Head: PD Dr. Irmi Seidl

The Economics and Social Sciences Research Unit is concerned with economic, institutional and societal questions of WSL-Research topics, in particular with landscape, natural resources, spatial development and natural hazards. It addresses real and specific problems and deals with them in an interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary or disciplinary way.

The work of the research unit is undertaken in accordance with the idea of sustainability and improves the knowledge of systems, of objectives, and of transformation.

The researchers

investigate societal claims, attitudes, valuations, and participation and decision processes regarding the topics mentioned above;
analyze economic, societal, and spatial processes, as well as societal structures, institutions, and relevant policies (e.g. governance) as to their effects on the environment, resources, and life quality;
develop and evaluate communicative, persuasive, regulative, institutional, and economic measures, instruments and strategies.

Topics

Dealing with natural hazards

Responding to and managing natural hazards has a long tradition in Switzerland. Through research and services, we help to reduce the risks.

Landscapes

We study the interactions between landscape, man and biodiversity and develop decision-making bases for sustainable use of the landscape.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Projects

GoApply: Governance der Klimaanpassung im Alpenraum

Im Auftrag des Bundesamts für Umwelt BAFU bearbeiten wir das WP1 "Strengthening capacities for multilevel climate adaptation governance" im Projekt "GoApply: Multidimensional governance of climate change adaptation in policy making and practice" (Interreg Alpine Space Programme).

Energy wood potential in the Ukrainian Carpathians

The Ukraine only covers half of its energy demand with own resources. This project determines how wood resp. energy wood in areas with high forest cover can be used more efficiently, and which economic and ecological consequences will arise.

Partizipatives GIS als Planungsinstrument für Windenergieprojekte

Erhebung von lebensräumlichen Aspekten und partizipativ-interaktiver Standortwahl.

Considering nature conservation in thinning

The project aims to examine how a balance between ecological and economic goals in thinning decisions can be achieved.

Klimaschutz durch Hochmoorschutz

Das Projekt «Klima- durch Hochmoorschutz – CO2-Kompensation durch Hochmoorrenaturierung in der Schweiz» soll auf den grossen Handlungsbedarf, der in der Schweiz im Hinblick auf Klimaschutzpotentiale durch Moorrenaturierung herrscht, reagieren.

Governing regional adaptation to climate change

This analysis of the FOEN pilot program "Adaptation to Climate Change" researches governance of adaptation to climate change on the regional and municipal level. The project identifies conducive and inhibiting factors to regional adaptation to climate change in order to increase our understanding of the role regional and local frameworks play in adapting to climate change.

Small urban gardens

The aim of this study is to explore which present or imagined organizational forms of urban gardens are best suited to our current society.

Recreational spaces

Daily life stress can be a substantial detriment to human health and wellbeing. In comparing the stress-reduction capacities among different urban recreational spaces, this project aims at identifying the components of urban nature causing these health benefits.

Collective financing of renewable energy projects

The transition to renewable energies (RE) is a costly endeavor and requires large amounts of capital. This research project investigates organizations that draw on collective financing of RE, in particular we will focus the formation of these organizations and way collective financing is realized and organized.

Healthy Alps

Across the Alps, land-use is changing rapidly. The project investigates the consequences of this change for alpine agricultural landscape, focusing on ecosystem services, biodiversity, and effects on human health and wellbeing, as well as their possible interrelations.

INSPIRATION

The aim of INSPIRATION is to adopt a funder and end-user demand-driven approach to establish and promote the adoption of the knowledge creation, transfer and implementation agenda for land use, land-use changes and soil management in the light of current and future societal challenges.

Governance of regional development

Several new approaches in regional development, all characterized by typical attributes of governance, emerged in Switzerland over the last few years. This research project identifies and analyses these attributes and functionalities of new regional governance regimes in Switzerland.

Participatory siting procedures for hydropower plants

In this project, rather informal coordination processes (that are usually taking place prior to the mandatory formal procedures) for the expansion of hydro power are examined. It will be shown, how such procedures are evaluated by the public and what kind of effects they have on the (interests of the) participants in such participatory groups.

Landscape-scale biodiversity

Biological diversity has a huge potential to preserve and support agricultural ecosystem services. This project analyses the impact of agricultural and environmental policies on biodiversity and ecosystem services of agricultural production systems.

Future prospects for renewable energy

The production of renewable energy is a landscape service of growing importance and great political relevance. However, the expansion of renewable energies is causing various conflicts with competing landscape services.

Media renaturation

River renaturation has become an increasingly important issue in our society. Since 2011, Swiss cantons have been required to counteract adverse ecological effects. Various interests and demands around the river area inevitably lead to tensions and conflicts that are often difficult to resolve. An analysis of media coverage and presentation of the topic from a long-term perspective offer deeper insights into the course of the public debate and into some of the social and historical issues surrounding river renaturation.

Analyzing the Contribution of Participatory Environmental Planning to Social Learning

The research project studies the role of social learning in the context of participatory negotiation processes based on the case study of a complex planning project in the field of natural hazard management and use of natural resources.

Landscape impacts of renewable energy production

The project aims to gain insight into the population's attitudes towards the impact of renewable energy production on landscape quality. Particularly, the role of connotations attached to respective landscape changes will be investigated.

WML - WaMos meets LFI

In Switzerland, there are two very different forest monitoring instruments: The National Forest Inventory NFI and the socio-cultural forest monitoring WaMos. The aim of the current project is to bridge physical and social aspects.

Strategies for better gardens

Urban gardens experience increasing social and ecological importance, yet, there are only few studies about it. This project investigates the value of urban gardening for social benefit, biodiversity and soil quality.

NFP 68: Controlling urban sprawl to limit soil consumption (SPROIL)

The project aims at examining the political, planning and socio-economic factors, the so-called drivers, which have been determining urban sprawl since the 1950s. The identified drivers will be used in spatially explicit predictive models.

Local Growth Management

The implementation of local growth management measures seems to have reached its limits. Recent popular referendums at the national and cantonal levels have demonstrated the need for countermeasures.

Urban Gardening

Allotment gardens are a special type of urban green and play an important role in modern urban environments both for the ecosystem and for the society. The study of the WSL investigates the effects of allotment gardens on the well being and physical and social health of their users. Different health’s aspects are associated with allotment gardens and with gardens in general. These aspects are however only marginal empirical tested.

Agent-based Modelling

Agent-based modelling enables to model all actors on the wood market individually. Simulating the model then provides insights into the market processes. With the simulation of various scenarios, the effects of structural and institutional changes on the wood market should be explored. The project is part of the WSL-project “An economic analysis of Swiss wood markets”, which is connected to the NRP 66 program “resource wood”.

An Economic Analysis of Swiss Wood Markets

In this project, researchers analyse the workings of the Swiss wood markets on the basis of case studies and explain them with the help of economic theories. The results will be used to develop an agent-based model. This should make it possible to develop scenarios for future wood availability and present options for influencing it through economic instruments.

Photovoltaic-panels on avalanche protectionconstructions

In Switzerland exist around 600 km of avalanche protection constructions, mainly between 1800m and 2500m of altitude. Two pilot creations in Bellwald (VS) test whether avalanche protection constructions are suited as carriers of photovoltaic panels and for producing electric power. In our project we evaluated with qualitative and quantitative methods how local tourists and local inhabitants perceive these pilot creations and, more generally, to which degree they accept solar panels in different environmental settings.

Evaluation of steering instruments in outdoor winter sports

Disturbances through increased recreation activities have an impact on wildlife populations, especially in winter. The nation-wide campaign “Respektiere deine Grenzen” tries to minimize the conflict between winter sports and wildlife populations in the Swiss Alps. This project analyses the outcome of the campaign.

Recovery of Wildlife in the Alps

The return of large carnivores such as wolf and lynx in the Alps leads to conflicts with the local population. The goal of this project is to present practical conservation and management options for wolf and lynx in the Alps.

Energy Landscape "Grimsel" as perceived by Tourists

Die Studie untersucht, wie die Touristen im Grimselgebiet die Landschaft wahrnehmen und beurteilen. Ausserdem wird untersucht, welche künftige Entwicklung der Grimsellandschaft (u.a. Erweiterung der Kraftwerksanlagen) von den Touristen akzeptiert werden würde. Für die Analyse werden Werthaltungen, soziodemographische Merkmale und Besuchercharakteristiken berücksichtigt.

KULTURisk

This EU FP7-project aims at promoting a culture of risk prevention against natural hazards. To achieve this goal benefits and costs of different prevention measures are compared, and the effectiveness of risk communication within these measures are evaluated.

Nearby Outdoor Recreation

This project has the goal to develop a GIS-based model to forecast which near-by areas local inhabitants in Switzerland preferably use in their leisure time for outdoor recreation.

WaMos 2

The aim of the research project WaMos 2 is to assess the attitudes of the population towards forest and wood related topics. In doing so, the project revisits and builds upon work that was done in 1997. The results of WaMos 2 will serve as a basis for forest related policy, and the forest- and environment-related reporting of FOEN.

CapHaz-Net

CapHaz-Net is a unique collaboration project that brings together social scientists from various European countries. Funded by the European Community it reviews how institutions and people in Europe cope with and adapt to natural hazards.

AlpFUTUR

AlpFUTUR aims at identifying prospects regarding the use of the Swiss alpine pasturing area in the short and medium term (10 to 40 years).

ENHANCE M4

Enhancing ecosystem quality (e.g. through intervention or defragmentation) is relevant for society and economy. Which ecosystem enhancement contributes best to perceived quality of life and is economically most beneficial?

Winter tourism

How many hectares of ski pistes are covered with artificial snow in the Alps? How much water do modern snow-making facilities need? How important is snow reliability for ski resorts? How does the ski piste preparation affect the biodiversity and soil stability?

Socially sound river restorations

What is the meaning of the river space for the local public? What are the attitudes and demands of the population in regard to river restoration and which demands do people have regarding participation? This project shows possible ways towards socially sound river restorations.

Attitudes of the society towards wilderness

What are the global attitudes towards nature and wilderness? What is perceived as wilderness and what degree of wilderness is accepted by the population in general? What are the differences between people accepting wilderness and those objecting it?

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Staff

Economics and Social Sciences

Prof. Dr. Irmi Seidl	head of research unit
Thomas Meister	visiting scientist

Social Sciences in Landscape Research

Dr. Marcel Hunziker	teamleader
Dr. Nicole Bauer	scientific staff member
Emilie Berberat	temporary employee
Patrick Bertolini	guest
Dr. Matthias Buchecker	scientific staff member
Katja Degonda	guest
Yvonne Eckert	temporary employee
Marius Fankhauser	master student
Silvio Freiermuth	trainee
Raphael Gaus	PhD student
Dr. Karin Tessa Hegetschweiler	scientific staff member
Qiuyun Huang	PhD student guest
Ramona Hürlimann	master student
Uta Maria Jürgens	PhD student guest
Annick Kleiner	master student
Dr. Bärbel Marion Koch	temporary employee
Bruno Lips	temporary employee
Elisabeth Maidl	visiting scientist
Stefanie Müller	PhD student
Rebecca Oester	temporary employee
Dr. Boris Salak	Postdoc
Katja Schwanke Graf	temporary employee
Mitra Tavakoli	temporary employee
Marc Vögelin	civil service employee
Laura Vogt	temporary employee
Dr. Flurina Wartmann	Postdoc
Gabor Wehrmüller	civil service employee
Dr. Christopher Young	scientific staff member

Regional Economics and Development

Dr. Marco Pütz	teamleader
Dominik Braunschweiger	scientific assistant
Nadine Kiessling	PhD student
Roswitha Kuhn Belaid	trainee
Juliana Rivas	trainee
Benjamin Schmid	PhD student
Barbara Weilenmann	PhD student guest
Yasmine Willi	PhD student

Environmental and Resource Economics

Prof. Dr. Roland Olschewski	teamleader
Dr. Astrid Björnsen Gurung	head of research program
Dr. Hannes Cosyns	Postdoc
Lena Gubler	scientific assistant
Agnes Harms	PhD student
Mariana Melnykovych	visiting scientist
Alexandra Müller	visiting scientist
Dr. Tamaki Ohmura	Postdoc
Dr. Tobias Schulz Marty	scientific staff member
Anna Struth	scientific assistant
David Troxler	visiting scientist
Dr. Christian Unterberger	Postdoc

WSL websites

waldwissen.net

Knowhow for forestry experts and all others interested in the forest

whiterisk.ch

Avalanche knowledge and prevention, e-learning an tour planning

lfi.ch

Swiss National Forest Inventory NFI - a forest information service

natural-hazards.ch

Warnings on natural hazards by Swiss federal authorities

envidat.ch

Access to environmental monitoring and research data

slf.ch

WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF in Davos

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