Research & Innovation
WYSS ACADEMY COMPETENCE CENTERS
Our Research & Innovation Teams
The elaboration of a shared understanding of the social-environmental system, its dynamics and trajectories are an important basis to negotiate a common vision for the future. Our professors and their teams engage in fundamental and applied research supporting the implementation of projects in our regional hubs. Our teams also strive to deliver key insights to policymakers at all levels, closely working with the Policy Outreach & Synthesis unit of the Wyss Academy.
Our research currently comprises four fields which are relevant to addressing major challenges identified by the Wyss Academy:
RESEARCH & INNOVATION TEAM ON
Climate Scenarios for Sustainable Development
Prof. Dr. Edouard Davin
Professor of Climate Scenarios for Sustainable Development
Prof. Dr. Edouard Davin is a climate scientist studying the interactions between the terrestrial biosphere, land use and climate. He has extensive experience in both global and regional climate modelling and a core area of his work has been to integrate the impact of land use change in past and future climate scenarios. Ultimately, his work aims to demonstrate the key role of land use and land management in the transformation toward sustainable futures. He served as a Lead Author in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Climate Change and Land. His professorship at the Wyss Academy is affiliated with the Climate and Environmental Physics division and the Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of Bern.
Research Team
Climate Scenarios for Sustainable Development
Our Research
We are a team of researchers exploring the intersection of climate, land use, and biodiversity. We strive to a better understanding of the terrestrial biosphere's role in the climate system. Our mission is to produce knowledge that can be directly used in creating solutions for tackling climate and biodiversity crises. Our work is guided by three overarching questions: 1) What are the risks of climate change to terrestrial ecosystems and people? 2) How can Nature-based approaches, among other strategies, address these risks? 3) What is the potential for scaling up these strategies, and what are the resulting co-benefits and tradeoffs with sustainable development objectives?
RESEARCH & INNOVATION TEAM ON
Land Systems and Sustainability Transformations
Prof. Dr. Julie Zähringer
Professor of Land Systems and Sustainability Transformations
Prof. Dr. Julie Zähringer is an integrative environmental scientist with a PhD in geography and sustainable development. She has a strong interest in socio-ecological systems research in least-developed countries. In her current research, she focuses on the interlinkages between land use changes, ecosystem services, and human well-being in the context of land investments and conservation in East Africa and South-East Asia. She is especially curious to understand what ecosystem service benefits can be obtained by land users from different types of usage, and how the link between ecosystem services and human wellbeing has changed over time. In addition, she investigates how land investments directly and indirectly affect land use, and the implications of these land use changes for poverty alleviation and sustainable development.
