Award winner: DDI Dr.in Susanna Erker
The submitted dissertation is entitled: “Spatial Resilience in the Face of Energy Crises. A Concept for Spatial Energy Planning.”
Reviewer’s Appreciation: Univ.Prof. DI Dr. Marianne Penker (Institute for Sustainable Economic Development, BOKU University, Vienna)
The dissertation addresses the concept of resilience in the context of energy use and energy security. The research demonstrated that the concept of resilience can contribute to the discourse on energy spatial planning. The core of the dissertation is the newly developed RERA (Regional Energy Resilience Assessment) method, which examines problems of regional energy security in the event of an energy crisis. The added value of this heuristic approach lies in the operationalization of resilience. With her dissertation, Dr. Erker has made a significant contribution to the new research and planning field of spatial energy planning. Her work includes developing the conceptual foundations, identifying research needs based on a systematic screening of relevant planning tools, the thematic integration of the concept of resilience into energy spatial planning, and operationalizing it through method development and application.
Award winner: Ursula Ploll, MSc.
The submitted master’s thesis is titled: “Motives of Austrian Vegetarians and Vegans and their Behavioural Expressions”
Reviewer’s Appreciation: DDr. habil. Stefan Mann (Agroscope Tänikon, Schweiz)
Ursula Ploll’s work uses the theory of planned behavior and adapts it to the question of dietary habits. In a further section, Ploll examines the abstinence from meat and animal products. First, the gradations between partial vegetarians and vegans are analyzed, then different motives for abstinence behavior are listed, and finally, the extent to which abstinence from meat and other animal products is linked to lifestyle characteristics is discussed.
Collaboration with another master’s student enabled a broad qualitative and quantitative approach in an empirical survey of 556 complete data sets. For example, we learn that about half of meat abstinence is due to animal-related reasons, while health, the environment, and taste account for the other half. We also learn that many vegans certainly try to express their beliefs when shopping for clothes. And that vegetarians and semi-vegetarians also consume noticeably less milk and eggs than omnivores. Finally, the results are linked back to the theoretical model by applying an econometric specification for individual aspects such as the environment and animal welfare, with good success.
