PSY | Focus on Sustainability: Students present Research on Participation and Transformation

How can societal change towards greater sustainability be achieved? What role do subjective experiences and social negotiation processes play in times of ecological crisis? These questions were the focus of the third event of the ‘Conversations on Sustainability’ series at the Institute for Qualitative Social Research, Faculty of Psychology, Sigmund Freud Private University Vienna.

Under the title ‘Precarious Participation in Socio-Ecological Transformation Processes’, students, lecturers and anyone interested came together on 11 June 2026 to discuss current research on sustainable development, social participation and urban transformation processes.

Following a keynote talk by Ivo Ponocny on the topic of ‘Climate Change in the City’, Katharina Hametner and Julia Riegler presented their teaching and research project on the role of participation in socio-ecological transformation processes. This was followed by presentations of the student research projects carried out during the 2025/26 academic year.

From Climate Activism to Urban Transformation

The first session focused on subjective perspectives on sustainable change. The psychology students presented research findings on various forms of sustainable practice and social participation. The contributions ranged from participation in the Vienna Climate Team process, through Repair Cafés as spaces for socio-ecological transformation, to questions of politicisation in climate activism, sustainable mobility, and consumption-related and queer perspectives on sustainability. In addition, subjective perceptions of climate-related forms of protest were examined.

The second part of the presentations was dedicated to the key theme ‘(Un)Places: Subjective Experiences of Sustainable Urban Transformation’. The students analysed selected locations in Vienna and examined how socio-ecological changes are perceived, experienced and co-shaped by different users. The focus included, amongst others, Naschpark, the WU campus, the MuseumsQuartier, the AUVA Neubau, the “Kühle Zone Neubau”, the area around Westbahnhof, Reumannplatz and Yppenplatz.

In the concluding discussion, key findings from the day were summarised. The ‘Conversations on Sustainability’ series thus once again provided a framework for addressing current societal challenges and enabled students to present their research findings to a wider audience and open them up for discussion.

Group of people sitting at tables in a bright room engaged in conversations. The speaker is standing in front of a window and a projection screen, holding a piece of paper; a man is sitting at a table, looking to the right. Several students sit at long tables in a bright seminar room listening attentively. Lecturer wearing short-sleeved shirt stands in front of large windows holding a pointer in his right hand. Several students sit at long tables in a bright seminar room listening attentively. Student holding notebook stands in front of large screen displaying presentation titled 'Reclaiming Space' in bright room with window in background. A group of students is sitting in a seminar room, listening intently. Two people stand in a bright room talking, one person holding a cup.
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