Research
Risk- and environmental studies is a wide, multidisciplinary discipline focused on analysis, decision making, and transformation processes related to societal risks, environmental issues and contexts.
Research within Risk- and environmental studies revolve around the interactions between individual, society and natural environment and especially on unwanted consequences that can be formulated as environmental problems, societal risks or injustices.
Researchers at Risk- and environmental studies come from different disciplinary backgrounds and the research is oftentimes conducted in collaboration, in a range of subjects such as climate related risks and climate adaptation; individual vulnerabilities, safety and acting; and a sustainable societal development.
Research in collaboration
At the side of Risk and Environmental Studies' disciplinary research our researchers oftentimes also are part of research collaborations spanning disciplines, academic institutions and/or faculties. Other research is conducted in collaboration with scientists at other universities or with other societal actors such as governmental agencies, organisations and private companies.
At Karlstad University there are several research centres that conduct research and connected activities in a multidisciplinary and thematic area. Researchers at Risk- and Environmental Studies are active in the centres: the Centre for Societal Risk Research, CSR and the Centre for Research on Sustainable Societal Transformation, CRS, both at Karlstad University. Beside these, several of the disciplines' researchers are active in the Centre of Natural Hazards and Disaster Science, CNDS, a research collaboration between Karlstad University, The Swedish Defense College and Uppsala University. CNDS is one of around 40 national strategic research environments that has a long therm support by the Swedish government.
Research education
Our PhD students conducts their research studies in the Doctoral Discipline Risk- and Environmental Studies. The doctoral education is connected to research schools at the Centre for Research on Sustainable Societal Transformation, the Centre of Natural Hazards and Disaster Science and the cross-disciplinary research school: Planning for water related challenges in building the sustainable society (WATCH).