Social science perspectives on climate change and development

I am a scientist with a background in sociology and geography, working at the intersection of climate change, social science, and development studies.

To date, my research has focused primarily on understanding the social impacts of extractive activities, and on the consequences that the closure or phase-out of these activities has for communities that, over time, have become locked into situations of economic and social dependency. I have paid particular attention to extractive sectors closely connected to climate change mitigation policies, especially fossil fuel extraction, examining how energy transitions reshape livelihoods, identities, political mobilization, and expectations about the future in affected regions.

More recently, my interests have expanded toward the broader social impacts of climate change mitigation policies, beyond the energy sector alone. This includes research on policies and initiatives such as forest protection, agroforestry, reforestation and afforestation programs, and REDD+, and on the social dynamics and conflicts that often emerge around their implementation. In this work, I am particularly interested in how mitigation policies interact with local economies, land-use practices, and social inequalities, and in why similar interventions can produce very different outcomes across contexts.

In parallel, I am increasingly interested in a wide range of environmental phenomena—including flooding, wildfires, land degradation, and other ecological disasters—not as purely natural events, but as socially embedded processes shaped by political decisions, economic structures, and historical trajectories. This perspective allows students to engage with environmental change through a social science lens, linking environmental risk and vulnerability to questions of governance, development, and power.

Methodologically, my work combines qualitative and quantitative approaches, including interviews, surveys, document analysis, GIS, remote sensing, and advanced statistical analysis (SPSS and R). I currently lead the course Social Science Perspectives on Climate Change and Development at the University of Copenhagen, and have previously taught environmental sociology, urban sociology, research methods, and qualitative data analysis.

I welcome collaboration with students and researchers interested in questions such as:

• What are the social consequences of fossil fuel phase-outs and energy transitions?
• How do communities adapt when extractive industries decline or disappear?
• How do mitigation policies such as forest protection, agroforestry, or REDD+ reshape livelihoods and land-use relations?
• Why do climate and environmental policies generate support, resistance, or conflict?
• How can floods, fires, and other ecological disasters be studied as social and political processes?

These interests are closely aligned with the objectives of AGDK14020U – Social Science Perspectives on Climate Change and Development, and provide a strong foundation for student projects and theses.

Research Projects

Ongoing

• 2026–2031: Principal Investigator – Intersectionality and Adaptation in the South African Coalfields, Danida – Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark (Research Grants for Development Research). The project examines how people and places are shaped by, and respond to, the process of decarbonization in South Africa’s coalfields, with a focus on how energy transitions intersect with social inequality, place-based identities, and local adaptation strategies. Total funding: DKK 10,000,000 (approx. EUR 1.34 million).
  
• 2024–2027: Task Leader – mInimize coSts and mAximize Benefits in the transitionary European regional Labour markets (ISABEL), Horizon Europe (Grant Agreement ID: 101177687, DOI: 10.3030/101177687). Responsible for ethics procedures, survey design/coordination, and part of the core team conceptualizing and applying. The project analyses trade-offs in European labour markets during the green transition, with a focus on minimizing job losses and maximizing new opportunities. Total funding: EUR 3,000,000 (EUR 575,000 allocated to the University of Copenhagen; PI: Nikos Kapitsinis).

Past

• 2022–2025: Principal Investigator – Mapping Social Disruptive Effects of Extractivism (MAPSOCEXTRACT), Horizon Europe (Grant Agreement ID: 101067663, DOI: 10.3030/101067663). This project investigates how extractive industries disrupt local communities and explores pathways for more equitable development in resource-dependent regions. Total funding: EUR 155,793.60.
• 2022–2024: Contributor – Energy transition in Spanish coal regions: Innovation, resilience and justice ( INNO-REJUST; PID2020-114211RB-I00 ) funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. Contributed to the design and coordination of research examining the social perception of coal mine closure in Spain, as well as  the social, economic and political impacts for the most affected areas.
• 2021–2022: Principal Investigator – Enabling long-term and small geographical scale studies of socio-economic change through Satellite Remote Sensing of Night-time Lights. Developed new methodological approaches to track socio-economic inequality in small geographies using remote sensing data. Funded by the Polish Ministery of Science through IDUB programme. https://www.wne.uw.edu.pl/news/projekty-badaczy-wne-uw-z-dofinansowaniem-w-konkursie-na-granty-w-ramach-programu-idub Total funding: EUR 7,363.90.
• 2018–2020: Principal Investigator – Beyond Resource Curse: examining the socio-environmental impact of the mining boom in Colombia in a context of EU energy import dependency (RECURSE), Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (Grant Agreement ID: 795302, DOI: 10.3030/795302). Ethnographic and spatial analysis of mining regions in Colombia to understand links between EU energy demand, local extraction, and socio-environmental inequalities. Total funding: EUR 212,194.80.