Benno Fladvad: Exploring the nexus of equity and sustainability

Benno Fladvad is part of the research team of the IASS focal topic 2022, "Justice in Sustainability".

Current Position: Research Associate in the DFG Humanities Centre for Advanced Studies "Futures of Sustainability”

Languages: German, English, Spanish
 
Profile: Questions of justice and equity have been a recurring theme throughout my university studies and further academic career. As a human geographer, I always try to take an explicitly spatial perspective or to focus on spatial aspects – in particular in the context of land and food conflicts and, most recently, in relation to issues around the energy transition. This focus has come to the fore in recent years, especially through my involvement in the DFG’s Humanities Centre for Advanced Studies "Futures of Sustainability” at the University of Hamburg and in the young but steadily growing EnJust Network for Environmental Justice. Conceptually, my work focuses on the spatiality of different dimensions of justice and on the tense relationship between democracy and sustainability. Imagining and creating alternative futures and visions of sustainability, as well as political ecology and the coloniality of sustainability and climate policies, are also among my areas of interest.
 
3 things that make me unique:

1. I am curious and want to understand things that I do not understand.
2. I have a sense of humour and I can laugh at myself ... or at least I hope I can.
3. I can keep my cool in stressful situations.

 
3 things that I am learning:

1. I am working to improve the three qualities that make me "unique".
2. I am trying to understand and analyse issues related to issues of sustainability and social justice.
3. I am learning to set priorities and create space for the things, issues and people that are important to me.

What I am currently working on at the IASS:

At the IASS, I am studying the equity dimensions of the European hydrogen transition, with a particular focus on local and regional processes, for example in Northern Europe. Among other things, I am interested in the extent to which different actors and affected groups participate in planning processes for the mainstreaming of climate-neutral, green hydrogen and what local impacts and conflicts arise in connection with hydrogen infrastructures.  

More on the IASS Focal Topic for 2022: Justice and Sustainability

Benno Fladvad on ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Benno-Fladvad