Endowed professors (with fixed-term contract) | Environmental Economics and Policy
Elisabeth Gsottbauer
Short bio
She is Endowed Professor of Environmental Economics at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, where she also directs the Competence Centre for Sustainability. Prior to joining unibz, she was Assistant Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She is also affiliated as a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment (LSE) and the Cambridge Centre for Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance (C-EENRG) at the University of Cambridge, and as a Research Affiliate with the Department of Economics at the University of Innsbruck. She received her PhD in Economics from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.
Courses
M-2 - Sustainable Mobility
31032B · SECS-P/06 · Master in Tourism Management · EN
Macroeconomics
25444A · SECS-P/01 · Master in Accounting and Finance · EN
The Economics of Climate Change
27360 · SECS-P/02 · Bachelor in Economics and Management · EN
Discover more about Elisabeth Gsottbauer
Diplorama! Fakultät für Design und Künste zeigt Abschlussprojekte
„When Words Fail“: Wie das Unsagbare durch neue Gestaltungsformen Ausdruck finden kann, steht im Mit…
Wer soll unsere Welt retten?
In einer neuen Folge unseres Podcasts unibz insight zum Schwerpunkt Kompetenzzentren sprechen wir mi…
Thinking Ahead: in mostra il design ecologico che guarda avanti
Dal 19 giugno al 19 luglio unibz porta a Bolzano le idee più innovative per un futuro sostenibile co…
Research Focus
Elisabeth Gsottbauer is an applied environmental economist working at the intersection of behavioral science, sustainability policy, and real-world experiments. She studies how individuals, institutions, and societies make environmental decisions, and how evidence-based interventions can support fair and effective sustainability transitions. Her work spans sustainable food systems, biodiversity conservation and climate policy, with a focus on what works in practice and why.
Her research has been published in leading journals including Nature Sustainability, Nature Communications Earth & Environment, The Economic Journal, PNAS Nexus, and the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management. She frequently collaborates with public agencies (e.g., Behavioural Insights Team UK, Austrian, Italian and Swedish government bodies), industry partners and environmental NGOs to design and evaluate policy interventions.
Keywords: Behavioral Economics, Environmental Economics, Experimental Economics, Public Economics, Policy Evaluation.
Info
Public Talks (selected)
- "CO₂-Bepreisung zwischen Klimaschutz und Gerechtigkeit" — Public talk, Heimatpflegeverband, Bozen (November 2025).
- "Landwirtschaft im Wandel: Politische Maßnahmen und technologische Innovationen" — Keynote, Tagung der Bäuerinnen, Bozen (April 2025).
- "Nachhaltigkeit sichtbar machen: Ökonomische Aspekte von Berichterstattung und Reputation" — Public talk at Microgate GmbH / Confindustria event, Bozen (May 16, 2025).
- "Zwischen Freiwilligkeit, Moral und ökonomischen Anreizen: Was motiviert uns zum nachhaltigen Handeln?" — Public lecture, Kulturrunde Bruneck (March 2025).
- "Wirtschaftliche Aspekte von Klimaklagen" — Keynote, Klimaklagen und Klimagerechtigkeit, unibz (February 2025).
- "Behavioral Insights for Sustainable Behavior" — Lecture, SME 5.0 Doctoral Winter School, Bruneck (December 2024).
- "Ökonomie der Natur" — Keynote, Dachverband für Natur- und Umweltschutz Südtirol, Bozen (November 2024).
- "How to Promote More Sustainable Transport" — Keynote, STA Mobility Network Meeting, NOI Techpark, Bozen (October 2024).
Workshops (organization, selected)
- Conference: Klimaklagen und Klimagerechtigkeit — Co-organized with Klima Club Südtirol and Heimatpflegeverband, unibz Bozen (14 February 2025).
- Second Edition, Workshop on Innovations for Transport and Sustainable Mobility, unibz Bruneck (April 2025).
- First Edition, Workshop on Innovations for Transport and Sustainable Mobility, unibz Bruneck (September 2024).
Exhibitions/Excursions
- Visualizing Klimawandel — Exhibition on visual communication of climate change, unibz Library (Dec 2024 – Jan 2025).
- German Ecodesign Award Exhibition — Traveling exhibition, NOI Techpark (July–August 2024; June–July 2025).
- Excursion: "Vom Klima der Erdzeit zum heutigen Klimawandel" — GEOPARC Bletterbach, Action for Climate 2025 (October 2025).
Media (selected)
- "Das Klima-Paradoxon" — Interview, SWZ (August 2025).
- "CO₂-Emissionen: kompensieren oder reduzieren?" — Feature interview, Alpenverein Magazin Berge Erleben (September 2025).
- "Wer soll unsere Welt retten?" — Guest, unibz insight Podcast (July 2025).
- "Das reicht nicht." — Commentary, SWZ (30 August 2024).
- Podcast: In der Streitergasse (Salto, September 2024).
- RAI Südtirol — multiple TV & radio appearances (including biodiversity interview June 2025; Nachgeschaut – Der Monatslohn April 2025).
- "Die Grenzen von CO₂-Kompensationen" — Commentary, Die Presse (27 March 2023).
- "Mit einem Klima-Label zur nachhaltigen Ernährung" — Commentary, Die Presse (20 December 2021).
- "Sinnstiftende Arbeit oder höheres Gehalt?" — Co-authored commentary, Die Presse (1 August 2022).
Science–Policy interface
- Lead Author, Second Austrian Climate Assessment Report 202 (APCC).
- Expert, South Tyrol Citizens’ Climate Assembly & Climate Plan implementation (2024–ongoing).