The Sustainable Europe Research Institute (SERI) is a Pan-European think tank aiming to explore sustainable development options for European societies. Founded in September 1999, SERI works as a virtual internet based institute bringing together a pool of staff and members comprising a broad spectrum of qualifications from which we select appropriate teams for each project. The currently 60 members are tied together by a membership organisation, based in Vienna, which guarantees a common standard of quality by especially developed mechanisms, including societal and scientific advisory boards. The contractor of SERI in this project, Dr. Friedrich Hinterberger, is currently heading the largest firm within the SERI network, comprising 10 researchers from various fields who regularly work together with other members of the larger network. This firm is the legal contractor of this project.

The research carried out by members of SERI supports the dialogue within European civil society. It specifically aims to further develop the exchange of ideas between environmental citizens organisations, governments, trade unions and industry. SERI’s office is in Vienna. The affiliated academics and researchers live throughout Europe. The policy dialogue SERI aims to engender is supported by this webpage, conferences, meetings as well as publications SERI applies a comprehensive view at sustainability both empirically and in its policy recommendations. SERI’s members have long-term expertise in multidisciplinary economic-social-environmental research.
As one focal point of research, SERI investigates implications of environmental policy for socio-economic parameters, such as economic growth and employment. SERI prepared several studies for the Ministry of the Environment in Austria, evaluating the process of integrating environmental concerns into sectoral policies in the EU. SERI has also consulted National Environmental Agencies in the preparation of comprehensive sustainability plans and carried out studies on further development of a system of indicators for sustainable development in the European Union.

At present, SERI is co-ordinating one FP5 project in the STRATA programme (Adaptive integration of research and policy for sustainable development, AIRP-SD) and is partner in 3 other EU projects, dealing with sustainability modelling (Modelling opportunities and limits for restructuring Europe towards sustainability, MOSUS), sustainability strategies on the national level (Improvement of sustainability strategy elaboration for economic, environmental and social policy in Europe, SUSTRAT) and regional sustainable development (e-System for Real Time Democratic Land-Use Planning of Urban Environment - Pilot Action in Narva Community (Estland), eCOMMUNITY).

RESEARCH TEAM: Friedrich Hinterberger, Joachim H. Spangenberg, Stefan Giljum