Abteilung Umweltsozialwissenschaften

TREBRIDGE – Wandel hin zu resilienten Ökosystemen: Eine integrierte natur- und sozialwissenschaftliche Perspektive

Mit freundlicher Genehmigung von Ariel do Prado

Das Forschungsprojekt TREBRIDGE beschäftigt sich mit dem Management von Einzugsgebieten in Bergregionen der Schweiz. Um sich vor Naturkatastrophen wie Lawinen, Erdrutschen und Überschwemmungen zu schützen, werden seit Jahrhunderten Rückhaltedämme in Bächen errichtet und Freiflächen im Wald mit Monokulturen bepflanzt. Die Instandhaltung der Infrastruktur für das Hochwassermanagement erfordert hohe finanzielle Investitionen und beeinflusst gleichzeitig die Qualität und Resilienz der betroffenen Ökosysteme. Ziel von TREBRIDGE ist die Identifikation von Politik-​ und Managementansätzen in Einzugsgebieten von Flüssen und Wäldern im Alpenraum. Diese Ansätze sollen dabei einerseits die Resilienz von Bergökosystemen bei der Bewältigung extremer Wetterereignisse  erhöhen und andererseits die gesellschaftlichen Bedürfnisse bezüglich der Nutzung natürlicher Ressourcen und der Schutzleistungen erfüllen. Das Forschungsprojekt verfolgt einen interdisziplinären Ansatz, um die Funktionsweise von Einzugsgebieten und Wäldern ganzheitlich zu betrachten, wobei inter-​ und transdisziplinäre Fachpersonen aus den Bereichen Geologie, Geomorphologie, Hydrologie, Ökologie, Ökonomie und Politikanalyse zusammenarbeiten.

Das Projekt ist in fünf Arbeitspakete unterteilt.

Die Forschungsgruppe der Eawag ist für die Arbeitspakete 1 und 5, d.h. "Wissenschaftliche Integration" und "Werte der Natur und Umweltpolitik", verantwortlich.

1. Wissenschaftliche Integration

Integration der an diesem Projekt beteiligten Disziplinen, um einen ganzheitlichen Ansatz des Projekts und eine zielgruppenspezifische Synthese der Ergebnisse sicherzustellen.

2. Partizipativer Szenario-Prozess

Entwicklung eines partizipativen Prozesses zur Szenarienentwicklung und -​bewertung von alternativen Politik-​ und Bewirtschaftungsoptionen für die Schaffung resilienter Ökosysteme und die Erfüllung gesellschaftlicher und ökologischer Bedürfnisse in den Alpenregionen;

3. Sedimentproduktion und -transfer
Bewertung der Auswirkungen der derzeitigen Bewirtschaftungspraktiken auf die Sedimentproduktion und -abfluss und Gegenüberstellung mit weniger technisierten Alternativen;

4. Erforschung der hydrologischen und ökologischen Folgen
Untersuchung, wie Veränderungen in der Vegetationsdecke die Sedimentkaskade und die Gerinnestabilität beeinflussen, sowie Quantifizierung der relativen Bedeutung des Klimawandels auf diese Veränderungen im Vergleich zu forstwirtschaftlichen Praktiken;

5. Werte der Natur und Umweltpolitik
Analyse der wirtschaftlichen und nichtwirtschaftlichen Werte der Natur auf der Grundlage von gesellschaftlichen Präferenzen. Anschliessend Entwicklung von Politik- und Managementoptionen, sowie Bewertung der Verteilung von Lasten und Nutzen.

Kontakt

Dr. Sabine Hoffmann Gruppenleiterin, Gruppe: ITD Tel. +41 58 765 6818 E-Mail senden
Dr. Ivana Logar Gruppenleiterin, Gruppe: EnvEco Tel. +41 58 765 5504 E-Mail senden

Informationen

Finanzierung: Schweizerischer Nationalfonds (SNF), im Rahmen des Programms Sinergia – interdisziplinär, kollaborativ und bahnbrechend

Dauer: 2022 bis 2026

Das Projekt wird von der Forschungsgruppe NARP der ETH Zürich geleitet.

Publikationen

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      originalId => protected33938 (integer)
      authors => protected'Hofmann, B.; Salomon, H.; Hoffmann, S.' (53 chars)
      title => protected'Roles of researchers in inter- and transdisciplinary sustainability research
         : a reflection tool
' (95 chars) journal => protected'Sustainability Science' (22 chars) year => protected2025 (integer) volume => protected20 (integer) issue => protected'' (0 chars) startpage => protected'777' (3 chars) otherpage => protected'792' (3 chars) categories => protected'roles of researchers; tool; inter- and transdisciplinary research; sustainab
         ility science; operationalization; reflection
' (121 chars) description => protected'Inter- and transdisciplinary (ITD) research is increasingly called for and s
         upported to promote sustainable transformation through knowledge co-producti
         on, knowledge integration, and solution development. The paper explores what
          is needed to support researchers in reflecting on their new roles in ITD re
         search. We introduce a reflection tool that makes the growing literature on
         researchers’ roles in sustainability science applicable to ITD projects. I
         ts design is based on the arguments that each researcher can have several ro
         les within one research project and that focusing on a few key roles increa
         ses clarity compared to differentiating many specialized roles. The tool con
         sists of (1) a researcher survey that operationalizes six prominent roles (t
         raditional scientist, self-reflexive scientist, knowledge integrator, knowle
         dge broker, process facilitator, and change agent), (2) a visualization of r
         ole profiles from the survey, and (3) a set of reflection questions on relat
         ed opportunities, challenges, and coping strategies on individual and projec
         t level. We empirically applied the tool in two ITD research projects focuse
         d on sustainable food production and water and forest ecosystem management.
         Comparative application of the tool yielded diverse role profiles of researc
         hers in both projects, with different patterns for senior and junior researc
         hers as well as natural and social scientists. The reflection produced a col
         lection of opportunities, challenges, and coping strategies that corroborate
         s and extends insights from ITD literature. We discuss how the tool triggers
          multi-dimensional reflection on roles (individual and project level, role c
         ombinations, self-perception and external perception) and outline opportunit
         ies for further strengthening such reflection in ITD research.
' (1810 chars) serialnumber => protected'1862-4065' (9 chars) doi => protected'10.1007/s11625-024-01619-x' (26 chars) uid => protected33938 (integer) _localizedUid => protected33938 (integer)modified _languageUid => protectedNULL _versionedUid => protected33938 (integer)modified pid => protected124 (integer)
1 => Snowflake\Publications\Domain\Model\Publicationprototypepersistent entity (uid=34130, pid=124) originalId => protected34130 (integer) authors => protected'Lieberherr, E.; Dölker, J.; Salomon, H.; Schick, V.; Lo
         gar, I.; Bugmann, H.; Schlunegger, F.; König, L.; Kräh
         enbühl, J.; McArdell, B.; Molnar, P.; Schmidt, C.; Quat
         rini, S.; Zabel, A.; Zhang, J.; Hoffmann, S.
' (292 chars) title => protected'Science integration and a participatory scenario process. An inter- and tran
         sdisciplinary study from the Alps
' (109 chars) journal => protected'GAIA: Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society' (53 chars) year => protected2025 (integer) volume => protected34 (integer) issue => protected'1' (1 chars) startpage => protected'35' (2 chars) otherpage => protected'41' (2 chars) categories => protected'Alpine ecosystems; design report; inter- and transdisciplinary research; par
         ticipatory scenario process; science integration; stakeholder engagement; tr
         ansformation
' (164 chars) description => protected'Highly engineered Alpine watersheds and forests face growing risks, requirin
         g shifts in management and research. We use science integration and a partic
         ipatory scenario process to integrate disciplines and co-create knowledge wi
         th stakeholders. We thus develop pathways for rethinking future management,
         aiming for higher resilience of Alpine ecosystems and delivering greater soc
         ietal value than current systems.<br /><br />Given highly engineered Alpine
         ecosystems with monocultures and channelized streams, this project proposes
         radical changes to enable increased ecosystem resilience and societal wellbe
         ing. We propose to rethink 1. management by including ecological and socio-e
         conomic aspects and 2. research by integrating natural, engineering, and soc
         ial sciences. In this inter- and transdisciplinary project, we develop quali
         tative scenarios as storylines for future Alpine watershed and forest manage
         ment. These scenarios serve as parameters for, on the one hand, the biophysi
         cal modelling of ecological quality (biodiversity, ecosystem function, ecolo
         gical integrity) in Swiss case study regions. On the other, we assess reside
         nts’ preferences for the scenarios in relation to Nature’s Contributions
          to People and aspects of justice. We thus use science integration and a par
         ticipatory scenario process to enable integration across disciplines as well
          as co-create knowledge with stakeholders throughout the research process. W
         hile this approach facilitates working across disciplinary boundaries and in
         cludes stakeholders from the onset, it also comes with challenges: finding a
          common language across disciplines and engaging meaningfully with stakehold
         ers takes time and simultaneously does not cater to the traditional metrics
         in academia.
' (1760 chars) serialnumber => protected'0940-5550' (9 chars) doi => protected'10.14512/gaia.34.1.4' (20 chars) uid => protected34130 (integer) _localizedUid => protected34130 (integer)modified _languageUid => protectedNULL _versionedUid => protected34130 (integer)modified pid => protected124 (integer)
2 => Snowflake\Publications\Domain\Model\Publicationprototypepersistent entity (uid=34096, pid=124) originalId => protected34096 (integer) authors => protected'Hofmann,&nbsp;B.; Fischer,&nbsp;M.; Ingold,&nbsp;K.; Lieberherr,&nbsp;E.; Ho
         ffmann,&nbsp;S.
' (91 chars) title => protected'Knowledge cumulation at science‐policy interfaces: opportunities for envir
         onmental governance research
' (104 chars) journal => protected'Environmental Policy and Governance' (35 chars) year => protected2025 (integer) volume => protected35 (integer) issue => protected'3' (1 chars) startpage => protected'538' (3 chars) otherpage => protected'546' (3 chars) categories => protected'environmental governance; environmental policy; knowledge cumulation; knowle
         dge integration; knowledge use; science-policy interfaces; synthesis
' (144 chars) description => protected'To increase the societal impact of environmental governance research, schola
         rs have called for knowledge cumulation, meaning that scientific evidence bu
         ilds more systematically on previous findings. Our article develops the pers
         pective that such knowledge cumulation takes place not only within academia
         but also at science-policy interfaces (SPIs). Drawing on literature on knowl
         edge integration, synthesis, and use as well as science-policy literature, w
         e outline five opportunities for knowledge cumulation at SPIs: (1) proximity
          to democratic discourse and decision-making; (2) suitability for inter- and
          transdisciplinary integration; (3) combined problem and solution focus; (4)
          potential to increase the generality of scientific findings; and (5) creati
         on of targeted synthesis products. We illustrate their respective benefits a
         nd challenges with empirical examples from SPIs for climate change, biodiver
         sity and natural resources, and food systems. We conclude that SPIs are an i
         mportant locus for cumulating knowledge used in complex environmental govern
         ance and that future research could explore how this interacts with knowledg
         e cumulation in the academic realm.
' (1175 chars) serialnumber => protected'1756-932X' (9 chars) doi => protected'10.1002/eet.2155' (16 chars) uid => protected34096 (integer) _localizedUid => protected34096 (integer)modified _languageUid => protectedNULL _versionedUid => protected34096 (integer)modified pid => protected124 (integer)
Hofmann, B.; Salomon, H.; Hoffmann, S. (2025) Roles of researchers in inter- and transdisciplinary sustainability research: a reflection tool, Sustainability Science, 20, 777-792, doi:10.1007/s11625-024-01619-x, Institutional Repository
Lieberherr, E.; Dölker, J.; Salomon, H.; Schick, V.; Logar, I.; Bugmann, H.; Schlunegger, F.; König, L.; Krähenbühl, J.; McArdell, B.; Molnar, P.; Schmidt, C.; Quatrini, S.; Zabel, A.; Zhang, J.; Hoffmann, S. (2025) Science integration and a participatory scenario process. An inter- and transdisciplinary study from the Alps, GAIA: Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society, 34(1), 35-41, doi:10.14512/gaia.34.1.4, Institutional Repository
Hofmann, B.; Fischer, M.; Ingold, K.; Lieberherr, E.; Hoffmann, S. (2025) Knowledge cumulation at science‐policy interfaces: opportunities for environmental governance research, Environmental Policy and Governance, 35(3), 538-546, doi:10.1002/eet.2155, Institutional Repository

Team

Dr. Sabine Hoffmann Gruppenleiterin, Gruppe: ITD Tel. +41 58 765 6818 E-Mail senden
Dr. Ivana Logar Gruppenleiterin, Gruppe: EnvEco Tel. +41 58 765 5504 E-Mail senden
Hanna Salomon Doktorandin, Gruppe: ITD Tel. +41 58 765 5187 E-Mail senden
Julie Dölker Doktorandin, Gruppe: EnvEco Tel. +41 58 765 6414 E-Mail senden