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Introduction
Current institution
HeiGIT
Current position
- Professor (Associate)
Additional affiliations
February 2011 - present
November 2006 - February 2011
Publications
Publications (56)
Science communication is an important part of research, including in the geosciences, as it can (1) benefit both society and science and (2) make science more publicly accountable. However, much of this work takes place in “shadowlands” that are neither fully seen nor understood. These shadowlands are spaces, aspects, and practices of science commu...
Science communication is an important part of research, including in the geosciences, as it can benefit society, science, and make science more publicly accountable. However, much of this work takes place in “shadowlands” that are neither fully seen nor understood. These shadowlands are spaces, aspects, and practices of science communication which...
Die vorliegende Social Economy Deklaration ist Resultat eines Prozesses, der mit der 1. Österreichischen Social Economy-Konferenz im November 2022 seinen Ausgang genommen hat. Die 42 Co-Veranstalter:innen waren in die Erarbeitung eines Entwurfs der Social Economy-Deklaration eingebunden, zu dem von Mitte Mai bis Ende Juni 2023 eine öffentliche Kons...
Zusammenfassung: Der Angriffskrieg der Russischen Föderation gegen die Ukraine droht die menschengemachte Erderhitzung und die Gestaltung einer klimagerechten Zukunft aus dem Blick geraten zu lassen. Wir führen in diesem Diskussionsbeitrag aus, welche Probleme sich aus der aktuell verfolgten Energiepolitik ergeben haben und welche sich daraus zukün...
Change triggered by natural hazards such as pluvial and coastal floods, sea-level rise as well as risks resulting from water scarcity are highly dynamic and related to the effects of ongoing climate change. Whether and how societies adapt, adjust, change, or transform because of climate change and related risks, is a currently debated topic. This q...
À l’heure de la crise du climat et de la biodiversité, les relations entre la science, la société et la politique font à nouveau l’objet d’intenses débats. En s’appuyant sur l’exemple du mouvement « Scientists for Future » (S4F), qui a vu le jour en 2019 en Allemagne, en Autriche et en Suisse, cet article met en lumière les options dont disposent l...
English: Documentation of a communication project by German-speaking scientists encouraging their peers to participate in the September 2021 climate demonstrations by means of short statements or appeals (German, with English and French translations).
Deutsch: Dokumentation eines Kommunikationsprojekts deutschsprachiger Wissenschaftler:innen, ihre...
We, the executive editors atGeoscience Communication, sincerely hope that this message finds you and your loved ones in good health. We are in the midst of a global-health crisis, the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). This affects all of us, and we truly hope that you are remaining safe and taking all necessary precautions. We all are facing difficu...
We, the Executive Editors at Geoscience Communication, sincerely hope that this message finds you and your loved ones in good health. We are in the midst of yet another global health crisis, the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). This affects all of us, and we truly hope that you are remaining safe and taking all necessary precautions. We all are fac...
In diesem Aufsatz wird ein Versuch unternommen, die aktuelle Klimadebatte aus der Perspektive der Theorie sozialer Systeme von Niklas Luhmann zu analysieren. Ziel ist es zu verstehen, warum globale und potentiell existenzgefährdende Themen wie der Klimawandel es nur schwer oder gar nicht und meist auch nicht dauerhaft auf die öffentliche politische...
"Raum“ ist ein zentraler Begriff der Geographie. Der Beitrag greift drei Raumkonzepte heraus und untersucht das Verhältnis der Beobachterin/des Beobachters zum Raum mit Hilfe der Beobachtungstheorie – einem Ansatz, der in Niklas Luhmanns Theorie
sozialer Systeme eine bedeutende Rolle spielt. Unter dem Aspekt des Beobachtens (als Grundoperation jed...
Ein häufig verwendetes Argument bei der Antwort auf die Frage "Was ist der Mensch?" ist der Verweis auf den beträchtlichen Unterschied zum Tier. Bei dem Versuch, die Differenz Mensch | Tier genau zu analysieren, wird die Argumentation relativ schnell schwierig. Und auch die neuesten wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnisse können zu diesem vermeintlichen Un...
Within global environmental change research, certain external drivers generally are assumed to cause the environmental system to change. The most commonly considered drivers are relief, sea level, hydroclimate, and/or people. However, complexity theory and self-organizing systems provide a very different framework and means of explanation. Self-org...
Die Teilung der Wissenschaften vollzieht sich seit Langem entlang der großen Bruchlinie zwischen den Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften einerseits und den Naturwissenschaften andererseits. An dieser Bruchlinie manifestiert sich das alte Ordnungsschema, das die Welt in Natur und Kultur einteilt.
Wie verändern sich gesellschaftliche Raumordnungen im Zuge der Ökologisierung, Mediatisierung, Globalisierung und Technisierung der Weltverhältnisse? Welche Möglichkeiten der (Neu-)Gestaltung gesellschaftlicher Raumordnungen bestehen, wenn deutlich wird, dass dabei mit einem vielfach besiedelten Außen zu rechnen ist, das von der Gesellschaft aus ni...
Context: This conceptual paper tries to tackle the advantages and the limitations that might arise from including second-order science into global climate change sciences, a research area that traditionally focuses on first-order approaches and that is currently attracting a lot of media and public attention. Problem: The high profile of climate ch...
For communicating second-order science, von Foerster’s ethical imperative provides a viable starting point. Proceeding from this, we plead in favour of emphasising the common grounds of diverging scientific opinions and of various approaches in second-order science instead of focussing on the differences. This will provide a basis for communication...
Die klassische Teilung der Wissenschaften in Natur- und Sozialwissenschaften ist bei komplexen Fragen wie beispielsweise der des Globalen Wandels kontraproduktiv und behindert ein gegenseitiges Verständnis über Disziplingrenzen hinweg. Mit dieser These als Ausgangspunkt eruiert der Beitrag, ob und inwiefern Systemtheorien zu einer interdisziplinäre...
Connectivity concepts are often used to describe the linkages between sediment sources and sinks within a catchment. Vegetation plays an important role as it influences surface roughness and the local capacity to store sediments and water. However, knowledge about the effects of riparian vegetation on lateral sediment connectivity as well as on the...
Many areas of the world are prone to several natural hazards, and effective risk reduction is only possible if all relevant threats are considered and analyzed. However, in contrast to single-hazard analyses, the examination of multiple hazards poses a range of additional challenges due to the differing characteristics of processes. This refers to...
In the preceding chapter we discussed that those systems which we generally observe in geomorphology cannot be regarded as systems in equilibrium. This is the case, because geomorphic systems are centres of flow, growth, and change—they are neither static, nor still, nor ‘dead’ (cf. [1, p. xii]). Thus, they are not in equilibrium. Non-linear system...
From the perspective of physics, geomorphological systems are thermodynamic systems. As they are open, they cannot reach thermodynamic equilibrium as long as there any disequilibrium with the environment exists. Still, the state of equilibrium and thus the thought of steady stability builds a reference model for the problem of describing a big ense...
We encounter the term “system” literally everywhere, in everyday discussions about the newest communication systems just as in scientific discussions about the “system earth”, the climate system, the social system, or questions regarding the political system (cf. [1, 2]). But where does system thinking come from, and even more so: Does “the” system...
At the beginning I raised the question whether system theoretical thinking is a challenge for geomorphology. Unambiguously, this question has to be answered in the affirmative. This is not only due to the fact that per se a system theoretical foundation of a science is a challenge: After all, modern system theories force scientists to think in loop...
In physics, three levels of consideration exist that cannot be reduced to each other (cf. [1, p. 55ff]): mechanics or dynamics, respectively, thermodynamics, and non-linear thermodynamics. Each of these levels focuses on a specific object, which results in findings of different scopes or significance. As will be shown in the following, mechanics an...
The newer system theories from physics, biology, and also from sociology can be summarized under the generic term “second order systems theories”, as all of them have been developed within the paradigm of self-organisation. Still, they are different: They start from different basic assumptions and, most of all, are concerned with completely differe...
In Chap. 2 I presented a concept of observation with far-reaching epistemological implications. These implications then re-appeared within the subsequent chapters. Probably, the most essential consequence of a concept of observation that understands observation as the twofold practice of distinction and simultaneous indication of the afore-distingu...
As described above the ‘unlimited’ geomorphological system theoretical perspective only has a minor ordering potential—everything can be addressed as a system, and furthermore, everything that is addressed has open boundaries. From this point of view the world thus appears as a continuum, and any delimitation of ‘meaningful’ unities is arbitrarily...
Especially within today’s research landscape many disciplines encounter the demand that their research needs to be of relevance for society. After all, the amount of research funds allocated is determined by this aspect. Science, or rather the knowledge generated by science, is seen as an instrument for better predictions and for more effective env...
Observation has a reviving influence on science [1], and is, at the same time, basis of all knowledge and cognition. Knowledge (Latin/Greek: ‘having seen’) refers to visual perception—when we have seen something, we know of it (cf. Fischer in his preface to Spencer-Brown [2, p. 7]). If, particularly, all science is based on observation and if scien...
The term ‘system’ is largely accepted as interpretation pattern within geomorphology, which is reflected in the amount of publications within which system theory serves as theoretical reference point. A search within the ISI Web of Science points to a strong increase of geomorphological system theoretical research within the 1990s and the first dec...
Systems theory in Geomorphology - A challenge. Every scientific observation and explanation is based on theory, and also the respective results are strongly dependent on the theoretical background of the individual researcher. In many cases, if not most, general systems theory builds this theoretical background within geomorphology. However, as a r...
Nearly all river catchments are directly or indirectly affected by human actions (e.g. due to river engineering structures or different land use practices), which inevitably leads to hydrological and sedimentological changes. The vegetation cover is one of the primary internal factors on sediment yield and even the most susceptible factor for human...
In steep terrain, various types of landslides (e.g. rock falls, debris flows and slides) are important erosional processes which often have a major impact on fluvial systems. On the one hand, they may divert river channels to opposite slopes or even block entire river channels, leading to the formation of landslide-dammed lakes. On the other hand,...
The website on Disaster Awareness with the use of the internet
"BE-SAFE-NET" is developed within the framework of the FORM-OSE
programme (European Training Programme for South, East and West) of the
EUR-OPA Major Hazards Agreement, hosted by the European Centre for
Disaster Awareness with the use of the internet (BE-SAFE-NET, Nicosia,
Cyprus). The...
In physical geography, systems are seen as a unity of parts and relationships, whereas human geographers using a second-order sociological systems approach define systems in terms of the difference between system and environment. Starting from this, dialogue between physical and human geographers using terms derived from systems theory is mostly in...
