Network & Projects

The Research Group is part of the Environment and Climate Research Hub of the University of Vienna. The network consists of scientists from the natural sciences, the social sciences, the humanities, law and economics and brings them together in the context of different initiatives. 

WELLCOH (September 2023 until August 2028) seeks to explore the relationship between social cohesion (SC) and subjective well-being (SWB) in the case of foreign-born residents in Vienna and Budapest. Its innovative approach is the attempt to understand their two-way relationship within one research framework. 

The project Contextualized pathways to reduce housing inequalities in the green and digital transition (ReHousIn) is a European research project investigating how economic shifts, urbanisation, and policy decisions impact access to affordable and quality housing across different regions. Housing inequalities vary widely depending on income levels, tenure security, and local governance, affecting urban, suburban, and rural communities in different ways.

The project is funded from March 2024 until February 2027.

How do local urban democracies work in practice? Municipalist Neighbourhood Experiments (MUNEX) examines democratic policy experiments at a neighborhood level in Amsterdam, Barcelona, and Vienna. Its primary goal is to deliver insights on the success factors of local urban democratic initiatives, test new instruments for inclusive governance, and strengthen transitional networks of policy learning. It further aims to co-create three prototype initiatives that are shared between neighborhoods in three cities, which are sustainable, livable, and inclusive to all.

MUNEX was funded from April 2022 until June 2025.

The GEtCoheSive research project, was funded by the Interreg Central Europe programme from April 2023 until March 2026. 12 public and private actors participate under the lead of the Cá Foscari University of Venice, Italy, and ask the following question: To what extent are multi-level governance processes related to the challenge of combating unequal opportunities for people to take part in society?

AIVET aims to develop AI-powered tools to generate and share intelligence on local labour markets for VET graduates.

AIVET will pilot an AI-based tool designed to support analysts in informing local decision-makers in the VET sector with data-driven skills intelligence. The tool will be tested in three cities (Barcelona, Sofia, and Vienna) combining AI analysis with interviews with graduates and focus groups with employers.

The project runs from December 2023 until November 2026. 

The MSCA European Training Network “Solidarity in Diversity” (SOLiDi), coordinated by Prof. Stijn Oosterlynck (University of Antwerp) was funded from January 2021 until December 2024. The project has developed a training and research programme to train 15 early-stage researchers in relevant theories, research methods and ethics from a variety of disciplines. The aim is to articulate a new vision on solidarity adapted to superdiverse societies and to better equip professionals and organisations with adequate and innovative tools for facilitating solidarity in diversity.

The Urban Studies Institute (USI) at the University of Antwerp, Belgium, offers a platform for interdisciplinary and integrated approaches to urban issues. It merges social and human sciences like sociology, history, geography and transport economy with urban planning, engineering and ecological and health sciences. Among other things, this has resulted in projects on smart cities (Hercules), solidarity (and religion) (FWO-SBO and MSCA-ITN-ETN), transit-oriented development (MSCA-ITN-ETN), and more.