Skip to main navigation Skip to search Skip to main content
Misse Wester

Misse Wester

Professor

Personal profile

Research

I started working with environmental issues at Örebro university in the multidisciplinary research group Man-Environment-Technology (MTM) and received my PhD in 2004. After that, I moved my research to the division of philosophy at the Royal Institute of technology (KTH) and worked there for almost ten years before moving to the division of Industrial Ecology, where I was involved in research projects concerning environmental risk perception, environmental behavior and climate adaptation.

At Lund university, I have continued to develop research and teaching related to climate change, disaster management, and gender.

 

Research

My main interest in my research is the link between what we think and what we do in relation to risks and safety – and how this affects risk and crisis communication. We might think something – or perceive certain things – but then act in ways that might seem contradictory to our beliefs. For an individual, the behavior is almost always rational but can be interpreted by someone else as being irrational. These (mis)conceptions can be seen in many different areas – ranging from assumptions that people don’t care about the environment because they don’t buy organic food, to the myth of panic in disasters where people behave badly just to save their own skin. For me, a more constructive view is to examine, understand and explain human behavior in the varying contexts we move and look at factors such as power, influence and rationality. In this way, we can make predictions and decisions based on facts, not misconceptions that lack foundation.

Subject classification (UKÄ)

  • Social Sciences

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  1. SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
    SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
  2. SDG 5 - Gender Equality
    SDG 5 Gender Equality
  3. SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy
    SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy
  4. SDG 9 - Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
    SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
  5. SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
    SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production
  6. SDG 13 - Climate Action
    SDG 13 Climate Action
  7. SDG 14 - Life Below Water
    SDG 14 Life Below Water
  8. SDG 15 - Life on Land
    SDG 15 Life on Land
  9. SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
    SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics where Misse Wester is active. These topic labels come from the works of this person. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
  • 1 Similar Profiles
View full fingerprint

Collaborations the last five years

Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or
Explore network further
View all 38 research outputs
View all 10 projects
  • 1 Participation in conference
  • 1 Participation in workshop/ seminar/ course
  • 1 Supervision of PhD students
  • 1 Media participation