Who are we?
The Environmental Politics Research Group (EPRG) is based at the Department of Political Science at the University of Vienna. The EPRG was established in 2024 to foster excellent research, teaching, and (science-policy-society) engagement related to global environmental agreement-making in the areas of ocean governance, biodiversity, conservation, and sustainable use of natural resources. We conceptualize agreement-making as encompassing actors, sites, and processes, focusing on how these are shaped by, reflect and have the potential to transform the intertwined global order of social, political and economic relations. In addition, we have a strong interest in how knowledge, science, data, and technology interact with and shape environmental politics. The EPRG is led by Professor Dr. Alice Vadrot and counts on a staff of twelve academics working in three different national and international projects.
Our research statement
The Environmental Politics Research Group (EPRG) at the Department of Political Science at the University of Vienna conducts sound, excellent, reflexive, relevant and internationally visible research spanning different actors, sites and processes of global environmental agreement-making. Our research strives to be creative, innovative and impactful within and beyond academia. We have a strong focus on empirical research, combining different qualitative and quantitative methods such as event ethnography, social network analysis, surveys, interviews, bibliometrics, oral histories, and text-mining. We approach global environmental politics as unfolding through practices, and social relations. We collect data in, and contributed to the understanding of several international agreements and negotiations such as the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the International Seabed Authority (ISA), the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution, and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
All the Latest: News, Events, Publications, and More
A constructivist view on Portugal’s position in the ISA
Portugal's geographic position and its history as a sea crossing nation are deeply ingrained in the country's history and in its policy preferences. How is this reflected in Portugal's behaviour
IPW Lecture with Philipp Pattberg
We are excited to host an IPW Lecture with Prof. Dr. Philipp Pattberg from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (currently a guest researcher at CEU). He will give us insights from his
Environmental disasters and the origins of environmental politics
2026 marks the anniversaries of several environmental disasters that severely harmed both nature and human health. As these disasters were caused by human activity, they raise questions about who is responsible and
IPW Lecture with Alejandro Esguerra
Jointly with the Chair of Digital Health Governance the EPRG is excited to invite you to our IPW Lecture with Dr. Alejandro Esguerra! On May 7 at 5 p.m. Dr.
Neuer Bericht zum transformativen Wandel in Österreich
Das Projekt Biodiversity Austria - International hat mit dem neuen Bericht "Neues Denken – neues Handeln: Schlussfolgerungen und Handlungsperspektiven aus dem globalen IPBES Assessment zu transformativem Wandel für Österreich" die
IPW Lecture with Rakhyun Kim – Institutional paralysis in the Anthropocene
We are inviting you to our first IPW Lecture and Ocean Seminar of this Summer Semester with Prof. Dr. Rakhyun Kim from Utrecht University speaking about "Insititutional Paralysis in the
