Monday, January 19, 2026 | 14:00–18:00 WU Vienna Executive Academy, Foyer

Climate breakdown. Democratic erosion. Infrastructure conflicts. The catastrophes of our era are not isolated glitches – they're interconnected signals of systemic transformation. The question is: Are we learning from them? This event brings together ecologists, political economists, critical theorists, and urban practitioners to explore: How do societies, institutions, and cities learn from catastrophe – or fail to?

• What are the blind spots in how we measure loss, frame narratives, and implement change?

• Where do conflicts over infrastructure and mobility reveal deeper tensions about who the future is for?

• Can catastrophe generate imagination and new possibilities, or only paralysis?

SPEAKERS

• Prof. Markus Kornprobst (Diplomatic Academy Vienna) – Opening impulse on catastrophe, governance, and political order

• Prof. Alexander Etkind (CEU) – Culture, memory, and political imagination

• Dr. Johanna Gautier Morin (CEU) – Measurement, legibility, and blind spots after collapse

• Dr. Ayansina Ayanlade (CEU) – Climate extremes, loss, and damage in African contexts

• Dr. Barbara Laa (TU Wien) – Mobility transformation and urban conflict

• Dr. Katja Schechtner (MIT Senseable City Lab) – Infrastructure, planning, and city futures

• Prof. Franzisca Weder (WU Vienna, STaR Faculty Member) – Sustainability communication and legitimacy

CONVENORS 

• Zenon Hanappi and Vivian Landgraf

AGENDA

14:00–14:10 | Welcome & Introduction

14:10–14:30 | Opening Impulse – Markus Kornprobst

14:30–15:50 | Panel I: Catastrophe, Governance and Systemic Fragility

15:50–16:10 | Coffee Break

16:10–17:30 | Panel II: Backlashes, Infrastructures and the Politics of Everyday Catastrophe

17:30–18:00 | Informal Networking

WHY ATTEND?

This is not a standard academic conference. It's a space to:

✓ Engage directly with leading researchers shaping the conversation on crisis and transformation

✓ Network with peers and practitioners working on sustainability, governance, and urban futures

✓ Contribute to shaping the research agenda for the rest of the century Students and young researchers are especially welcome. Your questions, perspectives, and ideas are essential to this conversation.