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Earth and Society Research Hub (ESRAH)
Earth and Society Research Hub (ESRAH)

Working Groups

At ESRAH, interdisciplinary working groups unite researchers from various fields to address critical challenges at the intersection of earth systems and society. Their goal is to spark third-party funded research projects while enhancing our understanding of sustainability and resilience in a changing world.

Find out more about the vision of ESRAH
green man's bicycle leaning against old wooden shed

Photo: unsplash.com

Content

Previous Working Groups

Since 2019, the Center for Sustainable Society Research (CSS) at the Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences of the University of Hamburg has established multiple working groups, which have led to third-party funded research projects, among others. With the foundig of ESRAH as a joint research center of CSS and the Center for Earth System Science and Sustainability (CEN), these working groups will also be integrated into ESRAH.

Acquired third-party-funding

polar bear on ice

Photo: unsplash.com

Two projects in DFG Research Unit "Big structural change"

Projects “The European Green Deal as a game changer? Domestic institutionalisation processes of a green transition in Europe” (GreenDeal) led by Katharina Zimmermann and “Believing in a Net Zero Society” (BeNetZero) led by Grischa Perino form the climate change component of the DFG Research Unit (Forschungsgruppe) “Big Structural Change”.

Projects website
Illustration of diverse people holding hands in a circle, forming a spiral. CHANSE and NORFACE logos are visible on the right.

Photo: NORFACE/CHANSE

WELRISCC

WELRISCC led by Katharina Zimmermann investigates how European welfare states address challenges the climate crisis poses and manage the social risks arising from climate change. Specifically, the project examines how 16 European welfare states respond to 'third-generation social risks' associated with climate change.

Project website
The picture looks up at large tree into the blue sky and the treetop.

Photo: Sebastian Pichler via unsplash

International DFG project "Green Transition Attitudes"

Together with partners from KU Leuven (Belgium), University of Ljubljana (Slovenia), and University of Flensburg Katharina Zimmermann seeks to elucidate changes in public perceptions of deservingness towards various welfare beneficiaries in Europe amid the challenges of climate change and the transition to carbon-neutral societies.

Project website
plane and globe

Photo: Frank Vessia on unsplash.com

Scientific Reputation Revisited

The project takes a sociological perspective on science, focusing on scientific reputation to examine the role that conferences play in the presentation of self in academic life. It will contribute to the sociological understanding of the persistence, change, and transformation of climate-impacting practices such as international travel.

Project website
A stack of coins with a small green plant growing on top.

Photo: pixabay

Sustainable Finance Research Platform

The project partners aim to support stakeholders in politics, the financial sector, and the real economy in understanding and shaping the central role of capital markets in achieving a net-zero economy.

Project website