Tobias Riepl

Country: 
Germany
Year of Enrollment: 
2022

Tobias' research aims to better understand how we can re-organize provisioning systems to enable a good life for all within planetary boundaries. In particular, he looks into the role of the state for achieving high levels of wellbeing at low environmental impact. Key concepts of his dissertation include the foundational economy and sustainable welfare.

In his dissertation, he investigates keys steps in the provisioning process of sustainable welfare: the effects of government spendings on countries' eco-social outcomes, the influence of material stocks on social outcomes as well as the role of access to everyday infrastructures for livability. Tobias primarily employs quantitative methods, including regression modeling and geospatial analysis, and collaborates with scholars grounded in ecological economics, such as Anke Schaffartzik (CEU Vienna), Simon Grabow (WU Vienna), Richard Bärnthaler and Diana Ivanova (both University of Leeds),  Justin Kadi (University of Cambridge), Lena Kilian (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research). His research has received additional funding from the City of Vienna Jubilee Fund and the WU Junior Faculty Small-Scale Projects Fund

As an external advisor to HAND GmbH, his work also informs and influences contemporary urban planning in Vienna. Tobias is on track to complete his four-year PhD program at the Environment Department of CEU in fall 2026.

 

Selection of publications :

- [Under Review] How government spending shapes eco-social outcomes: A global comparative analysis. Global Environmental Change. 
- [2026] Efficiency Only? An Analysis of Avoid, Shift and Improve Strategies in EU Member States’ Long-Term Mitigation Policy. Energy Policy.
- [2025] Assessing livability through human need theory: Insights from Vienna. Cities. 
- [2025] Living well with the foundational economy: Assessing the spatial accessibility of foundational infrastructures in Vienna and the relationship to socio-economic status. Ecological Economics. 
 
Last revised July 2025.

Qualification

He holds a bachelor degree in Natural Resource Management from BOKU Vienna and a master degree in Socio-Ecological Economics and Policy from WU Vienna (both with honors).

Supervisor

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