The socio-ecological research at the Institute for Social Ecology develops models to make society-nature interactions and dynamics manageable and visible. Models are always simplified representations of complex realities, which can be useful in many ways: they help to better understand relationships, reconstruct past system states, create scenarios of future developments, and help to structure inter- and transdisciplinary communication processes. These models are rooted in theories of society-nature interaction and enable structured qualitative and quantitative insights. They describe the interactions between actors' decisions, political and institutional frameworks, and socio-economic processes on one side, and biophysical and ecological patterns and processes on the other.

The research field also addresses the practical challenges of quantitative socio-ecological modeling: how can models be made comprehensible and publicly accessible (#OpenScience)? How can their high-dimensional results be analysed (#BigData)? Can different methodological approaches be meaningfully combined and compared? With increasing complexity of the models, questions of technical support and management of software and data become more important, as they significantly influence project management and planning.

The developed models serve to structure interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary communication: the necessity to explicitly define variables and their mutual influences in the model promotes accuracy in interdisciplinary exchanges. Our previous experiences also show that participatory model development, where models are developed together with stakeholders, is very suitable for identifying action possibilities and thus allows for a common understanding of future scenarios within a shared framework.

With the help of models, we analyze a variety of socio-ecological processes and issues. For example, we model land use change, resource extraction, the material cycles in socio-economic systems, as well as energy use and all resulting waste and GHG emissions. We are interested in the dynamics of societal stocks of buildings, infrastructures, machines, as well as humans and livestock, which drive  resource consumption, waste, and emissions. In participatory, transdisciplinary projects, we use qualitative information, such as interviews, together with quantitative data to model the interrelationship of actors with their socio-economic frameworks. We work on different spatial and temporal levels, from local studies in LTSER platforms, various regional and urban contexts, to international and global developments.

Central questions for the research field are:  

  • What types of models are particularly well suited for studying complex interactions between society and nature?
  • What questions and data require or enable which types of modeling?
  • What competencies and technical infrastructures are needed for socio-ecological modeling?
  • What are the limits of (quantitative) modeling in socio-ecological research?

Research coordinator: Dominik Wiedenhofer
Deputy research coordinator: Jan Streeck

Zenodo Repositories of the Institute of Social Ecology:
https://zenodo.org/communities/sec_vienna/?page=1&size=20 

At the Institute of Social Ecology, various models and modeling strategies are intensively used and further developed. These developments are supported by projects in the respective thematic areas. Here follows a selection of publications describing major models of the Institute:

Egger, Claudine, Christoph Plutzar, Andreas Mayer, Iwona Dullinger, Stefan Dullinger, Franz Essl, Andreas Gattringer, Andreas Bohner, Helmut Haberl, and Veronika Gaube. Using the SECLAND Model to Project Future Land-Use until 2050 under Climate and Socioeconomic Change in the LTSER Region Eisenwurzen (Austria). Ecological Economics 201 (November 2022): 107559. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2022.107559

Kalt, Gerald, Andreas Mayer, Helmut Haberl, Lisa Kaufmann, Christian Lauk, Sarah Matej, Elin Röös, Michaela C. Theurl, and Karl-Heinz Erb. Exploring theOption Space for Land System Futures at Regional to Global Scales: The Diagnostic Agro-Food, Land Use and Greenhouse Gas Emission Model BioBaM-GHG 2.0“. Ecological Modelling 459 (November 2021): 109729. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2021.109729

Roux, Nicolas, Lisa Kaufmann, Manan Bhan, Julia Le Noe, Sarah Matej, Perrine Laroche, Thomas Kastner, Alberte Bondeau, Helmut Haberl, and Karlheinz Erb. Embodied HANPP of Feed and Animal Products: Tracing Pressure on Ecosystems along Trilateral Livestock Supply Chains 1986–2013. Science of The Total Environment 851 (December 2022): 158198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158198

Wiedenhofer, Dominik, Jan Streeck, Hanspeter Wieland, Benedikt Grammer, André Baumgart, Barbara Plank, Christoph Helbig, Stefan Pauliuk, Helmut Haberl, und Fridolin Krausmann. From Extraction to End‐uses and Waste Management: Modeling Economy‐wide Material Cycles and Stock Dynamics around the World. Journal of Industrial Ecology, (November 2024): 13575. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.13575.

 

Content reviews of various models & modeling strategies, some by authors outside the Institute of Social Ecology:

Bhan, Manan, Simone Gingrich, Nicolas Roux, Julia Le Noë, Thomas Kastner, Sarah Matej, Florian Schwarzmueller, and Karl-Heinz Erb. Quantifying and Attributing Land Use-Induced Carbon Emissions to Biomass Consumption: A Critical Assessment of Existing Approaches. Journal of Environmental Management 286 (May 2021): 112228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112228

Lanau, Maud, Gang Liu, Ulrich Kral, Dominik Wiedenhofer, Elisabeth E.E. Keijzer, Chang Yu, and Christina Ehlert. Taking Stock of Built Environment Stock Studies: Progress and Prospects. Environmental Science & Technology (June 2019): acs.est.8b06652. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.8b06652

Haberl, Helmut, Dominik Wiedenhofer, Stefan Pauliuk, Fridolin Krausmann, Daniel B. Müller, and Marina Fischer-Kowalski. Contributions of Sociometabolic Research to Sustainability Science. Nature Sustainability 2, No. 3 (March 2019): 173–84. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-019-0225-2

Hertwich, Edgar, Niko Heeren, Brandon Kuczenski, Guillaume Majeau-Bettez, Rupert J. Myers, Stefan Pauliuk, Konstantin Stadler, and Reid Lifset. Nullius in Verba1: Advancing Data Transparency in Industrial Ecology: Advancing Data Transparency in IE. Journal of Industrial Ecology 22, No. 1 (February 2018): 6–17. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12738

Schaffartzik, Anke, Helmut Haberl, Thomas Kastner, Dominik Wiedenhofer, Nina Eisenmenger, and Karl-Heinz Erb. Trading Land: A Review of Approaches to Accounting for Upstream Land Requirements of Traded Products. Journal of Industrial Ecology 19, No. 5 (2015): 703–14. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12258

Wiedenhofer, Dominik, Jan Streeck, Frauke Wiese, Elena Verdolini, Alessio Mastrucci, Yiyi Ju, Benigna Boza-Kiss, et al. 2024. Industry Transformations for High Service Provisioning with Lower Energy and Material Demand: A Review of Models and Scenarios. Annual Review of Environment and Resources 49 (October 2024): 249-279. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-110822-044428.

Wiedmann, Thomas, und Manfred Lenzen. Environmental and Social Footprints of International Trade. Nature Geoscience 11, Nr. 5 (May 2018): 314–21. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-018-0113-9

Current Projects

Integrated Research Infrastructure Services for Climate Change Risks (IRISCC)

Project Leader: Veronika Gaube
Duration: 01.04.2024 - 31.03.2029
Funded by: Commission of the European Communities


REMASS - Resilience and Malleability of Social Metabolism

Project Leader: Helmut Haberl
Duration: 01.10.2024 - 30.09.2029
Funded by: Austrian Science Fund (FWF)
https://boku.ac.at/remass


Transforming essential provision systems through eco-social corridors 

Project Leader: Melanie Pichler
Duration: 15.09.2024 - 14.09.2027
Funded by: Austrian Research Promotion Agency FFG


Towards Sustainable Land-use Strategies in the Context of Climate Change and Biodiversity Challenges in Europe

Project Leader: Veronika Gaube
Duration: 01.06.2023 - 31.05.2027
Funded by: Commission of the European Communities
 

CircEUlar - Developing circular pathways for a EU low-carbon transition

Project Leader: Dominik Wiedenhofer
Duration: 01.09.2022-31.08.2026
Funded by: Commission of the European Communities


EDITS - Energy Demand Changes Induced by Technological and Social Innovations

Project Leader: Wiedenhofer Dominik
Duration: 09.03.2021-31.12.2025 (jährliche Projekte)
Funded by: Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth

Finished Projects

ALISEN - (Analyzing LInkages of SocioEcological Nitrogen flows) - Linkages of food systems and nitrogen flows: An integrated socioecological model of the Enns valley, Upper Austria, 1830-2030

Keywords: LTSER, integrated modelling, nitrogen flows, food system
Project Leader: Veronika Gaube
Duration: 01.05.2012-30.04.2020
Funded by: Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung (FWF)


Insource - INtegrated analysis and modeling for the management of sustainable urban FWE ReSOURCEs

Project Leader: Erb Karlheinz
Duration: 01.05.2018-30.04.2021
Funded by: FFG - Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft


LUBIO - Landnutzung, Klimawandel und Biodiversität in Kulturlandschaften

Project Leader: Gaube Veronika
Duration: 01.05.2015-31.01.2019
Funded by: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften


MAT_STOCKS - Understanding the Role of Material Stock Patterns for the Transformation to a Sustainable Society

Project Leader: Haberl Helmut 
Duration: 01.03.2018-31.08.2024
Funded by: Commission of the European Communities
matstocks.boku.ac.at


MISO - Material Inputs, Stocks and Outputs: A model of global material stocks and flows

Project Leader: Krausmann Fridolin 
Duration: 01.01.2015-31.12.2018
Funded by: Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung (FWF)


MoLUP - Mountain ecosystem in a changing world: land use, pollution and pathogens

Project Leader: Gaube Veronika 
Duration: 01.06.2017-29.02.2020
Funded by: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften


UTE - Urban Time and Energy: A socioecological model for assessing time-use and energy metabolism

Keywords: time use, energy flow analysis
Project Leader: Marina Fischer- Kowalski
Duration: 01.09.2011 - 31.08.2014
Funded by: Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung (FWF)


VOLANTE - Visions of land use transitions in Europe

Keywords: land use
Project Leader: Karlheinz Erb
Zeitraum: 01.11.2010 - 30.05.2015
Funded by: Europäische Union


ZEAFOLU - Zero emissions from agriculture, forestry and other land use in the Eisenwurzen and beyond

Project Leader: Christian Lauk
Duration: 01.09.2017 - 30.09.2020
Funded by: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften (ÖAW)