Dr. Rebecca Froese
Research Associate
© RIFS@GFZ/ N. Stenzel
Phone
Rebecca Froese's work focuses on organised social engagement for social-ecological transformations, including artistic and cultural institutions. Her work is embedded in broader questions of justice, social cohesion, democracy, and conflict transformation. One of her current projects focuses on strengthening the cultural and creative industries to enhance social innovation for social-ecological transformations. Another project explores how creative methods can create transformative and reflexive spaces for dialogue towards conflict transformation and the design of inclusive processes in negotiations around sustainability.
Rebecca completed her doctoral thesis in geography with intersections in peace and conflict studies, environmental sciences, and environmental sociology on the topics of social cohesion, land conflicts, and social-ecological tipping points in southwestern Amazônia. She holds an MSc in Integrated Climate System Sciences from the University of Hamburg and a BSc in Geosciences from the University of Bremen. She also studied at the University of Victoria in Canada and worked as a consultant for international cooperation in Belgrade (Serbia) and Hamburg, focusing on climate change, sustainable urban development, sustainability, governance, nature conservation, biodiversity, and land conflicts.
Projects
Groups
- since 01/2024 Researcher at Research Institute for Sustainability (RIFS) at GFZ Potsdam, Research Group "Arts and Culture for Sustainable Development"
- since 01/2023 Postdoctoral Researcher in BMBF Project SUNRISE LAB - Sustainable University Landscape Münster - Living Labs as Drivers of Transformation towards Sustainable Universities
- 04-09/2024 Deputy Professor for Human Geography with a Focus on Human-Nature Relations
- 05/2019 - 12/2022 Researcher and PhD candidate (completed in 01/2023) in BMBF project PRODIGY - Soil Biodiversity Governing Tipping Points in the Amazon
- 04/2018 - 12.2022 Researcher Peace Academy Rhineland-Palatinate, University of Koblenz-Landau
- 01-12/2017 Consultant, GFA Consulting Group, Latin America Department, Hamburg, Germany
- 10/2014 - 12/2016 M.Sc. Integrated Climate System Sciences, University of Hamburg, Germany
- 10/2010 - 09/2013 B.Sc. Geosciences, University of Bremen & University of Victoria, Canada
- Arts and Culture in Sustainability Transformations
- Social-Ecological Transformations and Related Societal Conflicts
- Transdisciplinary Methods (among others real-world laboratories)
- Academia in times of social-ecological transformation processes
- Social Science-based Sustainability Research
- Human-Nature Relations
- Land, Environmental and Resource Governance
Publications at the RIFS
Publications prior to joining the RIFS
- Alusiola, R. A., Froese, R., Schilling, J., & Klär, P. (2025). Identifying peace pathways: how can forest conservation contribute to environmental peacebuilding? Climate and Development . Climate and Development, 1, 1-15. doi: 10.1080/17565529.2025.2505538
- Froese, R., Andrino, A., Giudice, R., Stuch, B., Kilian, S. S., Böhner, J., Boy, D., Boy, J., Brown, F., Díaz, G. E., Figueroa, D., Frör, O., Guggenberger, G., Horn, MA., Hasson, Su., Jung, C., Lagneaux, EG., Meurer, K. HE., Pinzón, C. C., Schaldach, R., Ribeiro, SC., Schilling, J., Schmidt, FA., Schönenberg, R., Selaya, G., Vega, CM., Vetter, V. MS., Villavicenio, M., Callo-Concha, D., & Jansen, M. A. (2023). Describing Complex Interactions of Social-Ecological Systems for Tipping Point Assessments: An Analytical Framework. Frontiers in Climate, 5, Article 1145942.. doi: 10.3389/fclim.2023.1145942
- Schilling, J., Schilling-Vacaflor, A., Flemmer, R., & Froese, R. (2020). A Political Ecology Perspective on Resource Extraction and Human Security in Kenya, Bolivia and Peru. The Extractive Industries and Society, 8 (4). doi: 10.1016/j.exis.2020.10.009
- Froese, R., & Schilling, J. (2019). The Nexus of Climate Change, Land Use, and Conflicts. Current Climate Change Reports, 5, 24-35. doi: 10.1007/s40641-019-00122-1
- Schilling, J., Nash, S. L., Ide, T., Scheffran, J., Froese, R., & von Prondzinski, P. (2017). Resilience and Environmental Security: Towards Joint Application in Peacebuilding. Global Change, Peace & Security, 29, 107-127. doi: 10.1080/14781158.2017.1305347
Teaching (selected)
- Summer Semester 2025: Master seminar "Digging for Diversiy 2.0 - Interdisciplinary perspectives on diversity in regenerative societies"
- Summer Semester2024: Excursion "Hamburg: Stadt der Gegensätze, Stadt im Wandel" (Hamburg: City of contrasts, city in transition"´)
- Summer Semester 2024: Seminar "Spezielle Regionale Geographie Deutschlands" (Special Regional Geography of Germany)
- Summer Semester 2024: Bachelor seminar "Digging for Diversity - Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Diversity for a Just Social-Ecological Transformation"
- Winter Semester 2023/2024: Bachelor seminar "The Violences of Environmental Change - Interdisciplinary and Decolonial Perspectives from Peace and Conflict Research"
Invited Talks (selected)
- 02/2025 Vom Abbau des Elfenbeinturms - Hochschulen als soziale Infrastrukturen für eine partizipative sozial-ökologischen Transformation Ringvorlesung: Nachhaltigkeit und globale Verantwortung (Universität Würzburg)
- 06/2024 Beneath the Canopy: Unpacking the Complexities of Gold Mining Conflicts in the Southwestern Amazon Ringvorlesung: Insights into Conflict Hotspots Around the Globe, Berlin School of Economics and Law (HWR Berlin)
- 05/2024 Polycrisis and the Resurgence of (Violent) Conflict Stellungnahme und Diskutantin beim Workshop "Polycrisis in the Anthropocene", Potsdam Institut für Klimafolgenforschung (PIK)
- 04/2024 Klimakrise - Zwischen Konflikt und Kooperation Key-Note bei den Landauer Klimagesprächen, eingeladen von der Stabstelle Klima der Stadt Landau in der Pfalz
- 03/2024 Konflikte um Nachhaltigkeit: Gerechte Sozial-Ökologische Transformation in Zeiten der Polykrise Key-Note beim Workshop "Entwicklung-Frieden-Nachhaltigkeit: Konfliktbearbeitung und Bildungsarbeit im Kontext der Klimakrise", Friedensinstitut Freiburg
- 12/2023 The Nexus of Climate Change, Land Use and Conflict in Southwestern Amazonia Key-Note beim Workshop "De-Polarizing Land Use Conflicts: A Deep Dive into the Swedish Forest", Pufendorf Institute for Advanced Studies
- 09/2023 The Amazon Complex. More than a Rainforest. Scientific Approximations Key Note bei der Amazon Week, Latin America Institute, FU Berlin
- 05/2023 From Climate Conflicts towards Environmental Peace Contribution to the Public Lecture Series "Wars for Resources and Good Practices for Just Peace", Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
- 2023 Erstklassig! Scholarship Program for outstanding PostDocs, University of Münster
- 2023 Particpiatory Award "Zusammen für die Zukunft" - Claussen Simon Stiftung
- 2014 Master Plus Stipendium - Claussen Simon Stiftung
- 2010 Stipendium für Studierende - Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes