Research Group Social Complexity and System Transformation

Our aim is to identify the actors and governance structures that have the capacity to implement the vital interventions needed for a swift reduction in global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. We explore the structural changes required to strengthen the agency of key actors and social groups.

Analyzing the nonlinear mechanisms needed to spark rapid social change processes and disruptive system changes. For us, social tipping elements refer to subdomains of the planetary socioeconomic system where the required disruptive change may take place leading to decarbonization. We develop research methods, data gathering techniques, and new approaches in data analysis that can help us understand these dynamics.

Rising global temperatures and more frequent heat waves pose significant risks to human health, particularly for vulnerable groups. Our research focuses on the effects of extreme heat on pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and healthcare workers. We analyze the complex interactions between climate and health systems, explore predictive modelling of heat impacts, and study interventions that enhance resilience. Our work also includes the development of policies and practices that mitigate health risks and foster adaptation.

Identification of the legislative and institutional complexities of the disaster management frameworks under increasing pressures of climate change. This study is particularly focused on the global south which has several climate hotspots countries with the additional challenges of financial and political instability. This research will help to improve the resilience of the disaster management framework particularly in face of climate change.

We develop new modelling approaches that help us understand the above dynamics, intervention opportunities, and their short- and long-term impacts. We are particularly interested in multiscale modelling that links `micro´ dynamics at the individual level to `macro´ dynamics at the global level via the spectrum of intervening mesoscopic levels. We aim to share the learnings from our models with the public and policymakers, so they might help to guide more sustainable behaviour from the individual to the global level.

Social-ecological systems must continuously import useful energy and export wastes to maintain their complexity far from thermodynamic equilibrium and coevolve with socioeconomic processes. Climate change is driven primarily by the atmospheric accumulation of one sociometabolic waste - carbon dioxide - and is therefore a result of sociometabolism. We aim to advance the understanding of how social and metabolic processes are intertwined so as to identify effective interventions for mitigating the impacts of sociometabolism on the Earth system.

The climate crisis cannot be solved without addressing global inequalities. Many data sources show that top emitters with carbon-intensive lifestyles are responsible for a disproportionately large proportion of global life-style emissions. Carbon-intensive lifestyles of top emitters are driving aspirations of other social groups. We analyze socio-metabolic profiles of different social groups and study policies and institutional changes that support low carbon life-styles.

Adapting cities to climate change requires systemic transformations, as urban economic, social, political, and environmental components are deeply intertwined thus, necessitating a system science approach. We are interested in the potential of multi-stakeholder transnational networks of urban actors to exchange knowledge and share experiences, thereby accelerating the urban ecological transition.