Environmental Social Science Research Group (ESSRG)

ESSRG cultivates cross-boundary research in a transdisciplinary fashion, engaging in multi-actor democratic dialogue with natural and social sciences, and other knowledge systems. We nourish a collaborative and cooperative research approach, involving various communities and stakeholder groups while paying attention to those voices that are typically marginalized or voiceless, thus striving toward social justice and ecological sustainability. We possess practical skills for working with conflict-intensive boundaries on science-policy-society interfaces, such as action research methods and community development, participatory planning, conflict management and mediation competencies. We believe in opening up the established systems of knowledge creation toward various forms of co-creation, including Participatory Action Research (PAR), Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and citizen science, thus enhancing society’s capacity for transformative learning.