Schunko, Christoph

Research interest

My research focuses on local knowledge about wild plant gathering in organic farming and beyond. This includes research about the

1. biocultural diversity of wild plant uses;
2. value chains of (organic) wild plant products;
3. ecological and socio-political sustainability of (organic) wild plant gathering;
4. cultivation and domestication of wild plants.

I am thereby interested in European and non-European territories, rural, suburban and urban regions and commercial and non-commercial wild plant gathering. In addition, I work on the advancement of research designs and methods including participatory research and Citizen Science.

Short Curriculum Vitae

• 2023-ongoing Assoc. Prof. at IFÖL / BOKU
• 2023-2023 Habilitation in Ethnobotany at BOKU
• 2021-2022 Research stay at ICTA, Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), Spain
• 2017-2023 Tenure track position at IFÖL / BOKU
• 2014-2017 University assistant at IFÖL / BOKU
• 2012-2016 Dissertation at BOKU
• 2012-2015 Synthesis officer and project manager in EU FP7 funded COMBIOSERVE project at IFÖL / BOKU
• 2009-2011 Project assistant at IFÖL / BOKU
• 2006-2009 Master Studies in Organic Agriculture at BOKU and Iowa State University (ISU), USA
• 2003-2006 Bachelor studies in Agricultural Sciences at BOKU and Ecole d’Ingénieurs de Purpan (EIP), France

Research Projects

Completed

• Local Indicators of Climate Change Impacts: The Contribution of Local Knowledge to Climate Change Research – LICCI
• Gathering wild foods in urban areas – mixed-methods study on ecological and socio-political sustainability of gathering in Vienna – UrbanWildFoods
• Gathering of wild plant species in organic farming – OrganicWildGathering
• Assessing the effectiveness of community-based management strategies for biocultural diversity conservation – COMBIOSERVE
• Monitoring of Biocultural Diversity im Biospärenpark Großes Walsertal – BioCultural Diversity Monitoring
• Dynamics of Local Knowledge – Tyrol

Recent publications

Teixidor-Toneu, I, Mattalia, G, Caillon, S, Abdullah, A, Fiser, Z, Karlsen, P, Khan, SM, Kool, A, Loayza, G, Porcuna-Ferrer, A, Vaccaro, I, Schunko, C (2025): Stewardship underpins sustainable foraging. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2025.01.004

Brandner, A, Taczanowska, K, Zoderer, BM, Schunko, C (2025): Mapping wild food foraging locations reveals urban green space preferences and avenues for edible city solutions. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 104, 128602. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2024.128602

Schunko, C; Álvarez-Fernández, S; Benyei, P; Calvet-Mir, L; Junqueira, AB et al. (2024). Consistency in climate change impact reports among indigenous peoples and local communities depends on site contexts. NPJ climate action, 3:41. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44168-024-00124-2

Arancibia Alfaro, AV; Schunko, C; Callo-Concha, D (2024). Uncovering the Potential for the Sustainable Commercialization of Non-Timber Forest Products: Palm Fruits in Pando, Bolivia. Small-scale forestry, 23:313-350. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11842-024-09562-6

Reyes-García, V., García-Del-Amo, D., Porcuna-Ferrer, A., Schlingmann, A., Abazeri, M. et al. (2024). Local studies provide a global perspective of the impacts of climate change on Indigenous Peoples and local communities. Sustainable Earth Reviews, 7:1. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42055-023-00063-6

Reyes-García, V., García-del-Amo, D., Álvarez-Fernández, S., Benyei, P., Calvet-Mir, L., et al. (2024). Indigenous Peoples and local communities report ongoing and widespread climate change impacts on local social-ecological systems. Communications Earth & Environment, 5:29. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-01164-y

Fuchs, A., Vogl C.R., Schunko, C. (2024). Counteracting land abandonment: local adaptation strategies to climate change impacts of alpine farmers in Eastern Tyrol, Austria. In Reyes-García, V. et al: Routledge Handbook of Climate Change Impacts on Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, Chapter 17. Routledge: Oxon, New York.