Climate change is a phenomenon that can have effects in many different directions, including social cohesion. On the one hand, societies are physically under pressure due to the combination of changing environmental conditions and on the other hand, socially due to climate change discourses and distribution conflicts. At the same time, social cohesion is a key resource for addressing climate change issues.

The definition project aims to develop a full proposal along six thematic fields for case studies and a theoretical-conceptual metaproject. These are to be researched in the proposed main project from an inter- and transdisciplinary perspective as part of postdoctoral positions. A virtual transdisciplinary workshop will be organised for this purpose.

In order to frame and generalise the empirical results, a more wide-ranging, epistemologically tested concept of social cohesion is required, which is to be developed in the main project on the basis of the following questions:

How do we have to think about social cohesion in order to sustainably deal with global climate change across cultures and generations?

Is there a general basis for the apparently fundamentally important social cohesion that transcends differences in norms and values?