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Dr. Hanna Helander: Lecturer and Course Coordinator

Hanna Helander

Dr. Hanna Helander is Lecturer and Course Coordinator for Environmental and Sustainability Sciences (acting during parental leave). She has an interdisciplinary background in human-environment interactions from a systems perspective. She is currently also working on bioeconomy monitoring and environmental footprint accounting as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Kassel, Germany. She obtained her Ph.D. at the University of Freiburg where she worked in an interdisciplinary research group on the societal transition to a circular economy. Her MSc is from Uppsala University in Sweden, where she studied civil engineering in socio-technical systems.

  • 2022-2025 Postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Environmental Systems Research, University of Kassel.
  • 2017-2022 Researcher at the Chair for Social Transition and Circular Economy, University of Freiburg.
  • 2016 Master of Science in Civil Engineering in Sociotechnical Systems, Uppsala University, Sweden.
  • 2016 Bachelor of Science in Sociotechnical Systems, Uppsala University, Sweden.

Teaching

I teach in the LAS Major Environmental and Sustainability Sciences. In my teaching, I often use a flipped classroom approach to encourage reflection, sharing and exchange in the classroom.

Summer semester 2025:

  • Environmental Sustainability Assessments & Resource Management

 

Research

In my research I apply a systems perspective to human-environment interactions. Through the lens of socio-ecological systems, I'm looking at the interactions between societal values and discourses, material flows and uses, and their environmental consequences. My main expertise is in environmental footprint accounting of bio-based resources, particularly in relation to industrial food systems. In my current project SYMOBIO 2.0, I focus on national consumption footprints, dietary patterns and ecological limits.

Selected publications:

  • Beck-O’Brien, M., Bringezu, S., Banse, M., Barrelet, J., Bezama, A., Bösch, B., Brüning, S., Bührlen, B., Cabezas, A., Cyffka, K.F., Dzene, Gordillo Vera, F., I., Helander, H. et al. (2024). Monitoring the German Bioeconomy: Status, performance, trends and implications for sustainable development. Published by the Center for Environmental Systems Research (CESR), University of Kassel, Kassel, doi.org/10.17170/kobra-2024111510679.
  • Helander, H., Schnepf, S., Stetter, T., Ferrara, F., Leipold, S. (2024): Convenient solutions, inconvenient truths – Why supermarkets will not drive food system transformation. In Ecological Economics 218, p. 108096. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.108096.
  • Leipold, S., Petit-Boix, A., Luo, A., Helander, H., Simoens, M., et al. (2023): Lessons, narratives, and research directions for a sustainable circular economy. In Journal of Industrial Ecology 27 (1), pp. 6–18. DOI: 10.1111/jiec.13346.
  • Helander, H., Bruckner, M., Leipold, S., Petit-Boix, A., Bringezu, S. (2021): Eating healthy or wasting less? Reducing resource footprints of food consumption. In Environ. Res. Lett. 16 (5), p. 54033. DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/abe673.
  • Helander, H., Petit-Boix, A., Leipold, S., Bringezu, S., (2019): How to monitor environmental pressures of a circular economy. An assessment of indicators. In Journal of Industrial Ecology 139 (3), p. 1011. DOI: 10.1111/jiec.12924.

 

Memberships and Service

  • Since 2017 Member of the International Society of Industrial Ecology (ISIE)
  • Since 2023 Member of SCORAI-Sustainable Consumption Research and Action Initiative
  • Ad-hoc reviews for: Journal of Industrial Ecology, Ecological Economics, Nature Food, Environmental Impact Assessment Review
  • Since 2023: Co-Editor of www.monitoring-bioeconomy.org