SFP-MOBIL: The stock-flow-practice nexus of personal mobility in Austria and Germany

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Henrike Rau
• Subject Area: Human Geography ; Empirical Social Research ; City Planning, Spatial Planning, Transportation and Infrastructure Planning, Landscape Planning
• Term: since 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 575259773

Studying how societal phenomena are linked with the use of biophysical resources requires interdisciplinary efforts. These often combine social-science research using mixed methods, e.g. on social practices, with quantitative analyses of ‘social metabolism’, i.e. the biophysical stocks and flows that form societies’ material basis. The innovative ‘stock-flow-practice’ (SFP) nexus concept proposed by the applicants links (1) consumption research using social-science approaches rooted in practice theory with (2) methods to characterize societies’ resource use. SFP-MOBIL will be the first project using the SFP nexus concept in interdisciplinary empirical mobility research. The aim is to understand interlinkages between mobility practices and socio-metabolic material stocks and resource flows. Mobility is chosen because it is (1) strongly influenced by prevailing infrastructure and settlement patterns, (2) requires large societal resource flows in terms of mass, energy use and emissions and is linked to soil sealing in urban and rural regions, and (3) it is an important field of regulation, policy and public debate. SFP-MOBIL investigates how and why people engage in particular mobility practices, how dominant infrastructures and practices interact, and finally, what can be learnt from the empirical research on the applicability of the SFP nexus concept. To capture regional variations in the SFP nexus, SFP-MOBIL examines study regions in Germany and Austria, two urban (Vienna, Munich) and two rural (the Eisenwurzen in central Austria, and the Oberland region south of Munich). The project builds on existing high-resolution maps of built structures, as well as other social metabolism databases. These will be combined with data from household surveys, Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Environmentally-Extended Input-Output Analysis (EE-IOA) to analyze material and energy use as well as GHG emissions of regional mobility. Data on mobility practices are generated with a mixed methods social-science approach combining biographical interviews with a secondary analysis of existing mobility survey data. Integration of these strands of empirical research will allow in-depth assessment of the links between mobility practices, settlement and infrastructure patterns, and the related resource and emission flows. The project will develop and deploy a novel integrative approach for linking social science and social metabolism research at a much deeper level than is possible now. It will identify key interlinkages between social conditions, settlement and infrastructure patterns, and resource use related to personal mobility (biophysical profiles of practices), and leverage points for moving towards a zero-carbon society.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Austria
• Cooperation Partners: Dr. Veronika Gaube; Professor Dr. Helmut Haberl; Dr. Barbara Smetschka; Dr. Dominik Wiedenhofer