15 August 2014 in Reykjavik, Iceland. The 2014 ISEE conference aims to provide a setting where Ecological Economics ambitions are tried out, examining if the community is up to making a difference in securing Wellbeing and Equity within Planetary Boundaries. To achieve this aim the conference will provide a platform for mobilizing the world’s intellectual capacity and creativity, concentrating on three overarching themes that all relate closely to the focal concept of the conference. The themes are: i) Planetary boundaries and resource constraints, ii) Equity and economic development dynamics, and iii) A great transition ahead? For each theme numerous sub-themes have been identified. Marina Fischer-Kowalski as president of ISEE, in cooperation with the local organizer Binna Davidsdottir, will be responsible for organizing this conference. For more information, visit the conference website: http://isee2014.yourhost.is/

ZUG-Minisymposium
Ao. Univ.Prof. Mag. Dr. Markus Cerman (Universität Wien), Univ.Prof. Dr. Thomas Ertl (Universität Wien) and Priv.Doz. Dr. Thomas Frank (Universität Pavia) will give a talk on “Spätmittelalterliche Ländliche Bodenmärkte in Österreich und Norditalien im Vergleich”.
IFF, 1070 Vienna, Schottenfeldgasse 29, October 17th 2013, 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Details: http://www.umweltgeschichte.aau.at/index,6645,Kopie+57.+Minisymposium+am+17.10.2013.html

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+ Public Outreach / Media resonance (mostly German)

Forscher rekonstruierten Verlauf der Donau seit Beginn der Neuzeit
Der Standard, 21. September 2013
http://derstandard.at/1379291348644/Forscher-rekonstruierten-Verlauf-der-Donau-seit-Beginn-der-Neuzeit

Klagenfurter Uni klärt Klimarätsel
http://www.ktz.at/, 26. September 2013, Seite 11
http://www.uni-klu.ac.at/socec/downloads/KTZ_20130926_SEITE_11.pdf

Rätsel um 2,5 Milliarden Tonnen „abgängigen“ Kohlenstoff gelöst
Der Standard, NetBusiness/Wissenschaft, 26. September 2013, Seite 20
http://www.uni-klu.ac.at/socec/downloads/STANDARD_20130926_SEITE_22_Bundesland.pdf

Wohin der Kohlenstoff verschwindet
science.orf.at, 25. September 2013
http://science.orf.at/stories/1725487/

Der Widerspenstigen Zähmung
Profil, Wissen, 18. September 2013, Seite 70-75
http://reddot.uni-klu.ac.at/cms/ImageCache/21F61466BB594C6195395A1D12B88B9A/236DFDF1183240879BA83D2CA9EF1453/PR/profil_wissen_2013_-_Wiener_Donau_1500-1900.pdf

Leben an der wilden blauen Donau
Wiener Zeitung, Wissen/Geschichte, 18. September 2013
http://www.wienerzeitung.at/themen_channel/wissen/geschichte/575696_Leben-an-der-wilden-blauen-Donau.html

Mehr Zeit heißt mehr Lebensqualität
Der Standard, 3. September 2013
http://derstandard.at/1376535514468/Mehr-Zeit-heisst-mehr-Lebensqualitaet

Effizienz beeinflusst Ökologie
Kleine Zeitung/Wissen, Samstag, 31. August 2013, Seite 20-21
http://www.uni-klu.ac.at/socec/downloads/SEC_Kleine_Zeitung_-_Wissen_31.8.2013_Seite20-21.pdf

Human appropriation of biomass energy doubled in the 20th century
http://www.ejolt.org/, June 26, 2013
http://www.ejolt.org/2013/06/human-appropriation-of-biomass-energy-doubled-in-the-20th-century/

Probleme im Stoffwechsel der Gesellschaft
Der Standard, 25. Juni 2013
http://derstandard.at/1371170627623/Probleme-im-Stoffwechsel-der-Gesellschaft

Martin Kugler
Wie die Donau gebändigt wurde
Die Presse, 13. Juni 2013
http://diepresse.com/home/science/1429917/Wie-die-Donau-gebaendigt-wurde?_vl_backlink=/home/science/index.do

Böden werden immer effizienter genutzt
science.orf.at, 4. Juni 2013
http://science.orf.at/stories/1719002/

The Intensity of Land Use Doubled in the 20th Century
Science News, June 4, 2013
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130604094519.htm

Weltweite Landnutzung wird immer intensiver
Vorarlberger Nachrichten, Welt, Dienstag, 4. Juni 2013, Seite D6
http://www.vorarlbergernachrichten.at/welt/2013/06/03/weltweite-landnutzung-wird-immer-intensiver.vn

Landnutzungsintensität in 100 Jahren verdoppelt
Der Standard, NetBusiness/Wissenschaft, Dienstag, 4. Juni 2013, Seite 22
http://derstandard.at/1369362490204/Landnutzungsintensitaet-in-100-Jahren-verdoppelt

Die wichtigsten Stationen aus zehn Jahren Forschung
Der Standard, 28. Mai 2013
http://derstandard.at/1369361946584/Die-wichtigsten-Stationen-aus-zehn-Jahren-Forschung

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+ Staff News

Marina Fischer-Kowalski received the 2013 ESAIA Best Lecture Award for her presentation “Energy and Society – The Great Transformation.”

We welcome Mag. Gudrun Pollack, who works on the FWF project „Vienna´s Urban Waterscape 1683-1918. An Environmental History“, starting on October 1^st. Gudrun Pollack, Master degree in Human and Social Ecology at the Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt (2012), Bachelor of Science in Environmental and Resource Management (2007) from Brandenburg University of Technology (BTU), Cottbus (Germany). Her bachelor thesis was awarded the Best Bachelor Thesis of BTU Cottbus in 2007. Parts of this thesis on challenges to sustainable fisheries management in the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve were published in the peer reviewed Journal of Marine Policy. In her Master thesis, she investigated the environmental history of the Wien River (a tributary of the Danube) from the late 18^th to the beginning of the 20^th century.

Mag. Dino Güldner is working since 1.10.2013 as a doctoral student on the project “Sustainable Farm Systems: Long-Term Socio-Ecological Metabolism in Western Agriculture”. He studied History at the University of Vienna.

Anna Liza Bais holds a BSc in Forestry from the University of the Philippines (2003) and MSc in European Foresty and Forest and Nature Conservation from the University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland and Wageningen University, the Netherlands, respectively (2012; a double degree Erasmus Mundus Programme). She is involved in the CASTLE project, working on one of the CASTLE’s individual research projects entitled “Using material flow indicators for sustainability impact assessment of bioenergy systems”. Her PhD research will explore and look at (un) sustainability issues on global biomass flows in the past decades in particular to bioenergy provision and consumption. This research aimed at developing methods on integrated accounts of society-nature interactions.

Nelson Grima is part of the project team working on the EU project „ROBIN – Role of Biodiversity in Climate Change Mitigation“. He graduated in Spain as MSc in Forest Engineering and at the BOKU Vienna as MSc in European Forestry. In ROBIN he will work on social-multi-criteria-evaluation (SMCE) and write his dissertation.

Incoming and Outgoing Students, Erasmus exchange

The following students spend/spending their exchange semester at the SEC:

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spanien: Alejandro Garcia Lopez de Lamadrid, Albert Anducas Riba and Clara Duran Mestre

TATA Institute for Social Sciences, Mumbai, India: Akanksha Singh and Rinku

The following students spend/spending their semester abroad:

Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Frankreich: Sylvia Gierlinger

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spanien: Marlene Bacher, Jana Wettstein and Johanna Fellner

Universidad de Cordoba, Spanien: Susanne Lehner

National University of Ireland, Galway: Lukas Sattlegger and Hanspeter Wieland

Universidad Centroamericana, Nicaragua: Kathrin Wabnigg

TATA Institute for Social Sciences, Mumbai, India: Dominik Noll and Sebastian Berger (student from the Psychology Department, Klagenfurt)

Université Gaston Berger de Saint-Louis, Senegal: Jan Felizeter

Petra Machold received for her research semester in Ecuador the „Marietta Blau Stipendium“. She researched in several archives on the evolution of the cultivated landscape of the Chota – Mira Valley after the expulsion of the Society of Jesus in 1767.

Research Stay and Field Studies

Severin Ettl worked on the subject „Biofuel as social fuel“ at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Berlin.

Monika Sperrer works at the Katastrophenstelle at the Freie Universität Berlin.

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+ New Publications

Dullinger, Stefan, Essl, Franz, Rabitsch, Wolfgang, Erb, Karl-Heinz, Gingrich, Simone, Haberl, Helmut, Hülber, Karl, Vojtech, Jarosik, Krausmann, Fridolin, Kühn, Ingolf, Pysek, Petr, and Hulme, Philip E. (2013): Europe’s other debt crisis: The long legacy of human impact in the current extinction risk of European taxa. In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 110, pp. 7342-7347. online first: doi:10.1073/pnas.1216303110

Erb, Karl-Heinz, Kastner, Thomas, Luyssaert, Sebastiaan, Houghton, R. A., Kuemmerle, Tobias, Olofsson, Pontus, and Haberl, Helmut (2013): Bias in the attribution of forest carbon sinks. In: Nature Climate Change 3, pp. 854-856.

Erb, Karl-Heinz, Haberl, Helmut, Rudbeck Jepsen, Martin, Kuemmerle, Tobias, Lindner, Marcus, Müller, Daniel, Verburg, Peter H., Reenberg, Anette (2013). A conceptual framework for analysing and measuring land-use intensity. In: Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 5(5), 464-470, doi: 10.1016/j.cosust.2012.11.001.

Fischer-Kowalski, Marina, Wiedenhofer, Dominik, Haas, Willi, Pallua, Irene, and Hausknost, Daniel (2013): Developing Resource use Scenarios for Europe. Work Package 204, MS 35 “Developing resource use scenarios for Europe”. Vienna: WWWforEurope – WelfareWealthWork.
Gaube, Veronika, Haberl, Helmut, and Erb, Karl-Heinz (2013): Biophysical indicators of society-nature interaction: Material and energy flow analysis, human appropriation of NPP and the ecological footprint. In: Fahy, Frances and Rau, Henrike (Eds.): Methods for Sustainability Research in the Social Sciences. London: Sage, pp. 114-132.

Gierlinger, Sylvia, Haidvogl, Gertrud, Gingrich, Simone, and Krausmann, Fridolin (2013): Feeding and Cleaning the city: The role of the urban waterscape in provision and disposal in Vienna during the industrial transformation. In: Water History 5(2), pp. 219-239.

Groß, Robert (2013): Damüls im Strom der Modernisierung. In: Kasper, M. and Rudigier, A. (Eds.): Damüls. Beiträge zur Geschichte und Gegenwart. Damüls, pp. 247-286.

Groß, Robert (2013): Wie das ERP (European Recovery Program) die Entwicklung des alpinen, ländlichen Raumes in Vorarlberg prägte. Vienna: IFF-Social Ecology (Social Ecology Working Paper; 141).

Groß, Robert (2013): Zwischen Kruckenkreuz und Hakenkreuz. Tourismuslandschaften während der 1000-Reichsmark-Sperre. In: Montfort.Zeitschrift für Geschichte Vorarlbergs 65(2), pp. 53-72.

Haberl, Helmut (2013): Net land-atmosphere flows of biogenic carbon related to bioenergy: towards an understanding of systemic feedbacks. In: Global Change Biology – Bioenergy 5, pp. 351-357.

Haberl, Helmut, Schulze, Ernst-Detlef, Körner, Christian, Law, Beverly E., Holtsmark, Bjart, and Luyssaert, Sebastiaan (2013): Response: Complexities of sustainable forest use. In: Global Change Biology – Bioenergy 5, pp. 1-2.

Haberl, Helmut, Erb, Karl-Heinz, Krausmann, Fridolin, Running, Steve, Searchinger, Timothy D., Smith, W. Kolby (2013): Bioenergy: how much can we expect for 2050? In: Environmental Research Letters, 8, 031004.

Krausmann, Fridolin, Erb, Karl-Heinz, Gingrich, Simone, Haberl, Helmut, Bondeau, Alberte, Gaube, Veronika, Lauk, Christian, Plutzar, Christoph, and Searchinger, Timothy (2013): Global human appropriation of net primary production doubled in the 20th century. In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 110, pp. 10324-10329.

Kuemmerle, Tobias, Erb, Karl-Heinz, Meyfroidt, Patrick, Müller, Daniel, Verburg, Peter H., Estel, Stephan, Haberl, Helmut, Hostert, Patrick, Kastner, Thomas, Levers, Christian, Lindner, Marcus, Rudbeck, Jepsen, Martin, Plutzar, Christoph, Verkerk, Pieter J., van der Zanden, Emma H., Reenberg, Anette (2013): Challenges and opportunities in mapping land use intensity globally. In: Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 5(5), 484-493, doi: 10.1016/j.cosust.2013.06.002.

Petridis, Panos, Hickisch, Raffael, Klimek, Milena, Fischer, Rebekka, Fuchs, Nina, Kostakiotis, Giorgos, Wendland, Maike, Zipperer, Michael, and Fischer-Kowalski, Marina (2013): Exploring local opportunities and barriers for a sustainability transition on a Greek island. Vienna: IFF-Social Ecology (Social Ecology Working Paper; 142).

Schaffartzik, Anke, Eisenmenger, Nina, Krausmann, Fridolin, and Weisz, Helga (2013): Consumption-based Material Flow Accounting – Austrian Trade and Consumption in Raw Material Equivalents, 1995-2007. In: Journal of Industrial Ecology, online first doi: 10.1111/jiec.12055

Schaffartzik, Anke, Eisenmenger, Nina, Krausmann, Fridolin, and Weisz, Helga (2013): Raw Material Equivalents (RME) of Austria’s Trade. Vienna: IFF Social Ecology (Social Ecology Working Paper; 125).

Schmid, Martin and Winiwarter, Verena (2013): Looking at half a millennium of co-existence: The Danube in Vienna as a challenge for an interdisciplinary environmental history. In: Water History. (Thematic Issue 2013)

Schmid, Martin, Winiwarter, Verena, Hohensinner, Severin, and Sonnlechner, Christoph (2013): Two steps back, one step forward: Reconstructing the dynamic Danube riverscape under human influence in Vienna. In: Water History. (Thematic Issue 2013)

Smith, Pete, Bustamante, Mercedes, Ahammad, Helal, Berndes, Göran, Böttcher, Hannes, Clark, Harry, Dong, Hongmin, Elsiddig, Elnour A., Erb, Karl-Heinz, Haberl, Helmut, Harper, Richard, Herrero, Mario, House, Joanna I., Jafari, Mostafa, Lauk, Christian, Masera, Omar, Mbow, Cheikh, de Siqueira Pinto, Alexandre, Popp, Alexander, Ravindranath, Nijavalli H., Rice, Charles W., Robledo Abad, Carmenza, Romanovskaya, Anna, Rose, Steven, Sperling, Frank, Sohi, Saran, Tubiello, Francesco, and Zougmore, Robert (2013): How much land based greenhouse gas mitigation can be achieved without compromising food security and environmental goals? In: Global Change Biology 19(8), pp. 2285-2302. online first doi:10.1111/gcb.12160

Theurl, Michaela C., Haberl, Helmut, Erb, Karl-Heinz, Lindenthal, Thomas (2013): Contrasted greenhouse gas emissions from local versus long-range tomato production. In: Agronomy for Sustainable Development, doi: 10.1007/s13593-013-0171-8 [online].

Verburg, Peter, Erb, Karl-Heinz, Mertz, Ole, and Espindola, G. (eds.) (2013): Land System Science: between global challenges and local realities. Editorial overview. In: Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 5(Special Issue), pp. 433-437.

Verburg, Peter H., Mertz, Ole, Erb, Karl-Heinz, Haberl, Helmut, Wu, Wenbin (2013): Land change and food security: towards multi-scale land system solutions. In: Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 5(5), 494–502, doi: 10.1016/j.cosust.2013.07.003.

Weisz, Ulli, Possanner, Nikolaus (2013): Arbeitszeit und Energieverbrauch. Grundsatzfragen diskutiert an der historischen Entwicklung in Österreich. Vienna: IFF-Social Ecology (Social Ecology Working Paper; 144).

Wiedenhofer, Dominik, Rovenskaya, Elena, Haas, Willi, Krausmann, Fridolin, Pallua, Irene, and Fischer-Kowalski, Marina (2013): Is there a 1970s Syndrome? Analyzing Structural Breaks in the Metabolism of Industrial Economies. In: Energy Procedia 40, pp. 182-191.

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Mag. Gabriela Miechtner
Institute of Social Ecology Vienna (SEC)
Alpen-Adria Universitaet Klagenfurt, Wien, Graz (AAU)
A-1070 Vienna, Schottenfeldgasse 29, Austria
Phone +43-1-5224000-406, Fax +43-1-5224000-477
http://www.aau.at/sec