Joint PhD seminars on environmental challenges
Research about where nature and society meet, and where environmental crises appear, is being carried out by PhD candidates across Lund University. Although using different methods and asking different questions, their topics intersect in ways whereby engaging in discussions can lead to improved understandings, new collaborations, and an enriched research experience.
The format: Each seminar consists of a panel of three current PhD candidates. Presenters speak briefly on their research in relation to the seminar topic. This is followed by a panel discussion between the three presenters, supported by a moderator and inviting dialogue with the audience.
Upcoming seminars 2023
Friday 10 November
14:15-15:30, hybrid. Coffee and sandwich for on-site participants.
Venue: Geocentrum I, Sölvegatan 10, Room F126 (Gotland) and Zoom
Registration is now closed.
Mechanisms for impacting land use
What do major global coal miners, Europe's largest steelworks, and Swedish forests have in common? They're all spaces where communities, natural resources, and economic interests intersect, with diverse values and mechanisms impacting decisions with significant environmental and social implications.
They are all, additionally, part of the PhD research topics of Vera, Carlo and Hanna –presenters at this seminar, part of the Joint PhD seminar series on environmental challenges at Lund University.
Vera Braun is a student at the Technical University of Dresden, Business Administration, especially Environmental Management and is a current member of the ClimBEco graduate research school. She will share insights into institutional mechanisms such as regulations, industry standards, and society pressure that impact the biodiversity reporting of some of the largest coal-mining operators in Australia, USA, China and the EU.
Carlo Nicoli Aldini, based at the Department of Sociology of Law at Lund University and part of the Agenda 2030 Graduate School, investigates the specific case of Taranto, Italy. Here, the local population has fought against the local steel industry for more than a decade, due to the factory’s impact on public health. He will share insights into the role of the law in the mobilization strategies of Taranto’s social movements.
Hanna Ekström, from the Centre for Environmental and Climate Science (CEC) and the Department of Political Science at Lund University, as well as ClimBEco, looks at forest policy in Nordic countries. She studies how forest actors, with their various values, objectives and beliefs, relate to policies and land use and in turn, affect change in both.
Moderator for the event is David O'Byrne, Researcher at the Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies (portal.research.lu.se)

Vera Braun

Carlo Nicoli Aldini
By conceptualizing law as a cultural practice, I explore how individuals and social groups use legal resources for the purpose of absorbing the negative consequences deriving from environmental tragedies, and eventually readjusting their socio-economic conditions. Inspired by socio-legal methodologies, my research decentralizes law from the state to society, and eventually aims to improve our knowledge surrounding the relationship between law, culture, and society as a whole.

Hanna Ekström
The registration deadline of 8 November is passed, registration is closed.
Link to registration page (cec.lu.se)
About the joint PhD seminar series
The seminar series is conducted by and for PhD students. It is a joint initiative by ClimBEco, CEC, LUCSUS, IIIEE and the Agenda 2030 Graduate School.
PhD candidates from other institutions and universities, as well as advanced master-level student, are welcome to attend.
Links to organizing partners' websites:
- Graduate Research School ClimBEco
- Centre for Environmental and Climate Science, CEC
- Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies LUCSUS
- International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics IIIEE
- Agenda 2030 Graduate School
Contact person:
Cheryl Sjöström, ClimBEco coordinator
cheryl [dot] sjostrom [at] cec [dot] lu [dot] se (cheryl[dot]sjostrom[at]cec[dot]lu[dot]se)
Previous seminars
All of the links below lead to Lund university's research portal.
2023
2022
7 June: Bringing stakeholders in
2021
14 September: Ecosystem management using nature-based solutions
19 March: Measuring impacts of climate change
2020
1 October: Interaction and Knowledge co-creation with society
16 April: Uncertainty in decision-making
2019
5 December: Values at the intersection of nature and society
17 October: Nature-based solutions to societal problems