Logo: Climate Change Centre Austria (CCCA)

CCCA-News 01/2018

Dear CCCA-News subscriber,

with this first newsletter, we'd like to welcome you to the new year! It's already brought the CCCA community a completely revamped CCCA website. As part of the update to meet accessibility guidelines for web presences, the design has been refreshed and the navigation streamlined. There's new info on the Klimatag, some interesting calls for applications, and plenty more to discover...

Here's a quick overview of what's inside:

  • CCCA-Klimatag registration
  • Networking day and early-career group meeting
  • Programme for the networking day
  • Call for Papers – CCCA Early-Career Prize
  • Establishment of the WG Socio-Ecological Transformation
  • CCCA Fact Sheet No. 21 published
  • CCCA website is now accessible
  • Recap: BFW Practice Day 2018
  • StartClim2018
  • Municipal climate protection training course
  • TRIBE, a video game

The CCCA team hopes you enjoy the read!

CCCA News

Registration for the Klimatag will be open from 20 February!

An exciting programme is currently being finalised by the Klimatag programme committee and will be published in the coming days! Registration will be easy via the Klimatag website!

The 19th Austrian Klimatag will take place from 23 to 25 April 2018 at the University of Salzburg. Join us for a packed and exciting three-day event programme!

  • <link dialogformate oesterr-klimatag klimatag-2018 vernetzungstag-2018 internal-link internal link in current>Networking day on 23 April 2018 with a focus on the Alpine Convention
  • Attractive programme for early-career researchers on the networking day
  • Workshop on connecting science & administration with the State of Salzburg
  • Scientific presentation sessions and poster session
  • Award ceremony for the CCCA Early-Career Prize and Poster Prize
  • and much more

You'll find all further information about the Klimatag on the <link dialogformate oesterr-klimatag klimatag-2018 internal-link internal link in current>Klimatag website!

The networking day programme at the Klimatag in detail

Morning programme (9:00 – 12:00)
Networking meeting for early-career researchers on the topic "Alpine risks – challenges, approaches, governance"
This year's networking activity of the CCCA Early-Career WG will focus on one of the central themes of the Alpine Convention – current and future alpine risks. The CCCA Early-Career WG invites all early-career researchers to present their work (e.g. ongoing or recently completed research projects, master's theses, dissertations) on the topic "Alpine risks – challenges, approaches, governance" as part of the networking day and to discuss it with fellow early-career researchers and more experienced colleagues.
Early-career researchers can apply for a travel cost subsidy of up to a maximum of 70 EUR through the CCCA Early-Career WG.
More information on the programme and organisational matters can be found here.

Afternoon programme (13:30 – 17:30):

Networking event: "Alpine regions and climate change – the Alpine Convention as a platform for new ideas and approaches to sustainable development"
CCCA is organising in cooperation with the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention and the Ministry of Sustainability and Tourism a networking event on the topic of the Alpine Convention and climate change, which will take a closer look at the areas of tourism, communication and knowledge transfer, as well as climate and environmental monitoring within the framework of the Alpine Convention. The event will again place a strong emphasis on connecting climate researchers with stakeholders from public administration and practice.
The programme can be found <link de dialogformate oesterr-klimatag klimatag-2018 vernetzungstag-2018 _blank>here

Evening programme (from 18:00):
"The Alps in transition" – a personal account of TransALPedes 1992 to whatsalp 2017  by Harry Spiess (Zurich University of Applied Sciences)

Call for Papers – CCCA Early-Career Prize! Submissions for the CCCA Early-Career Prize are open until 26 March 2018!

The 19th Austrian Klimatag will take place from 23 to 25 April 2018 at the University of Salzburg. And this year, there's once again the chance to win the CCCA Early-Career Prize!

Early-career researchers are invited to submit a paper for the CCCA Early-Career Prize. With this prize, CCCA aims to encourage early-career researchers to publish scientific work and to recognise their efforts with an award. All submissions will be evaluated by renowned scientists, and every person who submits will receive review-style feedback on their paper.

The best paper will additionally receive a prize of 1,000 euros at the Klimatag.

The eligibility criteria and criteria for the Early-Career Prize can be found on the website.

Submission deadline: 26 March 2018

Papers must be submitted by 26 March 2018. Please send your paper as a PDF document to klimatag@ccca.ac.at with the subject line "Einreichung Nachwuchspreis". Please include proof of eligibility with regard to the age criteria with your submission.

Applicants will be notified of the outcome of the selection process in early April 2018. The award ceremony will take place at the Klimatag on 25 April 2018.

WG SET: New thematic working group within CCCA focuses on socio-ecological transformation

Last week, the CCCA board approved the application to establish a thematic working group on "Socio-Ecological Transformation" (SÖT). Tackling the challenges associated with climate change requires a socio-ecological transformation.

To support this transition through research, the Socio-Ecological Transformation network was formed in 2016. The aim of the CCCA working group now emerging from this network is to initiate and conduct empirical-analytical and normative-strategic research in order to contribute to shaping the transformation of society that lies ahead, as well as to build a bridge between research and implementation and thereby have a transformative impact.

The working group will also address the role of science in Austria, the independence of science, and the understanding of science and research in politics. In the field of transformation research, this role needs to be redefined and explicitly disclosed.

The working group is led by Prof. Dr Christoph Görg, Institute of Social Ecology, AAU (Christoph.Goerg@aau.at), with Prof. Dr Ulrich Brand from the University of Vienna serving as Deputy Chair.

Further information about the working group can also be found on the CCCA website!

CCCA Fact Sheet No. 21 has been published!

As part of the CCCA AG Consumption Based GHG Accounting, intensive work has been carried out over the past few months on presenting the case for consumption-based greenhouse gas accounting. Stefan Giljum (WU), together with colleagues from the working group, has now published the 21st CCCA Fact Sheet.
<link wissenstransfer fact-sheets>To the CCCA Fact Sheets

The CCCA homepage is now accessible!

© Tama66_pixabay

The architecture of the CCCA homepage, which had grown considerably over time, was clearly in need of restructuring in order to present the available information more clearly. This has now been achieved through a simplification of the navigation and a visual streamlining of the homepage design.

In addition, the CCCA team has spent the past few months intensively working through the guidelines on accessibility of digital content and has tried to incorporate these as fully as possible into the structure of the new homepage. In particular, the use of screen readers was hampered by certain elements of the old homepage — for this reason, for example, the rotating news slider has been replaced by our new news tiles.

CCCA received tremendous support from Ulrich Jahrmann, who has been blind from birth. At a meeting that was fascinating for all involved, held at the service centre in Graz, the CCCA homepage was reviewed for accessibility. He remains available to CCCA in the future with his expertise and useful tips and tricks, for which we'd like to express our sincere gratitude here! We hope you enjoy the new look! If you can no longer find something or have suggestions for further improvements to our homepage, please get in touch at servicezentrum@ccca.ac.at

News & General

That was the BFW Practical Day 2018

Developments such as globalisation, climate change, and new technologies will increasingly pose challenges for our forests. At the BFW Practical Day 2018, technical experts from BFW and from practice dedicated themselves to pressing questions about the future and discussed answers for forestry practice.

BFW director Peter Mayer opened the Practical Day with a look into the future and the major changes that await us: our population is growing, and doing so continuously. Instead of the 7–8 billion people living on Earth today, there will likely be 11 billion by 2100. Resource scarcity and efficient resource use will therefore present an increasing challenge. Alongside population growth, urbanisation is also on the rise.

By 2100, 70% of the world's population will be living in cities; in Austria, that figure is already 66% today. What prospects does this context offer for the future of forests and the forestry sector?
Full review (and presentations) from the BFW Practical Day 2018

StartClim2018

(startclim.at)

As part of the StartClim research programme, projects are being awarded for the 16th time in 2018. Innovative projects are being funded that address current questions relating to climate change and the Sustainable Development Goals.

The call for proposals theme is: Synergies and conflicts of use in the implementation of climate change adaptation and the Sustainable Development Goals in Austria from the perspective of climate research.

The submission deadline for project proposals runs from 1 February to 15 March 2018.

The research questions of StartClim2018 are structured into five thematic blocks:

  • Sustainable Development Goals and climate change
  • Conflicts of use in climate change
  • Climate protection and the economy
  • Disaster risk management and education
  • Citizen science and climate change

Further details on this year's call for proposals and on submitting your project application can be found at http://www.startclim.at/startclim2018/.

Municipal Climate Protection Course

(www.klimabuendnis.at)

Klimabündnis is again running a Municipal Climate Protection Course this year and is raffling off one participation place for students. The 6-day course, under the academic direction of Helga Kromp-Kolb and Gottfried Kirchengast, provides foundational knowledge in the areas of climate change and climate protection at the municipal level. For the second time, we are also optionally offering the additional module on Church Climate Protection.

For participants from Styria, the participation fee is reduced by €500 thanks to funding from the State of Styria. Representatives from Klimabündnis municipalities and parishes therefore pay only €490 (excl. 10% VAT), while all other Styrian participants pay €690 (excl. 10% VAT).

Further information on dates, programme, and funding options, as well as the registration form, can be found at www.klimabuendnis.at. A follow-up report on last year's course, including photos, can be found at: www.steiermark.klimabuendnis.at

TRIBE, a video game that teaches players good habits to save energy in public buildings

Switching off lights, monitoring ventilation, installing more energy-efficient devices or using renewable energy are just some of the more than 250 measures that TRIBE players get to know in order to reduce energy consumption in buildings. TRIBE is an educational video game that encourages players to improve energy efficiency in buildings by changing their behaviour. The ultimate goal of the game is to trigger a change in behaviour in players, motivating them to handle energy, electricity and water more responsibly.

TRIBE comes from the research project "Training Behaviours Towards Energy Efficiency", which was funded by the European Commission under the Horizon2020 programme and coordinated by the CIRCE research centre. Alongside the game, a catalogue of measures with more than 250 actions was developed to help public administrations improve energy management in buildings.

Further information about the video game can be found <link file:4340 download internal link in current>here.

Job Listings

More detailed information on these and other job postings can be found under Jobs. We'd also ask you to send us any current job vacancies so that we can publish them on our job board.

Upcoming Events

  • <link nc dialogformate kalender detailansicht-tag termin event tx_cal_phpicalendar clean-energy-design-thinking-challenge-1>Clean Energy Design Thinking Challenge, 21 to 23 February (Klagenfurt)
  • Smart Cities Days 2018: "The Path to the Sustainable City", 28 February to 1 March, Vienna
  • <link nc dialogformate kalender detailansicht-tag termin event tx_cal_phpicalendar>4th Energy Camp "EXIT OIL - Innovative Strategies for Phasing Out Fossil Fuels", 3 and 4 May (Murau, early-bird discount until 28.02.2018)
  • <link nc dialogformate kalender detailansicht-tag termin event tx_cal_phpicalendar>1st JPI Climate Scoping Forum Symposium, 26 to 27 March (Paris)

In the CCCA Calendar you'll find plenty of further information on climate (research)-related events. If you'd like to publicise events this way, please send the relevant details to info@ccca.ac.at.