Together with our partner Mutmacherei, SERI will organise a city walk in Vienna on the occasion of this year’s ERDgespräche. The city walk will be held in German; find more information here.

In the beginning of april, a workshop in the context of the project BENE took place in the Eco-Region Kaindorf as the final project activity.
The project BENE (Citizen action for sustainable energy) consists of three parts: First, it assessed the potential of active citizen engagement in energy issues as a contribution to more energy-aware lifestyles. Building on this analysis, strategies on how to improve citizen action were developed and implemented in cooperation with two initiatives – namely “Eco-Region Kaindorf” and “Ökostrombörse”. Finally, a policy paper summarizes main results and facilitates the extension and replication of existing initiatives.

During the workshop, the participants discussed how sustainable ideas can be transferred into the Eco-Region. Moreover, the concept of an action day was created.
SERI researcher Ines Omann and Ira Mollay, founder of the “Mutmacherei” (“inspire4change“) moderated the workshop.
Thereby, Ira Mollay presented the Mutmacherei, including several examples which are relevant for Kaindorf. In the subsequent discussions, participants created new ideas for Kaindorf which will be realized during the action day.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.

In October 2010 the book „Sustainable Development: Capabilities, Needs and Well-being“ co-edited by two SERI colleagues (Ines Omann and Johannes Frühmann) and Felix Rauschmayer has been published by Routledge. Contributors besides the editors are Paul-Marie Boulanger, Ivonne Cruz, Ortrud Lessmann, Manfred Max-Neef, Tell Muenzing, John O’Neill, Luc Van Ootegem, Sophie Spillemaeckers, and Gerben J. Westerhof.

Sustainable Development (SD) is most prominently defined with respect to the needs of current and future generations. Political and scientific discussion, though, refrains from this concept, even though much can be gained by referring to needs. This book brings together chapters that clarify the concept of needs directly or relate it to other scientific approaches. On the one hand, there is the capability approach which is widely used by human development studies and politics and can thus be utilized for bringing the Brundtland definition of SD into practice. On the other hand, meeting needs is intrinsically linked to well-being which is the main driver for human action.

The book is now published by Routledge in paperback!

The book can be ordered at the Routledge website.
The executive summary can be found here.

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The project opening event “LebensKlima in Finkenstein” attracted over 100 citizens, politicians and representatives from tourism and business. They gathered on January 19, in the Dorfhotel Schönleitn in Finkenstein.

From March onwards, 15 citizens from the community will be guided by SERI in a Citizens Forum, to develop a vision for a good life in Finkenstein, which is based on the wishes and needs of citizens. This vision will serve as the basis for thematic working groups in which the implementation of innovative ideas for the community is being developed. The project structure and composition of the Citizens Forum were discussed and examined during this event. The system analysis brought up topics like the interplay between different economic sectors and the residential population, a stronger social cohesion, mobility and local supply as possible key issues. Following the event, some of the participants expressed their interest to participate in the Citizens Forum.

Ira Mollay presented her initiative “Mutmacherei” with some examples of civic engagement on various issues from other communities and regions. For Finkenstein, the examples can serve as inspiration, but it will be necessary to develop locally embedded ideas to meet the local conditions, requirements and issues.
On the project website www.lebensklima.at, the project progress will be continuously documented.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.

SERI´s research group “Quality of Life and Integrated Strategies” investigates how we can achieve a good life for ourselves and future generations. This implies that we have to take care of the ecosystems we depend on and use their resources in a sustainable way.

This highlight aims to show how we – as human beings with individual knowledge, skills, networks and relationships– make decisions on how to benefit from ecosystems.

We will introduce the theoretical concepts Ecosystem Goods and Services and Human Well-Being and explain how we link them in order to provide a framework for their application in our research projects EcoChange, KlimaNetz (CapitalAdapt) and Climsave.

1. Linking Ecosystem Goods and Services to Human Well-Being

We are an integral part of ecosystems, which means that our well-being is highly dependent on our environment and the benefits we gain from it.

By well-being we mean a combination of several objective and subjective factors including resources (income, material, infrastructure) for a good life, health, security, good social relations, happiness and freedom of choice and action.

We define the benefits that we obtain from ecosystems by using the concept of Ecosystem Goods and Services (EGS). EGS include a variety of services and functions of ecosystems, such as the provisioning of goods (e.g. food and freshwater), cultural benefits (e.g. aesthetic landscapes, recreational areas), regulating services (e.g. flood regulation, water purification) or processes, which other services are based upon (e.g. soil formation, nutrient cycling).

The links between the different components of our well-being and the EGS are manifold. Generally speaking, provisioning services are crucial to satisfy our needs for basic material for good life and health, for example by providing us with sufficient nutritious food. Regulating services link strongly to our health and security, e.g. by preventing floods and hereby securing us from disasters. Cultural services affect especially our subjective well-being, e.g. by offering space for recreational activities, which improve our life satisfaction and happiness.

The relationship between humans and ecosystems is – of course – not static. Changing human activities drive, both indirectly and directly, changes in ecosystems, which in turn has an impact on human well-being, because it affects the quantity and quality of the benefits we obtain from EGS. (see figure below).

For example, the way we produce our food has strong effects on the nutrients that get through the soil into our groundwater. Intensive practices with high amounts of fertilizers might lead to contamination, which in turn affects the quality of the water we can extract. Thus, it would need increasing efforts for us to purify the water if we want to prevent negative effects on our health.

2. How is SERI approaching the linkage between EGS and well-being?

The research group „Quality of Life and Integrated Strategies“ is involved in several projects, which address the relationship between EGS and well-being (see EcoChange, KlimaNetz (CapitalAdapt), Climsave). In the following, two possibilities to approach this relationship are described.

a. Human and Social Capital

Conducting research on societies´ impacts on EGS requires taking a closer look at the people that interact in this society and at their relationships with each other. SERI therefore explores the human and social capital which exists in communities.

Human capital describes the education, experience, acquired skills, and health of individuals. Social capital is used to apply human capital in the individuals´ social context. Moreover, it describes relationships, norms and trust that developed in certain networks and between those networks. These relations can be on micro-scale (family and close friends), on meso-scale (friends, organizations) and on macro-scale (broader governance structure).

The projects Climsave and KlimaNetz (CapitalAdapt) focus on the importance of human and social capital when dealing with natural impacts. Climate change, for example, challenges human societies and their dependence on ecosystem services. Due to increasing drought periods, farmers might have to adapt their managements (e.g. by changing crops or irrigation strategies). This requires different knowledge, which needs to be spread among farming communities, and which will ultimately affect the quantity and quality of food that can be provided.

b. Decision-making of relevant actors

What affects the way we make use of our capitals? The EcoChange project takes a closer look at the land use decisions farmers make in response to factors such as market (crop prices), policies (subsidies), climate change (vegetation cover) and new technologies. In case study regions in Belgium and Switzerland, socio-economic scenarios were developed, which either followed a business-as-might-be-usual scenario, a neoliberal growth approach or a sustainable pathway. Scenarios develop differently according to the above mentioned factors and the types of agents (e.g. conservative or innovative farmers) that exist on this land. This in turn has an impact on the ability of ecosystems to provide certain EGS for our well-being. For example, farmers in the neoliberal scenario might prefer to grow crops in monoculture due to higher yields, whereas farmers in the sustainability scenario might grow different organic cultures in crop rotation. The first approach results in high provision of limited kinds of food, whereas the latter might have lower yields, but higher diversity and more positive side-effects like cultural qualities (e.g. high aesthetics). Hence, different elements of our well-being are satisfied to different degrees by different farming strategies.

3. How does SERI communicate the linkage between EGS and well-being to stakeholders?

SERI applies the above mentioned approaches in several stakeholder processes using a variety of participatory methods. We aim at making stakeholders aware of the linkages between their individual behaviour and the provision of EGS in order to create strategies for them to foster their well-being.

Hereby, the underlying hypothesis of our work is that a high level of human well-being for us and future generations has to be achieved in relation with a sustainable use of natures´ resources.
Therefore, we emphasise the necessity to develop sustainable strategies to deal with the challenges arising in the respective case study areas.

EcoChange – challenges for farmers on regional scale
In the EcoChange project an Integrated Sustainability Assessment (ISA) is conducted to analyse the impacts of social, economic and environmental changes on EGS. An ISA is an iterative process, which includes several workshops with stakeholders in the case study regions. These workshops aim at identifying the strengths, weaknesses and challenges in the region, at exploring possible pathways for future developments, and at analysing the underlying mechanisms and drivers for these developments. The discussions and analysis of our project should help the region to develop policies which steer the areas´ development towards the desired directions.

KlimaNetz (CapitalAdapt) – adaptation to climate change in Austrian communities
Recent small-scale climate scenarios have shown the impacts of climate change on Austrian communities (see reclip :century project), which reveals the necessity to adapt to changing conditions.

An important first step towards adaptation is to communicate scenarios in an easy-to-understand way (well chosen language and visualisation) for the affected people. Rather than communicating an increase in temperature, it has to be explained what such developments mean for especially vulnerable people, e.g. elderly inhabitants who have to cope with heat. Then, it becomes crucial to look both at the ecosystems´ possibilities to provide beneficial services (e.g. increase green spaces and the amount of trees to cool the micro-climate) as well as on human and social capital that is needed for adaptation measures (e.g. knowledge of spatial planners to create green spaces or increase in voluntary and professional care personnel for elderly people). The adaptation measures will be developed within a participatory process, which takes place in two communities in Austria, Klosterneuburg and Virgen. We conducted interviews with members of the communities to scope the main challenges they perceive as well as the existing human and social capital in the region. In two workshops following the interviews, the most vulnerable areas in the communities are identified and opportunities for action are discussed.

Climsave – online learning tools for adaptation measures in European regions
The linkages between ecological and social conditions are highly complex. In combination with the high uncertainty about future developments, it becomes increasingly hard for decision makers to judge which measures are sensible and useful and which might lead to (unexpected) negative outcomes. Climsave aims at providing a learning tool that allows decision makers to explore the possibilities and effects of adaptation measures. Factors influencing the decisions are the pressures that are exerted on the respective region (e.g. certain climatic pressures) and the resources (e.g. human and social capital) that are available to implement certain adaptation measures to deal with those particular pressures. The online tool should help decision makers to learn about complex interactions and the impacts their decisions might have on ecosystems and human well-being.

4. SERI publications

Journals

Omann, I., Stocker, A., Jaeger, J. (2009). Climate change as a threat to biodiversity: An application of the DPSIR approach. In: Ecological Economics. 69(1), pp: 24-31.

Briefing Sheets and Newsletters

KlimaNetz Framework (in german)

KlimaNetz Projekt (in german)

Integrated Sustainability Assessment

Climsave Newsletter No. 2

EcoChange Newsletters

5. Further links and publications

Beckley, T., D. Martz, S. Nadeau, E. Wall, and B. Reimer. 2002. Multiple capacities, multiple outcomes: Delving deeper into the meaning of community capacity. Journal of Rural and Community Development 3:56-75.

McLeman, R. 2010. Impacts of population change on vulnerability and the capacity to adapt to climate change and variability: a typology based on lessons from “a hard country”. Population & Environment 31:286-316.

Porritt, J. 2007. Capitalism as if the World Matters. Earthscan/James & James.

www.maweb.org „The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment assessed the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being. From 2001 to 2005, the MA involved the work of more than 1,360 experts worldwide. Their findings provide a state-of-the-art scientific appraisal of the condition and trends in the world’s ecosystems and the services they provide, as well as the scientific basis for action to conserve and use them sustainably.“

www.teebweb.org „The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) study is a major international initiative to draw attention to the global economic benefits of biodiversity, to highlight the growing costs of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation, and to draw together expertise from the fields of science, economics and policy to enable practical actions moving forward.“

www.ecochange-project.eu

www.climsave.eu

www.klimanetz.at

Finkenstein am Faaker See will serve as a pilot project community for the European research project InContext.

SERI will conduct one of the three pilot projects in the community of Finkenstein (Carinthia, Austria). The other two will take place in Rotterdam (The Netherlands) and in Wolfshagen (Germany). In the pilot projects, leading European research institutions in the fields of transition, behavioural science and sustainable development collaborate to identify the framework conditions enabling a societal transition towards an ecologically sound, economically successful and culturally diverse future. At the core of the project lies an examination of the interplay between structural conditions and internal factors in building the context for individual behaviour.

Within the scope of the Austrian pilot project we will work with local citizens, conjointly develop a vision of a “good life” in the community, and organize specific acitivities in Finkenstein in this regard.

Regarding the thematic focus, the Finkenstein pilot project will focus on the interplay and linkages between tourism, industry, and residential population (longtime residents, new residents). A first kick-off event in Finkenstein will take place in January 2012. Participatory workshops for envisioning a good future for the community will be held throughout the year 2012.

The new report “Scenarios towards a One Planet Economy in Europe” is a major outcome of the OPEN:EU project in which SERI was involved. The scenarios describe alternative, albeit not necessarily ideal visions of the transition toward a One Planet Economy in Europe by 2050. They present both an illustration of life in Europe in 2050 and the policy settings that are necessary to support the transition to this common end point under different assumptions about the future.

The scenarios were developed by SERI and the Ecologic Institute on the basis of stakeholder input provided during a two-day workshop in September 2010. The Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) was responsible for quantifying and modeling the scenarios.

The four scenarios created were:
Scenario 1 – Clever and caring – a future with a quality-driven mindset towards development with dynamic technological innovation.
Scenario 2 – Fast forward – a future with a quantity-driven mindset towards development with dynamic technological innovation.
Scenario 3 – Breaking point – a future with a quantity-driven mindset towards development with technological stagnation.
Scenario 4 – Slow motion – a future with a quality-driven mindset towards development with technological stagnation.

The results of the scenario modelling exercise suggest that the transformation of Europe into a One Planet Economy by 2050 would require very aggressive policy action even under the most beneficial circumstances.

The report can be downloaded here.

The project CapitalAdapt investigates the role of human and social capital in coping with and adapting to climate change. Thus, it focuses on human and social aspects of the climate change discussion such as knowledge, education, health, relationships and involvement in the community. On October 7th and 14th the first project-workshops started in the two case studies Virgen and Klosterneuburg.

At the workshops the current state of research was presented. Then workshop participants discussed challenges of future climate change impacts and possible consequences for the specific case study. Moreover, areas which could possibly be most affected (vulnerability hotspots) were identified.
A second series of workshops which will focus on elaborating concrete measures related to climate change adaptation will be held in spring 2012.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.