- Sciences
- SONYA
Page d'accueil SONYA
Socio-Environmental Dynamics Research Group (SONYA)
SONYA is a research center that brings different perspectives and disciplines into dialogue to study the connections between society and the environment.
Socio-Environmental Dynamics Research Group (SONYA)
Our work contributes to both empirical and fundamental research on socio-environmental dynamics, with the aim of supporting a transition toward a sustainable society through teaching and participation in societal debates.
Socio-Environmental Dynamics Research Group (SONYA)
Members of SONYA mainly teach within the Master’s program in Environmental Science and Management and are also involved in the CIVIS Master TRACEE.
Socio-Environmental Dynamics Research Group (SONYA)
In close collaboration with iiTSE, the SONYA team also contributes to the doctoral training of PhD candidates working on socio-ecological transformations.
Socio-Environmental Dynamics Research Group (SONYA)
Beyond scientific outputs, SONYA also develops an active presence in a wide range of societal and political debates, cooperating with various print, audiovisual, and social media in Belgium and beyond.
Les actualités de SONYA
PhD Defense 30/6 - Engaging with Climate Change. An Ethnography of Gaddi Taskscape in the Western Himalayas
June 19, 2026
by Maura BULGHERONI, doctorante en Sciences politiques et sociales et affiliée au centre de recherche CAC
SONYA is co-organizing Neobiota 2026
June 4, 2026
The next Neobiota Conference is coming to Brussels in September 2026! SONYA is co-organizing the event through its involvement in the activities of the Belgian Biodiversity Platform. All information on www.neobiota2026.org
UPCOMING - Seminar Naomi Oreskes - Organising resistance in (US Climate) Science
May 29, 2026
Or: how present politics work to prefigure the collapse of western civilization
Conférences au Collège Belgique sur les 10 ans de l’Accord de Paris
May 20, 2026
Available publicly online
Tranversal course on Sustainability
May 13, 2026
On monday 11/5 more then 350 students presented and defended 80 posters as part of the evaluation for the tranversal course on sustainablity
Aurore Migeotte will join SONYA soon! Welcome!
May 5, 2026
On June 15th our team will be strengtend by Aurore Migeotte who will work as PhD student on the SETBACK project
Alumna Laura La Gioia wins the Sustainable Health HERA award 2026
May 5, 2026
Laura La Gioia, alumna of our Master on Environmental Science and Management (2024-2025) won the HERA Award on Sustainable Health with her Master dissertation: "Les actions juridico-politiques et technologiques répondant à la contamination des eaux continentales européennes par les substances per- et polyfluoroalkylées" (Promotor: Nathalie Gypens). Congratulations!
ESEE 2026 Conference in Ghent
May 5, 2026
Tom Bauler (SONYA) is co-organising, as member of the scientific committee, the ESEE2026 conference
SONYA contribue au débat public sur la construction d’une protection sociale-écologique en Belgique
May 5, 2026
En collaboration avec d’autres chercheur·es de l’UCLouvain, de l’ULB et de Sciences Po Paris, nos collègues Aurore Fransolet et Tom Bauler ont participé à une recherche proposant des pistes concrètes pour adapter le système de protection sociale belge aux risques sociaux-écologiques. Ce travail, qui a trouvé un large écho dans la presse et auprès de nombreux acteurs, entend contribuer au débat public et politique sur le futur de la protection sociale face aux défis du 21e siècle.
SWIFFT Collective launched
April 2, 2026
On 3 December 2025, the SWIFFT Collective held its launch event at the iconic Flagey, Studio 4. This unique moment brought together members of the Collective, researchers from across Belgium, organisations working on climate, energy, and the social economy in Europe, as well as public institutions from Belgium to the EU level. Check the aftermovie here
Publications récentes
Engaging with Ecological Emotions : Psychologizing Politics or Embracing Epistemic Disobedience?
June 19, 2026
by Léna Silberzahn (Maastricht University) and Louise Knops (SONYA)
Special issue "Environmental justice in Europe, spatial dimensions" now out in Belgeo
June 16, 2026
With an editorial contribution by Pr Em Edwin Zaccaï
The IPBES invasion‑management framework supports informed decision‑making for managing biological invasions
June 9, 2026
Co-authored by Sonia Vanderhoeven
Policy Brief - Is One-Health Plant Blind
May 28, 2026
This policy brief argues that current implementations of the One Health framework remain “plant-blind,” overlooking plants as active determinants of health and reinforcing a bias towards animal- and pathogen-focused approaches.
Tracking Africa's trajectory toward sustainability by Edgar Towa and colleagues
April 2, 2026
An assessment of environmental and socioeconomic impacts
Notice sur « Eco-émotion » dans le dictionnaire sur l’Anthropocène
April 2, 2026
By Louise Knops & Léna Zilberzahn
Role Reversal: When Activists Are Treated Like Criminals.
April 2, 2026
Une publication collective qui fait suite à une table ronde organisée par iiTSE avec deux autrices de SONYA, Fanny Vrydag et Louise Knops
La recension critique de l’ouvrage de Edwin Zaccai « Contradictions Ordinaires »
April 2, 2026
by Louise Knops
Nouvel article d’Aurore Fransolet dans Ecological Economics : Mapping Visions of a Just Transition
April 2, 2026
Aurore Fransolet a publié un nouvel article dans Ecological Economics intitulé « Mapping visions of a just transition: A Q survey of Belgian stakeholders », co-écrit avec Marek Hudon, Adriano La Gioia et Sandrine Meyer.