Climate change increases the likelihood of natural hazards occurring in many areas, which thus makes different communities’ vulnerability and ability to cope with such incidents highly relevant. When focusing on the links between the physical and social world, we use both physical and human geography methods and approaches to understand what makes individuals and societies vulnerable or resilient, and hence their ability to adapt to changes in their physical and social conditions.

In order to investigate the possible effects of climate change, especially sea level rise, and of the pollution of coastal landscapes in Norway, the Arctic and elsewhere, the research focuses particularly on geological measurements of historical mean water levels and mapping microplastics in coastal zones. It also focuses on collaboration with local actors to identify and visualize urgent environmental problems, as well as to increase our collective understanding of how they can be solved.

Key research themes:
 

• Effects of climate change and their visualization through geographical information systems (GIS)
• Increased understanding of urgent environmental and climate-related problems, and how they can be solved
• Vulnerability, resilience and adaptation

Projects:

• VR-learn - Chantel Nixon
• GOTHECA 
• QUANTSEA - Chantel Nixon
• INSITU - Jan Ketil Rød, Tomasz Opach
• CREAS - Irina Rogozhina
• CitiSense - Jan Ketil Rød, Tomasz Opach
• +CityxChange - Jan Ketil Rød, Tomasz Opach

We also participate in the following research centers:

• Noradapt Norsk senter for berekraftig klimatilpassing - Jan Ketil Rød
• Klimatilpasning i det bygde miljø - Jan Ketil Rød

Recent projects:

• Climate change and natural hazards: the geography of community resilience in Norway (ClimRes) - Gunhild Setten

Recent publications:

• Tomazs Opach: Development and user testing of the ICT-platform Visual Water supporting sustainable municipal stormwater planning. Urban Water Journal, Volume 19, 2022.
• T.-S. Neset, J. Wilk, S. Cruz, M.Graca, J.K. Rød, M.J. Maarse, P. Wallin and L. Andersson: Co-designing a citizen science climate service. Climate Services, Volume 24, Elsevier, 2021.
• Irina Rogozhina: Nunataks as barriers to ice flow: implications for palaeo ice sheet reconstructions. European Geosciences Union, 2021.
• Jake Martin; Amy L. Lusher and Francis Chantel Nixon: A review of the use of microplastics in reconstructing dated sedimentary archives. Science of the Total Environment, Elsevier, 2021.
• Tomasz Opach: A progressive development of a visual analysis interface
  of climate‑related VGI. Environmental Earth Sciences, 2021.
• Räsänen, A. T. (2021) Cross-scale interactions in flood risk management: A case study from Rovaniemi, Finland. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction. 57
• Martim Mas e Braga; Jorge Bernales; Matthias Prange; Arjen P. Stroeven and Irina Rogozhina: Sensitivity of the Antarctic ice sheets to the warming of marine isotope substage 11c. Article, European Geosciences Union, The Crysophere 2021.
• Jan Ketil Rød and Maaike J. Maarse: Using Citizen Sensing to Identify Heat-Exposed
  Neighbourhoods. Journal Urban Science 2021.
• Andersen, Jane Lund; Newall, J.C.; Blomdin, Robin; Sams, S.E.; Fabel, Derek; Koester, A.J.; Lifton, N.A.; Fredin, Ola; Caffee, M.W.; Glasser, Neil F.; Rogozhina, Irina; Suganuma, Y.; Harbor, Jonathan M.; Stroeven, Arjen P.: Ice surface changes during recent glacial cycles along the Jutulstraumen and Penck Trough ice streams in western Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. Quaternary Science Reviews 2020 ;Volume 249.
• Dalton, April S.; Nixon, Chantel: An updated radiocarbon-based ice margin chronology for the last deglaciation of the North American Ice Sheet Complex. Quaternary Science Reviews 2020 ;Volume 234:106233.
• Golebiowska, Izabela; Opach, Tomasz; Rød, Jan Ketil: Breaking the Eyes: How Do Users Get Started with a Coordinated and Multiple Views Geovisualization Tool?. The Cartographic Journal 2020.
• Lujala, Päivi; Lein, Haakon: The role of personal experiences in Norwegian perceptions of climate change. Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift 2020 ;Volume 74.(3) p. 138-151. 
• Newall, Jennifer C.H.; Dymova, Taisiya; Serra, Elena; Blomdin, Robin; Fredin, Hans Ola; Glasser, Neil F.; Suganuma, Yusuke; Harbor, Jonathan M.; Stroeven, Arjen P.: The glacial geomorphology of western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. Journal of Maps 2020 ;Volume 16.(2) p. 468-478.
• Opach, Tomasz; Glaas, Erik; Hjerpe, Mattias; Navarra, Carlo: Vulnerability Visualization to Support Adaptation to Heat and Floods: Towards the EXTRA Interactive Tool in Norrköping, Sweden. Sustainability 2020 ;Volume 12.(3).
• Opach, Tomasz; Scherzer, Sabrina Stefanie Claudia; Lujala, Päivi; Rød, Jan Ketil: Seeking commonalities of community resilience to natural hazards: A cluster analysis approach. Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift 2020 ;Volume 74.(3) p. 181-199.
• Räsänen, Tuomas Aleksi; Lein, Haakon; Bird, Deanne; Setten, Gunhild. (2020) Conceptualising community in disaster risk management. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction. vol. 45.
• Räsänen, Tuomas Aleksi; Kauppinen, Vera; Juhola, Sirkku; Setten, Gunhild; Lein, Haakon: Configurations of community in flood risk management. Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift 2020 ;Volume 74.(3) p. 165-180.