University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU)

The Institute of Social Ecology Vienna (SEC) is a subdivision of the Department of Economics and Social Sciences (WiSo) at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU). Research and teaching at the Institute of Social Ecology deals with the interrelationship of social and natural systems in the context of sustainable development. It approaches contemporary environmental problems and looks for their systemic and historical causes in society-nature interaction, whereas the two concepts of social metabolism and the colonization of natural systems constitute the core of its socioecological theory. The methodological spectrum includes material and energy flow analysis (MEFA), Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and remote sensing methods, systemic actor-oriented and organizational analyses, and the use of historical sources. The Institute's staff comprises 22 researchers, 7 administrative staff members and PhD students. Researchers come from interdisciplinary backgrounds such as biology, ecology, sociology, anthropology, political and technical sciences.

UNISECO project information on the partner website is here.