Dr. Elke Kellner

Function

Postdoc

Mountain Hydrology and Mass Movements

Contact

elke.kellner(at)wslto make life hard for spam bots.ch

+41 44 739 20 48+41 44 739 20 48

Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL
Zürcherstrasse 111
8903 Birmensdorf

Site

Birmensdorf Bi HV E 07

Research interests

Climate change mitigation and adaptation, governance of resource uses, social-ecological systems, water and climate change policies, trade- offs and synergies to reach Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change

Education and Employment History

Since 11/2019: PostDoc, Mountain Hydrology and Mass Movements, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, CH.
Since 01/2012: Elected Member of the Commission “Processing and trade of certified organic food” (MKV). Bio Suisse, Basel, CH.
Since 02/1999: Lecturer. Section of Organic Food Quality and Food Culture, University of Kassel, Witzenhausen, DE.
08/2016-10/2019: PhD in Climate Science (summa cum laude), Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, CH. Title: “Multi-purpose reservoirs for alleviating water shortages: Opportunities and challenges in the governance processes to coordinate competing resource uses under climate change”. Prof. Dr. Rolf Weingartner and Prof. Dr. Jean-David Gerber.
02/2018-04/2019: CAS in University Teaching, University of Bern, CH.
01/2016-07/2016: Training in Spatial Planning, Swiss Association of Spatial Planning, Bern, CH.
01/2015-12/2016: Research Assistant. Federal Office for Spatial Development (ARE), Bern, CH.
08-12/2014: Lecturer. School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences HAFL, Bern University of Applied Sciences, CH.
09/2013-3/2015: Bachelor Minor Sustainable Development, University of Bern, CH.
2006-2013: Lecturer and Research Assistant. School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences HAFL, Bern University of Applied Sciences, CH.
08/05-07/06: Nature Conservation and Experiential Education: BUND für Umwelt- und Naturschutz, Ravensburg, DE.
09/1998-06/1999: Guest Student in Organic Agricultural Sciences: University of Kassel, Witzenhausen, DE.
1995-1997: Diploma in Biochemistry, Free University of Berlin, DE. Diploma Thesis at Biozentrum, University of Basel, Prof. Dr. Gottfried Schatz, CH.

WEITERFÜHRENDE INFORMATIONEN

Publications

Publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals

Kellner, Elke (2021): The controversial debate on the role of water reservoirs in reducing water scarcity. In WIREs Water, e1514. DOI: 10.1002/WAT2.1514.
Kellner, Elke; Brunner, Manuela I. (2021): Reservoir governance in world’s water towers needs to anticipate multi-purpose use. In Earth’s Future 9, e2020EF001643. DOI: 10.1029/2020EF001643.
Villamayor-Tomas, Sergio; Oberlack, Christoph; Epstein, Graham; Roggero, Matteo; Partelow, Stefan; Kellner, Elke; Tschopp, Maurice; Cox, Michael (2020): Using case study data to understand SES interactions: a model-centered metaanalysis of SES Framework applications. In: Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 44, pp. 48–57. DOI: 10.1016/j.cosust.2020.05.002.
Kellner, Elke; Oberlack, Christoph; Gerber, Jean-David (2019): Polycentric governance compensates for incoherence of resource regimes: The case of water uses under climate change in Oberhasli, Switzerland. In: Environmental Science & Policy 100, pp. 126–135. DOI: 10.1016/j.envsci.2019.06.008.
Kellner, Elke (2019): Social acceptance of a multi-purpose reservoir in a recently deglaciated landscape in the Swiss Alps. In: Sustainability 11 (14), p. 3819. DOI: 10.3390/su11143819.
Kellner, Elke (2019): Soziale Akzeptanz der Talsperre Trift in den Schweizer Alpen. In: Wasserwirtschaft 109 (5), pp. 26–29. DOI: 10.1007/s35147-019-0033-7.

Special Issue (editor)

Kimmich, Christian; Ehlers, Melf-Hinrich; Kellner, Elke; Oberlack, Christoph; Thiel, Andreas; Villamayor-Tomas, Sergio (2021): Networks of action situations in social-ecological systems research. Upcoming Special Feature in Sustainability Science. In Sustain Sci 90, p. 150. DOI: 10.1007/s11625-020-00814-w.

Contributions to books

Kellner, Elke (2020): Mehrzweckspeicher zur Minderung von Wasserknappheit im Sommer. In: Emmanuel Reynard ; Dubois, Alan ; Borgeat Theler, Muriel (Eds.): Le Rhône. Territoire, ressource et culture: Cahiers de Vallesia. Sion (33rd ed., 177-184).

Peer-reviewed conference proceedings

Kellner, Elke; Brunner, Manuela I.; Björnsen Gurung, Astrid; Stähli, Manfred (2019): Verhandelbar? Neue Ansprüche an Schweizer Wasserspeicher. pp. 37-40. In: Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL (Hg.): Schweiz erneuerbar. Birmensdorf, Switzerland (WSL Berichte, 84).
Kellner, Elke (2019): Factsheet: Multipurpose use of water and related management implications under a changing climate in high-mountain regions. In Yvonne Schaub, Alain Foehn, Javier Fluixá Sanmartín, Lucía Guardamino Soto (Eds.): Multipurpose use of water and related management implications under a changing climate in high-mountain regions, pp. 72–73.
Björnsen Gurung, Astrid; Brunner, Manuela; Stähli, Manfred; Kellner, Elke; Clivaz, Melanie; Reynard, Emmanuel et al. (2018): Alpine multi-purpose reservoirs: Future potential and relevance. In Leopold Füreder, Rolf Weingartner, Kati Heinrich, Valerie Braun, Günter Köck, Klaus Lanz, Thomas Scheurer (Eds.): Alpine water - common good or source of conflicts? Proceedings of the ForumAlpinum 2018 and the 7th Water Conference. Breitenwand (Austria): Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, pp. 77–78.
Kellner, Elke; Oberlack, Christoph; Gerber, Jean-David (2018): Evolving polycentric climate governance: the Evolving polycentric climate governance: the case of multi-functional water use in Oberhasli, Switzerland. In Leopold Füreder, Rolf Weingartner, Kati Heinrich, Valerie Braun, Günter Köck, Klaus Lanz, Thomas Scheurer (Eds.): Alpine water - common good or source of conflicts? Proceedings of the ForumAlpinum 2018 and the 7th Water Conference. Breitenwand (Austria): Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, p. 79.

Further publications

Kellner, Elke; Stähli, Manfred; Unterberger, Christian; Olschewski, Roland; Thür, Angela; Björnsen Gurung, Astrid (2021): Herausforderungen der Governance sowie der ökologischen, landschaftlichen und ökonomischen Auswirkungen von Mehrzweckspeichern. Hydro-CH2018 Wasserspeicher – Synthesebericht. Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), Bern, Switzerland. 82 pp. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.4680488
Kellner, Elke; Weingartner, Rolf (2018): Chancen und Herausforderungen von Mehrzweckspeichern als Anpassung an den Klimawandel. In: Wasser Energie Luft 110 (2), pp. 101–107. Online.

Thesis

Kellner, Elke (2019): Multi-purpose reservoirs for alleviating water shortages: Opportunities and challenges in the governance processes to coordinate competing resource uses under climate change. PhD dissertation. Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research. University of Bern, CH.

Presentations

09/2021: Institutional fit of polycentric governance systems under climate change. Earth System Governance Conference. Bratislava. SVK.
09/2021: Polycentricity and the study of Networks of Action Situations: Unpacking synergies. Earth System Governance Conference. SVK.
09/2021: Analyzing cross-sectoral coordination gaps in water governance with a network approach. European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) Conference. Virtual.
06/2021: Wasserspeicher im Zielkonflikt zwischen Minderung und Anpassung an den Klimawandel. Strukturverbesserungstagung vom Bundesamt für Landwirtschaft und suissemelio. Virtual.
04/2021: Capturing WEF Nexus as a network phenomenon in social ecological systems. European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly. Virtual. DOI: 10.5194/egusphere-egu21-1037.
04/2021: Governance of complex trade-offs between mitigation and adaptation in the Swiss Alps. International Workshop Renewable Energy Transitions: Comparative Assessment in the Hindu Kush Himalayas, Andes and Alps. Himalayan University Consortium, Mountain Research Initiative (MRI), University of Arizona. Virtual.
03/2021: (Un-)Sustainable water governance under climate change in Switzerland. Presentation. Sustainability Week Switzerland, University of Basel, CH.
10/2020: Governance of multi-purpose use of water - Challenges and opportunities. Hydro-CH2018 Meeting, Federal Office for Environment, Ittigen, CH.
09/2020: Provision of polycentric climate governance systems for institutional fit: Evidence from multifunctional water governance in Switzerland. Earth System Governance Conference. Conference cancelled due to Covid-19.
09/2020: Polycentricity and the study of Networks of Action Situations: Unpacking synergies. Earth System Governance Conference. Conference cancelled due to Covid-19.
08/2020: Analysing the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus using the Network of Action Situations (NAS) approach. European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) Conference. Virtual.
05/2020: Reservoirs in world’s water towers: Need for appropriate governance processes to reach Sustainable Development Goals. European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly. Virtual. DOI: 10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-11004.
12/2019: Alpine Mehrzweckspeicher zur Minderung von Wasserknappheit im Sommer. Fallstudie im Berner Oberland und im Rhone-Gebiet. 13 ème colloque international sur le Rhône dans son environnement naturel et humain, L’Association Mémoires du Rhône, Sion, CH.
11/2019: Neue Ansprüche an Schweizer Wasserspeicher. Conference «Forum für Wissen», Birmensdorf, CH. Film of the presentation.
09/2019: Social acceptance of a reservoir in a recently deglaciated landscape in the Swiss Alps. International Mountain Conference, Innsbruck, AT.
09/2019: Challenges of meeting lowland water demand through an upstream multi-purpose reservoir. International Mountain Conference, Innsbruck, AT.
06/2019: Emerging collective action to resolve sustainability trade-offs in polycentric governance systems: Evidence from Trift, Switzerland. Workshop on the Ostrom Workshop 6 (WOW 6), Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA.
06/2019: Evolving polycentric governance processes can compensate incoherent resource regimes: Evidence of the canton of Bern, Switzerland. Workshop on the Ostrom Workshop 6 (WOW 6), Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA.
04/2019: Governance of resource uses under climate change. Focus on multipurpose (water) reservoirs as a measure for adaptation to climate change. UNESCO Chair Meeting 2019 “Research on Cultural and Natural Heritage and Sustainable Mountain Development”, World Nature Forum WNF, Naters, CH.
03/2019: Cooperation, competition and coercion in polycentric governance systems: The case of water-energy governance in Oberhasli, Switzerland. International Research Workshop “Cooperation, competition and coercion in polycentric governance systems”, Centre for Global Cooperation Research, University Duisburg-Essen, DE.
02/2019: Implications of orchestration for polycentric governance systems. The case of multifunctional water use in the canton of Zurich, Switzerland. New Institutional Economics (NIÖ) – Network Meeting 2019, University of Kassel, DE.
11/2018: Adaptive capacity in processes of polycentric governance systems: The case of multifunctional water use in Switzerland. 2018 Earth System Governance Conference, Utrecht, NL.
06/2018: Evolving polycentric climate governance. The case of multifunctional water use in Oberhasli, Switzerland. Forum Alpinum, Breitenwang, AT.
06/2018: Polycentric governance can compensate an incoherent regime under climate change. The case of multifunctional water use in Oberhasli, Switzerland. Conference on multipurpose use of water. University of Zurich, together with CREALP, EPFL and Meteodat. Sion, CH.
04/2018: Polycentric climate governance: The case of multifunctional water reservoirs in the Swiss Alps. Polycentric Climate Governance after Paris: Expectations, Challenges and Pathways, Freiburg, DE.
03/2018: Evolving polycentric climate governance: The case of multifunctional water use in Oberhasli, Switzerland. Governing Climate Change: Polycentricity in Action? Open University, Heerlen, NL.

Blogs & Vlogs

04/2021: Blog: Building new reservoirs can have unexpected consequences on water security
04/2021: Vlog: Energy Transition in the Swiss Alps
03/2021: Interview: Reservoir Governance in World's Water Towers Needs to Anticipate Multi‐Purpose Use
03/2021: Photo. Intertwinedness of social-ecological interactions. SNSF Scientific Image Competition 2021.
03/2021: Film. Linked social-ecological-technological systems. SNSF Scientific Image Competition 2021.
03/2020: Photo. Climate Change, palpable. SNSF Scientific Image Competition 2020.
03/2020: Film. Visible Climate Change. SNSF Scientific Image Competition 2020.

Projects

Analyse der Warnkette anhand von zwei Unwetterereignissen im Jahr 2020

Zwei heftige Starkniederschlagsereignisse im Spätsommer 2020 (28.-30. August und 1.-4. Oktober) führten zu erheblichem Hochwasser in der Südschweiz. In dieser Studie wird die gesamte Warnkette von der meteorologischen Vorhersage bis hin zu den Massnahmen in den Kantonen/Gemeinden analysiert.

Mehrzweckspeicher als Zukunftsmodell?

Obwohl die Schweiz über reichlich Wasser verfügt, kann es zukünftig saisonal und regional zu Engpässen kommen. Mehrzweckspeicher stellen eine Möglichkeit dar, um zukünftige Wasserknappheit zu mindern. Dieses Projekt untersucht die Herausforderungen der Governance sowie der ökologischen, landschaftlichen und ökonomischen Auswirkungen von Mehrzweckspeichern.

Pilotprogramm zur Anpassung an den Klimawandel (Bundesamt für Umwelt, BAFU): Mehrzweckspeicher gegen Sommertrockenheit. Wissenschaftliche Begleitung (2019-2022)

In der Bündner Region Imboden-Surselva hat der Klimawandel einen starken Einfluss auf die Hydrologie – insbesondere durch das Abschmelzen der Gletscher, die steigende Schneefallgrenze und zunehmende Stark-Niederschläge. Dieses Projekt erarbeitet in einem partizipativen Verfahren ein Konzept zum Bau eines Mehrzweckspeichers oberhalb von Laax als Ersatz für die abschmelzenden Gletscher. Dabei wird auch untersucht, wie sich das Vorhaben in ökologischer, gesellschaftlicher und wirtschaftlicher Hinsicht auswirken würde.

Global Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (02/2022 – 01/2025)

Sustainable resource governance under pressure: How to govern trade-off situations under global change (GOVTROFF)

Achieving worldwide sustainable development remains the biggest challenge of the 21^st century. Despite near-global consensus on Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, unresolved and politically contentious trade-offs have undermined implementation. It is widely agreed that the goals will only be achieved if important trade-offs are addressed and transformed. GOVTROFF aims to understand how complex multi-level trade-offs are managed in multi-actor, multi-interest governance systems. After the development of a coherent method, GOVTROFF applies the method to three exemplary case studies of American and European UNESCO World Heritage Sites (WHS): Grand Canyon National Park, Yosemite National Park, and Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch. The goal of this research is to provide policy makers with effective design principles for how complex trade-off situations in resource management can be governed sustainably to meet emergent 21^st century environmental and social threats.

Institutes: First two years at the University of Arizona, School of Government and Public Policy, third year at the University of Bern, Wyss Academy for Nature