Department of Human Geography and Human Ecology Division at Lund University

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Department of Human Geography and Human Ecology Division at Lund University

Welcome to the official page of the Department of Human Geography and the Human Ecology Division at Lund University.

The Department of Human Geography and Human Ecology Division has a dynamic academic environment that has been being developed from 1950s. Nowadays the Department has around 400 students and more than 50 employees. Through our page you will get additional information about education and research conducted at our Department: links to our courses and programmes, recent publications, inspirin

g events as well as presentations of our teachers and researchers. You are welcome to post your comments, start exciting discussions, and share your experiences! For detailed information about our Department and/or Lund University, please visit the following websites:
Department of Human Geography and Human Ecology Division - www.keg.lu.se/en
Faculty of Social Sciences -http://www.sam.lu.se/en/
Lund University - http://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/

09/04/2026

Sustainability Week kicks off next week – an event where Lund University and Lunds municipality will present more than 70 events on sustainability. It’s free of charge and open to everyone!

During the week, researchers from the department will partake in two interesting panel discussions:

Stadsutvecklingen på Norra Fäladen – hur skapar vi en hållbar stadsdel?
13 April 2026 18:00–19:30, Norra Fäladens bibliotek
with Alva Zalar and others
Link to the event:
https://www.keg.lu.se/evenemang/stadsutvecklingen-pa-norra-faladen-hur-skapar-vi-en-hallbar-stadsdel

A sustainable Middle East in a turbulent world?
14 April 2026 10:00–11:00, Pufendorf Institute
with Maria Andrea Nardi and others
Link to the event:
https://www.sam.lu.se/evenemang/sustainable-middle-east-turbulent-world

Welcome!

11/03/2026

Competence centre for increased access to satellite data in the social sciences inaugurated!

Every day, enormous amounts of images are collected from the Earth's surface. When analysed using the right methods, they become powerful tools for research into areas such as sustainability, public health, growth, and crisis preparedness. With the help of researchers' expertise, satellite data can provide new knowledge about the social consequences of various phenomena such as urban development, deforestation, and urbanisation, or climate change.

On behalf of the Swedish National Space Agency, the centre – Swedish Competence Centre for Satellite Enabled Social Science Analytics (SESAC) – will contribute to accelerating the conversion of Earth observation data into knowledge that can be used by authorities, decision-makers, and other societal actors.

"The real potential lies in combining satellite images with Sweden's uniquely detailed statistics. This enables us to develop analyses that really make a difference," says Ola Hall, Associate Professor at the Department of Human Geography

Lund University will collaborate with and gather expertise from several educational institutions, like Chalmers University of Technology, Karlstad University, and Linköping University. The centre will in a near future offer courses, hackathons and methodological support, among other things.

"We see a great opportunity in strengthening social science research with satellite data. Through the centre, we are creating a structure that combines technical expertise and social analysis," says Iris Lee Thompson, Head of Earth Observation and Geographical Analysis at the Swedish National Space Agency.

Photographer: Kennet Ruona

Read more about the centre on the SESACs website. You can find the link in the comments section.

09/02/2026

Interested in becoming our next PhD Student?

The Department of Human Geography is currently seeking doctoral students for its PhD programme.

The Phd programme amounts to 240 credits (equivalent to four years of full-time study). It formally ends with the doctoral candidate publicly defending his/her printed doctoral thesis.

The holder of a doctoral position is expected to participate actively in the research and teaching environment of the department and may perform departmental duties, above all teaching, amounting to about 20 per cent of full time.

The holder of the position should direct research to the fields of human geography, preferably complementing ongoing research activities at the department.

Link to information and application details can be found in the comments section below.

12/01/2026

Vi gratulerar Sanna Händén-Svensson som har tilldelats Vetenskapssocieteten i Lunds avhandlingspris för sin avhandling Storsjöodjuret i ett kalejdoskop – Humanekologiska perspektiv på en svensk kryptid.

I sin forskning tar Sanna sig an ett av Sveriges mest mytomspunna fenomen. Inte som kuriosa, utan som ett rikt och föränderligt möte mellan berättelser, plats, historia och natursyn. Med humanekologiska perspektiv visar avhandlingen hur människor skapar mening kring det mytiska, och hur kultur och natur formas tillsammans över tid.

”Som doktorand tillbringar man flera år djupt inne i sin egen värld. Visst finns där många andra; de som forskat om ämnet och näraliggande frågor tidigare, handledare, läsare, kollegor, nätverk… Men man tvivlar ändå på sig själv och sitt arbete hela tiden. När arbetet lyfts fram som värdigt att uppmärksammas betyder det naturligtvis oerhört mycket, man känner sig bekräftad, sedd och förstådd. Tack! ”

📸 På bilden: Sanna Händén-Svensson och Thomas Malm från prisutdelningsceremonin.

08/12/2025

The very last person from the department to nail their thesis this year is Maxime Rushemuka. 🔨 📗 🎓

Maxime will soon defend his thesis entitled ”Labour regime changes, and workers’ social protection: A study of the 3Ts small-scale mining sector formalisation process in Rwanda.”, and his external reviewer will be Professor Eleanor Fisher from The Nordic Africa Institute.

Date: 12 December at 1 pm.
Venue: Sölvegatan 10, Geocentrum I (room 111, "Världen")

This is what the thesis is all about:
This study explores a common issue in developing countries – the persistence of informal labour relations when the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector is brought under state control. It investigates this through a study of formalisation reforms in Rwanda’s 3Ts (tin, tantalum, tungsten) small-scale mining sector, which intensified from 2010. The research aims to explain the role that labour, as both a social category and an economic factor, plays in shaping the formalisation process, and how the incorporation of informal labour affects access to social protection, a benefit typically entailed in the state regulation of economic sectors.

We wish you the best of luck, Maxime! 💐

For a link to the thesis at Lund University Research Portal, please take a look at the comments section.

22/10/2025

🛰️ From space to society: satellite data powers new research insights

Ola Hall, Head of our department, has initiated a new Competence Centre on Earth Observation and Social Sciences — a hub for research, collaboration, and innovation at the intersection of satellite data, AI, and societal development.

- Our goal is to bridge Earth observation and social science to better understand and address key societal challenges — from sustainability and welfare to urban change and resilience, says Ola Hall about the initiative.

The Competence Centre is financed by Rymdstyrelsen, and Lunds universitet has been assigned the task of establishing it. The centre will be established as an operational hub to create a sustainable ecosystem for satellite-based social analysis. It will offer open courses, hackathons, and a digital knowledge hub with reusable workflows and resources.

Read more about it in an article (in Swedish) onLund University's website. You will find a link in the comment section.

15/10/2025

Want more research news in your feed? 🔍💡
Follow us on LinkedIn for the latest research, discoveries, and insights!

You will find a link to the LinkedIn account in the comments section.

08/10/2025

🍁 Geocentrum in full autumn colors!
It’s that time of year when the Boston Ivy around Geocentrum I turns brilliant red, wrapping the old brick façade in a warm autumn glow. A perfect spot for a study break—or a walk between lectures!

📍Home to the Department of Human Geography, right in the heart of Lund.

23/09/2025

Feminist perspectives on extractivism: South-South dialogue
6 November 9.30-12.30, Geocentrum I, Room Världen

Scientific evidence shows that extractivism, as a development model reliant on the extraction of natural resources, has significant impacts on communities and ecosystems in the Global South, but also in the Global North. The concept of extractivism is born out of a politically engaged critique of a form of development that re-creates colonial inequalities through global unequal exchange. Today, the concept has traveled beyond the South American continent and has been deployed to understand many different aspects of the global economy, society, and culture. In this panel with internationally renowned scholars, we delve into feminist perspectives surrounding this concept, women's resistance to mining, and the onto-epistemological challenges of carrying out this type of research, particularly focusing on a South-to-South dialogue.

Panelists:
Hibist Kassa, Policy Interface Fellow, University of Leicester, UK

Grettel Navas, Assistant Professor, Political Science, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile

Nteboheng Phakisi-Portas, Researcher and community engagement officer at the Bench Marks Foundation

Organizers:
Martina Angela Caretta, Associate Professor, The Department of Human Geography , Lund University

Vasna Ramasar, Associate Professor, The Department of Human Geography , Lund University

For the full programme visit KEG:s website (link in the comment section)

11/09/2025

We want to congratulate Alvaro von Borries, who successfully defended his doctoral thesis with the title "Structures and Dynamics of Low-income Work in Sweden: A Geographical Inquiry."

We took the opportunity to ask Alvaro a few questions about his thesis.

What is your dissertation about?
- My dissertation examines the geography of low-income work in Sweden between 1990 and 2020, with a focus on regional differences in prevalence and workers’ chances of upward mobility, and the role of technology-driven structural transformations. I also connect these dynamics to the rise of political discontent and support for the political party the Sweden Democrats ("Sverigedemokraterna").

What research methods have you used?
- The dissertation relies entirely on quantitative methods, drawing on longitudinal Swedish register data. I use both descriptive and inferential tools. Regarding the latter, I apply a range of regression techniques, including fixed effects panel models, pooled OLS, logistic regression, and structural equation modeling.”.

Was there anything that surprised you along the way?
- Yes. One thing that surprised me was the overall trajectory of low-income work in Sweden. Instead of an increase, which is often assumed in discussions about polarization, I found a small but clear decline in its prevalence over the period I study. Even more, there was an enduring negative relationship between the rise of the knowledge economy and the share of low-income work – regions that specialized in knowledge-intensive industries actually tended to have lower levels of low-income work. These patterns challenged my initial expectation that the expansion of high-skill sectors would automatically generate more low-income service work in their shadow.

- On the discontent side, it was surprising to find that regions with a relatively high presence of low-income work were not necessarily the ones where discontent and support for the Sweden Democrats were strongest. Instead, discontent seemed more driven by the lack of opportunities , and low levels of upward mobility.

Congratulations! 🌟

You can find a link to Alvaro's thesis, in the comment section.

04/09/2025

Three promising researchers at Lund University have been awarded European Research Council Starting Grants - and Johan Miörner is one of them! 🎉 🎉 🎉

Johan's project is about decentralised and modular infrastructure solutions.

- It’s about understanding how large infrastructure systems can be broken down into smaller, flexible modules that allow for local solutions. By combining knowledge of sustainable transitions, economic geography, and so-called modularity theory, we aim to understand both how decentralisation becomes possible and how local conditions influence it.

Read about the granted projects on the Lund University webpage:

https://lnkd.in/gdDiHBrJ

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