Keynote Speakers
Maria Lewicka, Poland
Maria Lewicka is a professor at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, where she leads the Department of Social and Environmental Psychology. She earned her MA from Poznań University and her PhD and habilitation from the University of Warsaw. She previously taught at the University of Tromsoe, Norway. In the early 2000s, she initiated environmental psychology research at the University of Warsaw and led its Environmental Research Unit. Lewicka's research now focuses on the relationship between urban environments and human behavior, especially place attachment, identity, and memory. She has published extensively in journals like the Journal of Environmental Psychology and authored "Psychologia miejsca" (Psychology of Place). Her 2011 paper on place attachment is highly cited. She has received numerous awards, including the Jean-Paul Codol Award, recognition from the Polish Association of Social Psychology, membership in Academia Europaea, and the "Polish Nobel" from the Foundation of Polish Science for her theoretical work on place attachment and memory.
Matthew Hornsey, Australia
Prof. Matthew Hornsey graduated with a PhD in social psychology in 1999. Since then, he has published over 200 papers, mostly on themes of intergroup communication, sustainability, and climate change. His most recent work focuses on understanding (and reducing) people’s motivations to reject scientific consensus, including the psychology of climate inaction. Throughout his career he has worked to develop models equipped to understand the logic behind supposedly “irrational” behaviour, and used them to facilitate attitude and behaviour change. His work has been cited in hundreds of media articles, including in the NY Times, LA Times, and The Guardian. Prof. Hornsey currently leads the Net Zero Observatory at the University of Queensland, a multi-disciplinary group of academics and practitioners who design strategies to accelerate industry action and community support for rapid decarbonisation.
Anke Blöbaum, Germany
Anke Blöbaum studied psychology, specializing in environmental psychology. She received her PhD in 2000 from the Ruhr University Bochum, Germany. From 1994 to 2009 she worked as a researcher and lecturer at the Ruhr University Bochum, since 2009 she has been managing director of Kon-sys and since 2012 she has been working as a senior researcher at the University of Magdeburg with a special focus on people as actors in the public space.As a qualified mediator, Anke Blöbaum is particularly interested in the background to potential conflicts between climate protection measures, nature conservation and social concerns. In national and international research projects, she has dealt with sustainable behavior, commitment to nature conservation, and participatory planning processes. In addition to her research interests, she is passionate about supporting environmental associations, NGOs and environmental transformation processes. She is the speaker of the German ad hoc expert committee for IPBES and co-editor of the Journal “Umweltpsychologie”. Anke Blöbaum will give the Grauman Lecture, sponsored by the Environmental Psychology Section, German Psychological Society (DGPs).
Audronė Telešienė, Lithuania
Dr. Audrone Telesiene is Full Professor of Sociology and Communication Science, and Head of the Center for Data Analysis and Archiving at Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on social dimensions of climate change, environmental attitudes and behaviours, risk perception and communication, open science and sustainable development. She works with the Lithuanian open research data infrastructure LiDA (service provider, CESSDA ERIC), and made significant contributions to other infrastructures, including European Social Survey – ESS-ERIC, and International Social Survey Programme – ISSP. In 2019-2024 Telesiene served as coordinator of RN12 ’Environment and Society’ at the European Sociological Association (ESA). Telesiene provides expert advice to national authorities and the European Commission; is convener of the Behavioral, Social, and Cultural Task Group at UNEP’s 7th Global Environmental Outlook drafting process.