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Futures of Global Risks

Edited by:

Dr. Anna Jank-Humann, Research Center for Global Risks and Quality of Life & Institute for Disaster Research at Sigmund Freud Private University Vienna, Austria

Dr. Maria Gren, Research Center for Global Risks and Quality of Life at Sigmund Freud Private University Vienna, Austria

Dr. Eric F. Øverland, World Futures Studies Federation (WFSF) and Institute Futur of the Free University Berlin, Germany

Prof. Dr. Reinhold Popp, Institute Futur of the Free University Berlin, Germany

Submission Status: Open   |   Submission Deadline: 31 August 2024

The editorial team listed below invites prospective researchers from various disciplines to submit manuscripts on the diverse aspects of the topic "Futures of Global Risks."
The submissions could address methodological questions related to future-oriented risk research, as well as foresight into the developmental dynamics of specific risks such as poverty, hunger, disease, inequalities (including aspects like work quality, education, gender relations, income, etc.), climate change, migration, fossil energy sources, inhumane working conditions, hazardous technological consequences and inadequate infrastructure. As a consequence also democratic challenges could be a topic addressed. These prospective analyses and forecasts could focus on the theoretical foundations of respective risk discourses or concrete (economic, ecological, technical, political, legal, social, etc.) measures for problem-solving or risk reduction. Studies examining the impact of global risks on specific habitats or populations as well as the subjective and individual handling of global risks (e.g. future anxieties, resiliencies) are of interest as well.
The European Journal of Futures Research will publish the submissions in a separate Topical Collection.

New Content ItemThis collection supports United Nations SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities, SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities, & SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.

Meet the Guest Editors

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Dr. Anna Jank-Humann
Dr. Anna Jank-Humann studied Psychotherapy Science at Sigmund Freud University in Vienna with the focus on disaster research and storm surges in North Frisia. She is a lecturer at the Faculty of Psychotherapy Science, a research assistant at the Interdisciplinary Research Center for Global Risk and Quality of Life, and at the Institute for Psychoanalytic-Ethnological Disaster Research. She is a registered psychotherapist and individual psychology analyst in private practice. Research/teaching focuses: psychoanalytic-ethnological disaster research, resilience studies, climate research, island studies, narrative, and biography research.

Dr. Maria Gren
Dr. Gren holds degrees in Psychotherapy Science from Sigmund Freud University Vienna, as well as Slavic Studies and Ancient History from the University of Vienna. Currently serving as a research associate at the Research Center for Global Risks & Quality of Life, she also teaches at the medical faculty. Deeply involved in organizing the World Congress for Psychotherapy in 2025, she's also the co-executive director of a psychotherapeutic clinic. There, she oversees mental health service delivery and practices as an individual psychologist, offering private psychotherapy sessions.

Prof. Dr. Reinhold Popp
Prof. Dr. Popp earned his doctorate from the University of Salzburg in 1979. Since 1995, he's been a university professor at Innsbruck. Notable roles include co-principal at the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Occupational and Leisure Research and principal at the Center for Futures Studies, Salzburg. Since 2013, he's a guest researcher at the Free University of Berlin and co-founder of the European Journal of Futures Research. Currently, he's a professor of Futures Studies and Innovation at Sigmund Freud University, Vienna, also serving as the principal of the Institute for Futures Research.

About the Collection

In the past years and decades we have seen a global increase in the number of alarming developments, risks, disasters and in many areas uncertain futures. It is not only the consequences of climate change, but also man-made efficient causes and mischiefs that affect economic, ecological, technical, political, legal or social factors of global change and risk probability. These developments call for a topical collection of the European Journal for Futures Research to take a closer look at the futures of global risks.

The Collection Futures of Global Risks supports the following Sustainable Development Goals:
SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities by addressing various aspects of inequalities, including gender relations, income disparities, and inadequate infrastructure, and exploring future-oriented approaches to reduce them;
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities by examining the developmental dynamics of risks such as climate change, migration, and inhumane working conditions, which are crucial for creating sustainable and resilient cities and communities;
SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions by focusing on democratic challenges and the role of institutions in addressing global risks, the collection contributes to advancing peace, justice, and strong institutions;

Image credits: © thanmano / Stock.adobe.com

Submission Guidelines

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The manuscripts can be submitted with the Springer Open submission-form of the European Journal of Futures Research. Submission guidelines such as recommend length of articles (which should be approximately 8,000 words long or within a range of 6,000–10,000 words, excluding references), manuscript preparation, references and citation and general formatting information etc. can be found at: Springer Open – European Journal of Futures Research – Submission guidelines – 2. Research article. Please also find links and information here: www.springer.com/40309

Articles will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process and are subject to all the journal’s standard policies. Articles will be added to the Collection as they are published.

The Editors have no competing interests with the submissions which they handle through the peer-review process. The peer-review of any submissions for which the Editors have competing interests is handled by another Editorial Board Member who has no competing interests.