Research

The aim of this project is to calculate daily average time use activities and the carbon footprint of these activities. We analyse the differences in time use and carbon footprint for persons with and without care responsibilities. A particular focus is on people who care for adulty in need of care. We compare and discuss the resulting climate impact and the connection with health or illness effects.

The climate crisis poses immense challenges to societies worldwide—not only through destructive extreme weather events but also due to its far-reaching social consequences. Care systems are particularly affected: they are indispensable for the functioning of communities, yet climate shocks threaten their stability, increase the demand for caregiving, and deepen social inequalities. Women bear a disproportionate share of this burden—both in unpaid and paid carework. C(L)ARE brings the often overlooked connection between climate change, gender inequality, and carework into focus. Using the September 2024 floods in Lower Austria as a case study, the project investigates how climate-induced disasters disrupt care systems, weaken caregiving networks, and exacerbate social disparities. These questions remain largely unexplored in Europe, as international research has predominantly focused on the Global South. Climate disasters severely impact already underfunded care systems: care facilities are closed, infrastructure is damaged, and family networks collapse. At the same time, the need for carework and the burden on careworkers, who are often inadequately supported, are increasing. C(L)ARE highlights these dynamics and closes existing knowledge gaps by providing crucial insights into the vulnerability of care systems and the long-term negative impacts of climate-related disasters. C(L)ARE uses a mix of qualitative case studies and quantitative impact cost estimates to assess the long-term costs of disruption to paid and unpaid care systems caused by natural disasters using the example of the floods in Lower Austria in 2024. C(L)ARE’s goal is to develop actionable strategies for resilient and gender-equal care systems in times of extreme weather events and natural disasters related to climate change. C(L)ARE seeks to capacitate Austrian policymakers to integrate carework as a central pillar of climate adaptation and disaster management strategies. To achieve this, the project will produce specific recommendations for infrastructure improvements, disaster preparedness plans, support mechanisms for caregivers, and long-term strategies for gender-equitable care systems that can withstand climate-related challenges. By emphasising the importance of care systems for societal and economic resilience, C(L)ARE sets a new benchmark for integrating social justice with sustainable climate policy.

Transform-Labor addresses the specific challenges of adapting to heat stress in Austria's mobile long-term care and construction sectors and determines how the System of Provision (SoP) approach can support the development of appropriate transformative adaptation measures. The focus is on improving working conditions for the well-being of workers and the equitable, sustainable provision of basic care services. The project thus provides important insights for stakeholders from academia, politics, administration, trade unions and civil society on transformative adaptation in essential sectors in Austria. To this end, Transform-Labor operationalises transformative adaptation (TA) using SoP in the mobile long-term care and construction sectors in Austria. The focus is on labor as a critical factor in the provision of essential services. Both sectors are characterised by gender-specific, physically demanding work, labor shortages and high heat stress. SoP provides key information for the design of transformative adaptation measures by analysing the political-economic, socio-cultural and institutional root causes of heat stress and social vulnerability among workers. At the same time, the approach highlights structural conditions that enable TA in these sectors. The aim is to develop a conceptual framework to guide empirical research in the case studies. Using qualitative methods – literature analysis, expert interviews and focus groups – the causes of vulnerability are identified and TA measures are developed together with stakeholders (e.g. workers, the Chamber of Labour and the Construction and Woodworkers' Union). In addition, quantitative approaches and data are used to develop holistic indicators for assessing the effectiveness of TA.