Profile

I hold a PhD from the University of Zurich in Switzerland and a diploma in geography from the Humboldt University of Berlin in Germany.

Research interests

Climate change has become an issue of high political and public relevance and human societies are facing two main challenges. One is the mitigation of climate change and its impacts, and the other is how democratic societies involve citizens in the formulation of responses to climate change. A number of major policy documents establish public participation as a general guideline in dealing with the challenge of climate change (e.g., UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), European Climate Change Programme II).

In my research I address the critical questions of how the guideline prescribing "public participation" formulated in major international policy documents is adopted at national level, and which contextual and subjective factors shape national strategies and practices.

My previous research at the Swiss Federal Research Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape (Zurich) has been on psycho-social effects of participation in participatory landscape planning as well as on psycho-social factors that drive people’s willingness to participate.

Recent Publications

Höppner, C (2009) Trust—A monolithic panacea in land use planning? Land Use Policy. doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2008.12.007.

Höppner, C., Buchecker, M.; Frick, J. (in press): What drives people’s willingness to discuss local landscape development? Landscape Research.

Frick, J.; Höppner, C.; Buchecker, M. (in review): Resident’s expectations and preferences regarding different forms of socio-political participation. Political Psychology.

Höppner, C. 2008: Die Landschaft mitgestalten – Hintergründe und Wirkungen von Partizipation in kommunalen Planungsprozessen (Making a difference – Drivers and impacts of participation in local planning projects). University of Zurich, Zurich, pp. 139.

Höppner, C., Frick, J.; Buchecker, M. 2007: Assessing Psycho-Social Effects of Participatory Landscape Planning. Landscape and Urban Planning, 83: 196-207.

Höppner, C.; Frick, J.; Buchecker, M.; Elsasser, H. 2005: Evaluating a new participatory planning approach for sustainable landscape development in Switzerland. Participatory techniques and social effects of Landscape Development Concepts (LDC) ; In: C.A. Brebbia et al., Sustainable Development and Planning II, Vol 2, WIT Press, UK.