Natural Resources and Sustainable Development
The Natural Resources and Sustainable Development research programme studies different aspects of sustainable development and often works in an interdisciplinary manner. We assume that it is the Earth's natural resources and ecosystem services that form the common basis for society and the economy, and the research is focused on how we can use our natural resources in a sustainable way.
Description
The Natural Resources and Sustainable Development (NRHU) research programme focuses on different dimensions of the natural environment and the sustainable use of natural resources as the foundation for human societies. We aim to provide knowledge on identifying, exploring, and using natural resources securely and sustainably and to integrate this knowledge into governance systems and management practices. Our work considers complexity and interconnections between natural and man-made environments, often adopting interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches. Research in Natural Resources and Sustainable Development is conducted both in Uppsala and at Campus Gotland.
Our Research
Environment, Nature and Society
The Environment, Nature and Society research theme concentrates on interactions between humans and nature. We apply interdisciplinary approaches and a wide variety of natural and social science research methods. The approaches and concepts used involve socio-ecological systems, environmental sociology, environmental economics, natural resource management and economics, governance, and sustainability analysis. We also work with different environmental policies and Sustainable Development Goals, practical application of the ecosystem services concept, biodiversity conservation and restoration, nature and fishing tourism development, environmental conflicts and management of natural resources. Much of our work is conducted in collaboration with stakeholders at different societal levels, from local communities and organisations to governmental authorities. We consider a broad range of environments, including coastal habitats, fisheries and aquaculture systems, freshwater ecosystems, forests and urban areas.
Specific research topics:
- Resilient food systems and supply
- Multifunctional landscapes
- Recreational fishing and fishing tourism
- Eco-labelling and sustainable food
- Contamination and remediation of coastal areas
- Seagrass, fisheries and coastal areas
- Ecosystem services, biodiversity, sustainable development goals
- Forests and society
- Freshwater systems and water governance
- Limits to growth and scale
- Transformative change of social-ecological relations in the past and present
- Human-animal interaction
- Power, inequality, and conflicts over natural environments
- Geosociality and geopower
Energy, Resources and Society
The Energy, Resources and Society research theme focuses on problem-oriented interdisciplinary research concerned with the sustainable use and management of energy, natural resources, and safe infrastructures and settlements underpinning contemporary modern society. We analyse the global supply of fossil fuels and critical raw materials, sustainable deployment of and resource requirements for renewable energy technologies, energy/climate governance, energy security, energy futures and resource geographies, and establishment of safe and sustainable settlements and human infrastructures. In our research, we combine natural sciences (e.g., geology, physics, and volcanology) with social science approaches (e.g., sociotechnical imaginaries, political geology, and security studies). We collaborate closely with colleagues from several international research institutions and universities, including the China University of Petroleum-Beijing, the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Durham University, and the University of Iceland.
Specific research topics:
- Sustainable energy transition
- Sustainable energy systems
- Energy systems analysis and impacts
- Energy security and governance
- Resource extractivism, security and governance
- Space resources as a source of critical raw materials
- Sociotechnical imaginaries and energy visions
- Carbon budgets and regional climate policy
- Volcanically versus anthropogenically induced climate change
- Volcanic threats to society and infrastructures
- Systems shifts and systems interactions for low-carbon energy
- Tools for exploring local energy transformation
Climate Change Leadership
Climate Change Leadership at the Department of Earth Sciences in Uppsala University is a transdisciplinary research theme that explores the interactions between environmental science and society at large. The researcher analyse what roles different governance systems and actors can play in the context, and in particular how effective and fair political or other strategies for societal change can be developed and implemented, including the consequences these might have. Climate transformation, governance and policy is a broad theme at the centre of the CCL research, but a range of related environmental goals are also targeted in various studies.
Specific research topics:
- Climate science denial
- Science-policy interactions and decision-making
- Climate leadership among various stakeholders
- Political strategies for achieving climate targets
- Climate change and democracy
- Climate policy and public acceptance
- Climate mitigation and sufficiency
- Climate policy and circular economy
- Green transformations
- Wicked problem governance
- Climate governance and private diplomacy
- Synergies and barriers between climate and biodiversity policies
- Policies for multifunctional landscapes
Follow us on: https://climatechangeleadership.blog.uu.se/
Networks and centers associated with NRHU
BUP
The Baltic University Programme (BUP) is a network of about 90 universities located in 10 countries of the Baltic Sea Water Catchment Area that aims for a sustainable development of the Baltic Sea Region. It started in 1991 as an enthusiastic effort to bridge the information divide left by the Iron Curtain and has been growing ever since. The BUP supports cooperation among researchers, teachers, and students from the Participating Universities, extends to international offices and assists university leaderships in strategic issues related to internationalisation.
Blue Center Gotland (BCG)
The Blue Center Gotland (BCG) is a collaboration between Uppsala University, the County Administrative Board Gotland and Region Gotland, which focuses on research and development related to water on land, along coasts and at sea, with a focus on Gotland. BCG supports cooperation among researchers and society both nationally and internationally.
PhD Studies
According to international evaluations, Uppsala University has some of the most comprehensive research in geosciences in Europe, and our doctoral students at Uppsala University are among the most satisfied with their doctoral education. We offer doctoral studies in eight research areas.
Read more about our PhD Studies.
Publications
Barking up the wrong tree?: A guide to forest owner typology methods
Part of Forest Policy and Economics, 2024
Part of Geological Society of America Bulletin, p. 1982-2006, 2024
2024
2024
- Download full text 1 (pdf) of Changing Coastlines of the Indo-Pacific: Local livelihoods and use of ecosystem resources from a social-ecological systems perspective
- Download full text 2 (pdf) of Changing Coastlines of the Indo-Pacific: Local livelihoods and use of ecosystem resources from a social-ecological systems perspective
Contested firewood collection in Burkina Faso: Governance, perceptions, and practices
Part of World Development, 2024
Contrasting Recording Efficiency of Chemical Versus Depositional Remanent Magnetization in Sediments
Part of Geophysical Research Letters, 2024
Part of Energy Research & Social Science, p. 103461-103461, 2024
Emerging consensus on net energy paves the way for improved integrated assessment modeling
Part of Energy & Environmental Science, p. 11-26, 2024
Part of Small-scale Forestry, p. 175-189, 2024
- DOI for Following up with Forest Inheritors: A Survival Analysis of Recently Inherited and Recently Sold Non-Industrial Forest Land in the State of Washington, USA
- Download full text (pdf) of Following up with Forest Inheritors: A Survival Analysis of Recently Inherited and Recently Sold Non-Industrial Forest Land in the State of Washington, USA
Intertidal gleaning fisheries: Recognising local-scale contributions and management scenarios
Part of Marine Policy, 2024
Making meat moral: A comparison of rearing and killing practices in Swedish cattle farming
Part of Sociologia Ruralis, p. 254-279, 2024
Managing Scotland's Environment
Edinburgh University Press, 2024
Part of Sustainable Production and Consumption, p. 39-54, 2024
Part of Molecular Ecology, 2024
SubCity: Planning for a sustainable subsurface in Stockholm
Part of Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology, p. 105545, 2024
Tourism, animals & the vacant niche: a scoping review and pedagogical agenda
Part of Current Issues in Tourism, p. 1-29, 2024
Unravelling the ‘collective’ in sociotechnical imaginaries: A literature review
Part of Energy Research & Social Science, p. 103422-103422, 2024
Part of Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, 2023
An appraisal of the ages of Phanerozoic large igneous provinces
Part of Earth-Science Reviews, 2023
Part of Maritime Studies, 2023
Part of Lithos, 2023
Part of Democracy in a Hotter Time, p. 296, MIT Press, 2023
Part of Environmental Pollution, 2023
Challenges and opportunities in the use of ponds and pondscapes as Nature-based Solutions
Part of Hydrobiologia, p. 3257-3271, 2023
Climate-Related Co-Benefits and the Case of Swedish Policy
Part of Climate, p. 40-40, 2023