Dr. Jan Freihardt

Jan Freihardt completed his PhD in Political Science at ETH Zurich in September 2023. He holds two master's degrees from ETH, one in Environmental Engineering and one in Science, Technology and Policy. Besides academia, Jan has been active in different environmental NGOs in Germany for years and is particularly interested in the interaction between academia and societal actors. He has co-organized several seminars on this topic and has published the book »Draußen ist es anders. Auf neuen Wegen zu einer Wissenschaft für den Wandel« about transdisciplinary and transformative science.

In his PhD, Jan did research about Environmental Migration under the SNF-project Climate Risk, Land Loss, and Migration: Evidence from a Quasi-Experiment in Bangladesh. Especially in the context of climate change, millions of people will be affected either physically or by losing property through rising sea levels, desertification, extreme weather events, and other climate change impacts. In his work, he is studying how such events influence people's decision to migrate or which other adaptation strategies they might develop. The project included extensive fieldwork along the Jamuna River in Bangladesh. His PhD thesis "When the river breaks the land: Environmental (im)mobility among rural households in Bangladesh" is published open access. Together with an artistic team, he created a short documentary about the research project: "Eroding Horizons. A Village on the Move".