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• project description

  How can the interests of people with a migration background be represented more equitable in research? This question is being researched through the topic of cycling in everyday life: What obstacles do migrants and their children face in using cycling as a means of transport in Vienna? The EMCY project aims to answer this research question under the premise of an intersectional understanding of gender. There, gender is an aspect of social inequality also including economic conditions, education, age, and the capacity to be mobile.

  The aim of the project is to investigate whether and by utilising which type of survey method reliable results can be obtained on migrant attitudes and needs. Obstacles shall be identified that prevent migrants from cycling in everyday life. The target group is residents of Vienna who have migrated from outside the EU of 1995, focusing on parents with children of primary school age. This approach is analogous to the FreiRad project and enables a comparison of the research results in order to confirm or expand the recommendations for action developed there. For the survey, the plan is to cooperate with institutions from the migrant integration sector that are locally anchored. Based on the knowledge gained, a practical test (e.g. tailor made cycling courses) will be developed in order to test possible support measures for migrants.

  more info on this project

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• project description

  The project applies the concept of biocultural heritage, combining the elements of natural environment, material and spiritual culture to explore the potential of urban green and subsistance spaces and associated forms of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and human-environment relationships in climate adaptation. Our main research question is, "Can biocultural heritage situated in urban landscapes serve as a resource for climate adaptation in Arctic cities?". In order to answer this question, we will work with local and Indigenous communities in Fairbanks and Nome in the USA, and Kirkenes and Tromsø in Norway. The project team, consisting of social and natural scientists, artists and activists, will combine quantitative and qualitative methods of social anthropology, human geography, climate science and remote sensing. The integration of scientific data with Indigenous long-term observations and artistic explorations should lead to publicly accessible, co-produced and place-specific arts and science products, including academic articles, disseminated via online media, as well as through an art+science exhibition.

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• project description

  In the midst of today’s multifaceted crises – social, ecological, and exacerbated by COVID-19 – the future remains a neglected area of anthropological exploration. Urgent challenges demand fresh perspectives on what lies ahead, yet existing studies often reflect the concerns of the Global North, overlooking the diversity of human experience and potential futures. In this context, the ERC-funded project ANTHROFUTURE spearheads a paradigm shift in anthropological inquiry. By examining the pandemic-induced acceleration of future scenarios into the present, the project aims to unravel the complexities of our tomorrow. This groundbreaking endeavour focuses on the dynamic interplay between the pandemic, the art world, and the Global South, offering innovative insights into the shaping of decolonised future narratives and possibilities.

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• project description

  Permafrost underlies 22% of the Northern Hemisphere's exposed land surface and is thawing at an alarming rate as a direct consequence of climate change. Permafrost thaw releases large quantities of organic matter and contaminants into the environment. Contaminants, including heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants and microbiological agents locked in permafrost, are a risk for both human and animal health. In addition, permafrost thaw dramatically impacts infrastructure in local communities with wide-ranging consequences for health, economy, and society. Yet the social, physical and health components of permafrost thaw have traditionally been studied in isolation, leading to inadequate policy options that ignore the holistic nature of the threat. There is a need for an integrated and participatory approach to the complex issues at the overlap between climate change, permafrost thaw, infrastructure damage, contaminants, health and well-being and for solutions founded on the cultural, natural and social frameworks of local communities. ILLUQ is an interdisciplinary project rooted in participatory research with local stake- and rightsholders. Its mission is to tackle this need by providing the first holistic approach to permafrost thaw, pollution, One Health and well-being in the Arctic and delivering timely products on the risks from contaminant release, infrastructure failure and ecosystem changes to stakeholders. ILLUQ's endeavor is a direct answer to the pressing needs of communities on potentially disappearing permafrost. It targets the missing link between studies performed by scientists, engineers and consultants in local communities and solutions with local stake- and rightsholders focusing on the long-term implications of decision-making in the context of permafrost thaw, a time frame generally overlooked in existing governance frameworks.

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• project description

  Today, the right to health is often enacted as a right to access pharmaceuticals. This pharmaceuticalization of public health creates both opportunities for relief and new risks for patient safety and sustainability such as overmedicalization, waning effectiveness, and iatrogenic harm. In health policy making, a “less is more” approach of de-prescribing has become part of quaternary prevention with optimization of services at its core. Existing policies focus on guidelines for providers and indirect user regulation. Yet, little is known about provider and user experience or circulation pathways–pharmaceuticals’ “cultural efficacy”–that could inform a more context-sensitive, evidence-based policy approach.

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• project description

  Although smartphone addiction is not officially recognised as a psychiatric disorder, it is a popular topic of public discourse around the world, especially in relation to the "zombified" young people who seem to be glued to their smartphones. To date, however, research on smartphone and internet addiction has been limited: It is often based on quantitative surveys produced by researchers and mental healthexperts who rather arbitrarily and top-down determine how much time spent with a smartphone is problematic. Moreover, such studies are usually conducted with college students in English-speaking countries and assume that smartphone users' behaviour is universal, regardless of social and cultural differences, historical attitudes towards media and patients' perspectives.

  This project thus aims to address the urgent need for additional, qualitative and more nuanced research on this topic, to take into account social and cultural differences, and to consider the perspectives of those affected by smartphone addiction or related phenomena such as internet and gaming addiction. To this end, the project focuses on how affected young people experience and conceptualise smartphone addiction themselves, particularly in relation to the issues of guilt and self-control.

  In order to capture their perspectives, the study will involve extensive fieldwork in an Austrian clinic specialising in smartphone, gaming and internet addiction, conducted by a social and cultural anthropologist based at the University of Vienna. During several months, the researcher will spend time with patients and medical professionals, participate in various activities and conduct interviews. The project will not only explore how smartphone addiction is conceptualised by young people and mental health professionals but will also actively engage young people in discussions about the phenomenon by creating a collaborative artwork that expresses their views. This will include participatory workshops involving patients, mental health professionals, digital interface designers and artists who will enable the creation of a collaborative audio-visual work to be publicly exhibited.

  The project is situated at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Vienna. Its interdisciplinary advisory board includes researchers from the Maynooth University (Ireland), Free University Berlin (Germany), Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin (Germany), Masaryk University (Czech Republic) and RMIT University Melbourne (Australia).

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• project description

  Snow is a key variable of climate change, making it and its associated impacts clearly visible. The changes in snow cover over the last 150 years or so are well documented for the Alps from measurements. However, the situation in Greenland is completely different. Although snow also plays a central role for the population there, hardly any measurements are available for this huge island. 

  This research gap motivates the overall research goal of Snow2School, namely to be able to better quantify changes in snow conditions using the example of Uummannaq (Greenland), by means of a new reconstruction method based on photographs, which is being developed and tested for Eisenerz (Austria, Alps).  At the same time, Snow2School aims to generate a better understanding of the impact of snow changes (against the background of climate change) on the lives of people in Greenland and Austria. Snow2School thus pursues an interdisciplinary research approach with strong Citizen Science support.

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• project description

  The “new Arctic” is attracting global attention for a variety of reasons, including geopolitics, militarisation, resource extraction, wilderness tourism, and calls for environmental protection in the face of rapid climate change. Many of these activities necessitate the construction or upgrading of transport infrastructures in this relatively remote, inaccessible and scarcely-populated part of the world. While these large-scale infrastructures are mostly sponsored by outside interests, they can have profound impacts on local residents.

  We propose to focus on how residents of the Arctic, both indigenous and non-indigenous, engage with these infrastructures, and to examine the intended and unintended consequences these projects have on their lives. 

  Our challenge is to understand whether existing and planned transport infrastructures will support permanent human habitation and sustainable communities in the Arctic, or whether they will strengthen a trend of substituting permanent residents with “temporaries” like shift workers, tourists and military personnel. In addressing this challenge, we adopt a relational affordance perspective, which will document the material and non-material entanglements of local residents and transport infrastructures in three distinct arctic regions (Russian Arctic, North American Arctic, European Arctic). 

  Our approach combines ethnographic fieldwork with mapping exercises and archival research. Our project team of anthropologists and geographers will use quantitative population data to upscale to the regional level, and regional patterns will be contrasted and compared to reach conclusions on the panarctic level. 

  We will use interactive scenarios to collect input and to develop decision options. Our overarching research question – What is the role of transport infrastructures in sustaining arctic communities? – is of urgent relevance on both theoretical and practical levels, and by addressing it we will contribute locally informed results to critical conversations about arctic futures.