Anke Fischer

My research combines perspectives from psychology, sociology and governance studies. It approaches environmental communication through conceptual lenses such as social representations, discourses and values, and explores intersections with legitimacy, resistance and participation, and their implications for the governance of conflict and transformation processes.

Over the years, my research has examined social representations of climate change, nature and biological diversity as built and used by different social groups, particularly also the value judgements implied, and the implications for public support for related policies. Other work has also addressed the cultural and economic role of hunting in Tanzania and Ethiopia, and the institutional arrangements that foster (or hamper) sustainable resource management, with a focus on co-management and institutional change. My more recent research has combined these different approaches by looking at the management and governance of ecosystem services, systems such as woodlands, and climate change and sustainability transformations from the perspectives of individuals as well as social groups. 

Recent supervision of Master's theses: 

Elin Estvall (2026): Between dialogue and decision-making : communication and stakeholder trust in the Sizewell C project. 

Paula Tamussino (2026): Derailing Truth : an analysis of post-truth rhetoric in Austria’s climate politics

For a full list check out GoogleScholar or ResearchGate

Fischer, A., Lövbrand, E., Joosse, S., Marklund, J. & Förell, N. (2026). Doing Justice in Transition Governance? Transient Assemblages of Actors, Discourses and Practices. Environmental Policy and Governance. https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.70050

Marklund, J., Förell, N. & Fischer, A. (2026): Freedom as a discursive instrument in Swedish transition governance: how political actors strategically construct normative power. Critical Policy Studies 20(1): 37-56. https://doi.org/10.1080/19460171.2025.2476976 

Fischer, A., Marklund, J., Förell, N., Joosse, S., Pinker, A., Boonstra, W.J. (2025). Will the transition ever be just? Three sites of discursive struggle over justice in transition governance. Environmental Policy and Governance 35(6): 1152-1162. http://doi.org/10.1002/eet.70028

Joosse, S., Johansson, K., Förell, N., Fischer, A. (2025). Doing Justice, Doing the Transition: Narratives of the Just Transition Fund and the Swedish Steel Industry. Environmental Policy and Governance 35(6): 1136-1151. https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.70020 

Förell, N., Fischer, A. (2025): Climate backlash and policy dismantling: How discursive mechanisms legitimised radical shifts in Swedish climate policy. Environmental Policy and Governance 35(4): 615-630. https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.2160 

Pakeman, R., Juárez-Bourke, A., Herrett, S., Hague, A., Byg, A., Lorenzo-Arribas, A., Fischer, A., MacLean, L., Marshall, K., Donaldson-Selby, G., Hester, A. J. & Eastwood, A. (2025): Comparing stakeholder perspectives and biodiversity models in assessing scenarios of management change. Journal of Environmental Management 377: 124541. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.124541 

Fischer, A., Joosse, S., Hallgren, L. & Westberg, L. (2024): How research on communication can help to understand the management of natural resources and sustainability transformations: practices, concerns and new perspectives on environmental communication. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 67(9), 1871–1885. https://doi.org/10.1080/09640568.2024.2345737

Tickle, L., von Essen, E. & Fischer, A. (2024): Fresh meat – Women’s motivations to hunt and how they challenge hunting structures. Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space 7(4): 1802-1820. https://doi.org/10.1177/25148486241239 

Eastwood, A., Lorenzo-Arribas, A., Fischer, A., MacLean, L., Hague, A., Juarez-Bourke, A., Herrett, S., Byg, A., Marshall, K., Pakeman, R., Donaldson-Selby, G. & Hester, A. (2024): Exploring the impacts of woodland management on ecosystem services – a deliberative method. Ecosystems and People 20:1. DOI: 10.1080/26395916.2024.2322638 

Fischer, A., Joosse, S., Strandell, J., Söderberg, N., Johansson, K. and Boonstra, W.J. (2023): How justice shapes transition governance – a discourse analysis of Swedish policy debates. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 67 (9): 1998-2016. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09640568.2023.2177842

Martin, A., Fischer, A., McMorran R. (2023): Who decides? The governance of rewilding in Scotland ‘between the cracks’: community participation, public engagement, and partnerships. Journal of Rural Studies 98: 80-91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2023.01.007 

Sandström, C., Ring, I., Olschewski, R., Simoncini, R., Albert, C., Acar, S., Adeishvili, M., Allard, C., Anker, Y., Arlettaz, R., Bela, G., Coscieme, L., Fischer, A., Fürst, C., Galil, B., Hynes, S., Kasymov, U.,  Marta-Pedroso, C., Mendes, A., Molau., U., Pergl, J. (2023): Mainstreaming biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people in Europe and Central Asia: insights from IPBES for the CBD Post-2020 agenda. Ecosystems and People 19:1. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26395916.2022.2138553 

Ongoing

Lara Hensle: Communication, representation and disagreement: Investigating the interactions between (environmental) NGOs and their constituencies in late modernity. SLU, jointly supervised with Lars Hallgren. Started 2020.

Emily Montgomerie: The creation of trust and distrust in the governance of climate change, biodiversity and wildlife management – a symbolic interactionist perspective. SLU, jointly supervised with Lars Hallgren and Hanna Bergeå. Started 2023.

Rikard Hedling: Communicating trust and distrust, legitimacy and power in the governance of climate change, biodiversity and wildlife management – a discursive perspective. SLU, jointly supervised with Lars Hallgren and Hanna Bergeå. Started 2023.

Nora Förell: On the constitution of knowledge and truth in environmental and sustainability communication. SLU, jointly supervised with Klara Fischer. Started 2024.

Completed

Alison Martin: Governance and ownership of rural Scotland – implications for the rewilding agenda. University of the Highlands and Islands, jointly supervised with Melanie Smith and Rob McMorran. 2023.

Lara Tickle: Challenges facing Swedish hunting ethics. SLU, main supervisor: Erica von Essen. 2023.

Irma Arts: Digital technologies and human-nature interactions: the users’ perspective. University of Aberdeen, jointly supervised with René van der Wal and Dominic Duckett. 2021.

Jennifer Wardle: Resolving the conflict between demands on organic waste in rural Ethiopia – optimum solutions for food, energy and water security. University of Aberdeen, jointly supervised with Jo Smith, Lisa Avery and David Vega-Maza. 2021. 

Isla Hodgson: A conflict with wings: Understanding the narratives, relationships and hierarchies of conflicts over raptors and red grouse in Scotland. University of Aberdeen, jointly supervised with Steve Redpath and Juliette Young. 2018.

Asanterabi Lowassa: The influence of social structure and social change on illegal bushmeat hunting in western Serengeti, Tanzania. University of Dar es Salaam, jointly supervised with Abu Mvungi. 2018.  

Marie Pagès: Partnerships between professionals and amateurs in nature conservation – an examination of the motivations and discourses in the management of invasive non-native species. University of Aberdeen, jointly supervised with Xavier Lambin and René van der Wal. 2016. 

Audrey Verma: The role of digital technology in the development of human-nature relationships. University of Aberdeen, jointly supervised with René van der Wal. 2016. 

Dereje Tadesse Wakjira: Governance, institutional change and forest use in Harenna, Ethiopia. University of Aberdeen, jointly supervised with Michelle Pinard. 2013. 

Koen Arts: Wilderness restoration and animal reintroduction: Ideas, discourses and policies. University of Aberdeen, jointly supervised with René van der Wal. 2012.  

Sebastian Selge: Public and scientific discourses on biological invasions: social representations of invasive non-native species in Scotland. University of Aberdeen, jointly supervised with René van der Wal. 2011. 

Kerry A. Waylen: The implications of local views and institutions for the outcomes of community-based conservation. Imperial College London, jointly supervised with E.J. Milner-Gulland. 2010.