In her research, Professor Crépin explores how dynamic interactions between nature and society influence the risk of significant and often abrupt changes, and how these changes can be managed responsibly. 

Anne-Sophie Crépin, aged 55, holds both Swedish and French citizenship and earned her doctorate in economics from Stockholm University in 2002, where she also completed her habilitation in 2017. Since 2009, she has served as the deputy director of the Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, a prestigious research institution recognized internationally for its work in the fields of sustainability, ecological economics, and transdisciplinary environmental research. Additionally, she is a scientific advisor with Formas, a research council for sustainable development set up by the Swedish government to fund research on environmental, climate, and sustainability issues and to advise the government on these matters. Professor Crépin is also a senior research fellow at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, which studies how societies and ecosystems can be made more resilient. 

Interactions Between Human Behavior, Economy, and Sustainability 

Anne-Sophie Crépin’s primary research interests lie at the intersection of economics, ecology, human behavior, systems theory, and sustainability science. A key focus of her work is the study of regime shifts, which means abrupt and lasting changes in ecosystems that can occur when critical tipping points are crossed. Examples include the sudden overgrowth of coral reefs or lakes by algae, which can have significant negative effects on fishing and tourism. The goal of Professor Crépin’s work is to show how human activities can either trigger or mitigate these processes, and to identify the kinds of economic analyses and policy strategies that are necessary to ensure long-term human well-being. At WU Vienna, Anne-Sophie Crépin will work as a part-time professor at the Department of Socioeconomics.