A new paper has been published in Nature Sustainability in which an international team of authors led by Guido Caniglia of the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research explore the use of practical wisdom and virtue ethics in knowledge co-production in sustainability science. Practical wisdom and virtue ethics strengthen the capacity of sustainability... Continue Reading →
Launching the SSH Centre: Bringing together researchers, citizens and policy-makers
On 25th January, we were proud to be part of the official launch of the SSH Centre (Social Science and Humanities for Climate, Energy and Transport Research Excellence) project, led by our colleagues at Anglia Ruskin University in the UK. The project engages with actors from across research, business, policy and citizens to contribute to accelerate... Continue Reading →
Česko by mělo překonat resortismus, podporovat komunity a být flexibilnější, pokud se chce stát společností odolnou proti katastrofám
S rostoucími teplotami planety Země roste také intenzita a četnost extrémních projevů počasí jako jsou vlny veder a sucha, silné bouře či přívalové deště. Výzkumnice z Ústavu pro výzkum globální změny AV ČR ve spolupráci s nevládní organizací Hnutí DUHA v loňském roce zjišťovaly, kde jsou silné stránky a slabiny české společnosti v odolnosti (resilienci) vůči katastrofám. Vycházely při... Continue Reading →
An interview with a participant in the second series of participatory workshops on the benefits of nature
In November, the second series of our participatory workshops (continuing from the first series as part of the One Nature project) took place in the Slavkov Forest, Třeboň and Křivoklát regions. Once again, we invited representatives from a wide range of disciplines that have impact on the shaping of local nature and landscape. The content... Continue Reading →
2022 Toronto Conference on Earth System Governance (ESG 2022): reflections on contributions to just transformation topics
October 21, 2022: Earth System Governance Project 2022 conference in Toronto. Photo by Dave Chan. ESG 2022 took place from 20-24 October at Toronto University, CA. The central theme linking all the presented contributions was "Governing Accelerated Transitions". ESG 2022 hosted over a hundred sections, covering a wide range of topics connected to acceleration and... Continue Reading →
Project update: what are the conservation-development conflicts when it comes to wolves in the Czech countryside?
Last summer I started my research on conservation-development conflicts in the process of returning large carnivores in Europe (namely wolves in the Czech Republic) to the wild. A year later I returned to the field and spent two weeks among farmers in the cultural landscape of the Beskid Mountains area. Preliminary results show social injustices... Continue Reading →
Ekologické a společenské hodnoty říční krajiny – odstartovali jsme výzkumný projekt „NIVA“
Říční niva neboli rovinné údolní dno, které vzniklo usazením sedimentů během povodní přestupujících hranice svého koryta, představuje specifický krajinný typ – říční krajinu – s nesmírným ekologickým a kulturním významem pro společnost. Říční krajina poskytuje lidem řadu ekosystémových služeb a funkcí, zejména zásobovacích (jakožto ložisko přírodních zdrojů včetně vody a dřeva), regulačních (jako např. zadržování a... Continue Reading →
Thinking about Participation for Sustainability
Recently, a group of us from the department put our different ideas together to write this paper “Participation as a pathway to pluralism: A critical view over diverse disciplines”. The paper was published in a special collection of the journal Advances in Ecological Research, called “Pluralism in Ecosystem Governance”. This blog post explains why we... Continue Reading →
We prepared a creative writing workshop in Želechovice under the Just Scapes project
The one-day weekend workshop taught participants new creative writing and creative visual methods. It focused on works and ideas connected to nature, the landscape, and the environment. This workshop took place as part of the Just Scapes project, which deals with the just transformation of society and the landscape in the European countryside. We collaborated... Continue Reading →
The first series of participatory workshops on nature’s contributions to people took place in selected regions
In the second half of April and at the beginning of May, participatory workshops were held in Slavkovský les, Křivoklát and Třeboň for invited stakeholders who have the potential to influence the local landscape and nature through their activities in the regions. Representatives of the forestry, fishing, mining and agricultural industries, representatives of...
When legality is not enough: moving beyond legal land tenure for urban farmers in Soweto, South Africa
Urban agriculture is widely supported across developing countries as it has proven to be a vital livelihood strategy among the urban poor, resulting in various benefits, including enhanced food security and socioeconomic empowerment. Many researchers and policymakers stress that legal land tenure is one of the key assets that help to enhance the potential of... Continue Reading →
Egoists like climate adaptation but not climate mitigation
In our recent blog post we argued that engaging in climate adaptation does not undermine the willingness of individuals to engage in climate mitigation and vice versa. In another study that is currently under review in a peer-reviewed journal (preprint of this study is linked here) we studied what values are typically associated with individual... Continue Reading →
Just Scapes: Participatory workshops addressing just transformations of the European countryside from the perspective of Slovácko, Horňácko, and Valašsko regions
What changes do we see in local landscape and society, and what would we like to happen in the future? How do we ensure that the effects of these changes are just for everyone? The European countryside is undergoing great social and natural changes, including climate change. However, the impacts of these changes affect various... Continue Reading →
Using Google Street View photographs to assess outdoor thermal discomfort and heat perception due to heatwaves in the urban environment
We have just published a preprint of a new study together with colleagues from the Department of remote sensing. The preprint reports the results of three studies conducted on residents of Czech cities of Brno and České Budějovice (N = 1,877) in which we explored heat perception in cities during summer heatwaves. Using street view... Continue Reading →
The COVID-19 Crisis Does Not Diminish Environmental Motivation
You may be wondering how the COVID-19 crisis has affected people’s pro-environmental motivation and pro-environmental behavior. At the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, some scholars hoped that the crisis might help the society to better grasp the existential threat posed not only by the COVID-19 but by other risks, including the climate change and adopt... Continue Reading →
The Department Highlights of 2021
Would you like to read our highlights of 2021? We have prepared a little newsletter to show you what we have done over the last year. We wish you a wonderful winter holiday, and look forward to seeing you again in 2022. highlights2021_finalDownload
Mapování kulturních ekosystémových služeb v krajině
Kulturní ekosystémové služby (KES) představují přínosy, které příroda poskytuje lidem a společnosti. Dle některých klasifikačních rámců (např. “Přínosy přírody lidem” dle Díaz a kol. 2018) se jim také říká nemateriální přínosy, které často vznikají spolupůsobením člověka. Snahy o objektivní měření KES komplikuje značná míra subjektivity jejich vnímání a také jejich nemateriální povaha úzce provázaná s... Continue Reading →
Climate adaptation and climate mitigation do not undermine each other
In our new paper in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, we report results from an experimental cross-cultural study conducted in Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. We found that support for climate adaptation does not undermine people’s commitment to climate mitigation and vice versa. In fact, we found that prior focus on climate adaptation increases worry... Continue Reading →
Public support for urban climate adaptation policy through nature-based solutions
The impacts of climate change on urban life require response in terms of adaptation planning. We investigated perceptions of and economic preferences for urban climate adaptation through nature-based solutions (NBS) in Prague and found that: (i) increased use of NBS is likely to generate significant economic public value; (ii) people perceive the species diversity of the NBS measures positively; (iii) NBS implemented in...
What are the conservation-development conflicts when it comes to wolves (Canis lupus) in the Czech countryside?
When it comes to large carnivores in Europe, what are the main issues described by farmers, foresters and herd keepers, and what are the just measures to give both parties (animals and humans) their needed living space? The return of large carnivores to Europe as a means of rewilding nature is gradually becoming one of the burning issues for a variety of... Continue Reading →
Od změny klimatu ke klimatické akci (od přírodních věd ke společenským vědám)
Mezivládní panel pro změnu klimatu (IPCC) vydal 9. srpna svoji Šestou hodnotící zprávu o fyzikálních základech změny klimatu. Zpráva hodnotí současné vědecké poznání v oblasti procesů a dopadů změny klimatu, projekcí budoucího oteplování a dopadů na klimatické systémy. Jedná se o zprávu shrnující, proč potřebujeme ohledně klimatické změny urychleně jednat, tedy proč potřebujeme tzv. klimatickou... Continue Reading →
From Climate Change to Climate Action (from physical science to social science)
On Monday, the IPCC’s 6th assessment report on the physical science basis of climate change will be released. The report assesses the current scientific knowledge on the processes and impacts of climate change, projected future warming, and impacts on climate systems. It is a report on why we need to act on climate change. It... Continue Reading →