Researchers and PhD’s

David Andersson

PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

David is interested in issues related to sustainable consumption and how society can change in a more sustainable direction. In his research, he has examined, among other things, the factors that affect households’ emissions of greenhouse gases, the link between well-being and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as rebound effects in the transport sector. In the program, David will participate in work on evaluating sustainable practices as well as investigating citizen engagement on sustainable lifestyles through ICT solutions.

David also runs the Svalna web service (www.svalna.se), which helps users gain understanding of their greenhouse gas emissions by analysing transaction data. Data from Svalna is used in the research program to identify and analyze sustainable lifestyles and as a platform for citizen engagement. David is also one of the founders of the card game Climate Call (www.kortspeletklimatkoll.se)

Rob Hart

Professor, Environmental and natural resource economics, SLU, Uppsala

My research concerns the development of the global – spaceship – economy in the very long run. Over the last 100 years and more the world has witnessed economic growth which is not only uniquely rapid, but also astonishingly steady. Can this increase be maintained, and if it is maintained, will that be at the expense of the quality of the Earth’s environment or other species? I combine rigorous macroeconomic analysis with an understanding of natural science. My role in the program is to bring a macroeconomic perspective to the analysis of sustainable consumption, including both changing consumption patterns but also falling total consumption, implying lower total labour supply.

Simon Matti

Associate professor of political science, Luleå University of Technology and Centre for Collective Action Research (CeCAR), University of Gothenburg

I am associate professor of political science and participate in Mistra Sustainable Consumption, WP5. My main research interests concern environmental politics and policy, in particular the origins and (political) solutions of large-scale collective action problems for example climate change and resource depeletion. Theoretically, my research bridges the fields of political science, social- and environmental psychology, and behavioural economics, with a methodological preference for experimental and survey methods.

Åsa Svenfelt

Reader (Docent)/Research leader, Division of Environmental Strategies Research (fms), KTH, Stockholm

I am one of two program leaders for Mistra Sustainable Consumption and a researcher and research leader at the Division of Strategic sustainabiliy studies. I am docent in sustainability and futures studies. My research concerns sustainable consumption, sustainable futures beyond GDP growth and just distribution and use of ecosystem goods and services. My main research field is futures studies and backcasting as a tool for sustainability and for dealing with uncertainty in environmental policy and long-term planning.

Erik André

Phd Student, Department of Space, Earth and Environment, Physical Resource Theory, and Environmental Administration, City of Gothenburg.

I am a Phd student employed at the Environmental Administration at the City of Gothenburg, doing my Phd studies at Physical Resource Theory at Chalmers.

Jörgen Larsson

Assistant professor, Department of Space, Earth and Environment, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg

I am leading the work package in the Mistra programme which is focusing policy innovation for sustainable consumption patterns. Since I have done research on aviation and long-distance travel for some years the consumption domain of vacationing is my focus in the programme. My research in this field is e.g. about new ways of measuring greenhouse gas emissions from air travel of a country’s residents, as well aspolicy analysis for the aviation sector. I am also doing other research relating to sustainable consumption patterns including e.g. analysis of the links between time use patterns (e.g. work time) and greenhouse gas emissions.

Oksana Mont

Professor in sustainable consumption governance, The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics at Lund University, Lund

I am a leader of WP4 in Mistra Sustainable Consumption. I am a Research Coordinator in Sustainable Consumption Governance at the International Environment Institute at Lund University, Lund. My research comprises sustainable consumption and innovative business models. My main research area is a multidisciplinary evaluation of various measures for changing consumption behavior, such as different consumption policy tools and business models in circular and sharing economies, collaborative production and consumption.

Vishal Parekh

PhD candidate, Division of Strategic Sustainability Studies, KTH, Stockholm

I am a PhD candidate at the division of Strategic Sustainability Studies at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. I hold a master’s degree in industrial ecology, and my academic interests include consumption and economic growth. My research focuses on the possible roles of civil society, the business sector, and policy in enabling a more sustainable consumption of food in society.

Liselotte Schäfer Elinder

Adjunct professor, Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm

I am a professor in Public Health Sciences and leader of the research group Community Nutrition and Physical Activity at Karolinska Institutet. My area of research is health promotion and disease prevention, mainly focusing on dietary habits, physical activity and prevention of obesity and chronic diseases. Within the MISTRA Sustainable Consumption project I am responsible for analysing the potential health impacts of niche practices when scaling them up in the population. Health impact assessment is a multidisciplinary approach that draws from diverse disciplines such as public health, the social and political sciences, environmental health, urban planning, epidemiology and statistics.

Noha Baraka Wadha

Research engineer, Strategic Sustainability Studies, KTH, Stockholm

I am a research engineer in work package 1 for Mistra sustainable consumption. In my work I identify and compile literature, participate in planning focus groups, as well as transcribe and translate. I also participate in the analysis of our focus groups and participate in the writing of a scientific article.

Annika Carlsson Kanyama

Reader (Docent)/Research leader, Division of Environmental Strategies Research, SEED, KTH, Stockholm

I do research in the program, especially in WP1 and WP2, where I estimate the environmental impacts of different consumer practices like sharing, eating vegan, taking the train on holiday and buying second-hand goods. I also simulate how much the overall environmental impact could decrease if new practices were getting more or less spread. Calculations are made with different types of data to capture what happens during products lifecycles. I also do research about climate change adaptation and the potential for urban indoor agriculture in Sweden.

Matthias Lehner

Postdoctoral Fellow, IIIEE, Lunds universitet, Lund

My research focuses on sustainable consumption behavior. Within this field I have worked both on marketing/branding, consumer behaviour, nudging, and alternative consumption ideas (sharing, collaborative consumption, cooperatives). My main interest in all of these areas is the individual consumer and how her behaviour can be changed towards higher levels of economic, social, and environmental sustainability.

Ola Persson

PhD candidate, Division of Urban and Regional Studies, KTH, Stockholm

I am a PhD candidate at the division of Urban and Regional Studies at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. I hold a Master of Science in Sustainable Development at Uppsala University., and my academic interests include consumption, sufficiency and economic growth. Prior to starting my PhD, I worked as sustainability consultant, with a specialization within Corporate Social Sustainability. My research focuses on the possible roles of civil society, the business sector, and policy in enabling a more sustainable consumption of furnishing and durable material goods.

Maria Thorson

PhD student, Department of Space, Earth, and Environment, Chalmers, Gothenburg

I am a PhD student in Mistra Sustainable Consumption. I will be researching sustainable vacationing and followers of niche consumption practices. My background is in societal psychology.