Manuel Fischer, Professor at the Institute of Political Science, University of Bern, group leader in Policy Analysis and Environmental Governance and head of the Environmental Social Sciences Institute at the Eawag, Switzerland shares some insights on the social dynamics between major actors in the political arena during times of stability and times of crisis and the importance of delving deeper into these dynamics for better social-ecological systems. We also discuss the harsh reality of whether science can impact policy.

Podcast Intro/Outro Song: Starsky by Alex Keren (Check out more of his tunes over on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5vZ3lENfDLjkln8scBJ8mW)

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:59 Guest Intro, Interview Skills and Social Processes
7:01 Manuel for President!
9:14 A 101 on Swiss Politics
13:03 Manuel’s academic journey to date
17:14 Actors, the social scientist and the theatre piece
19:27 The good guys, the bad guys and the ‘devil shift’
28:18 The ‘devil’s advocate’?
31:06 Decision-making in times of crises - Fukushima
36:09 Social networks
40:27 Social-Ecological Networks for Biodiversity
48:02 The role of scientists going forward
49:39 Manuel’s approach to the future
50:45 Q&A Start
51:08 Key event, person, book
53:20 If you had a magic wand?
54:04 Biggest challenge to date
55:59 Time management
58:14 Advice to young social scientists
1:00:44 The ivory tower of academia
1:02:10 Where can people find you?
1:02:49 Final message
1:03:05 Outro

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