Dr Maranges, can you tell us something about yourself and the research topic you are working on?
I am a Postdoc at the Department of Environment & Biodiversity of the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg (Salzburg, Austria). My main research focus lies on the analysis of socio-technical transformations in the management of urban stormwater. I am really interested in societal changes towards sustainability. Thus, my research has paid particular attention until now to current opportunities and challenges for change, as well as to strategies to make the transformation possible, from both a social and a technical perspective. This has implied the engagement in interdisciplinary appro aches, applying methods and concepts of both physical geography and sociology. This includes analyses of the technical quality of implemented stormwater systems, bio-physical opportunities for change, and prevailing knowledge and power-related barriers. Despite my prevailing focus on transformations in urban stormwater management, I intend to open up to explore other sustainability-related topics, such as changes in mobility. At the moment I am starting a project in this latter field.
Why did you decide to come to Slovakia and why did you choose the University of Banská Bystrica (UMB) for your research stay?
I was looking for a research experience abroad that could enrich myself as a researcher and constitute a new stimulating personal experience. I had long wanted to spend some time in a Slavic country, in order to submerge for the first time into a Slavic culture and learn some words of a family of languages that remain unknown for me until then (I have always been interested in languages). So, when I saw the opportunity to do a research stay in Slovakia, I did not think it twice. The ease to reach the country by public transportation from Austria, the fact that we share the same currency (which makes any financial aspects easier) and, at the same time, the cultural divergences existing between Austria and Slovakia did make Slovakia an appealing option for me. The ease to apply for a scholarship needs to be added. This includes both the ease of the application process (which is really straightforward) and the openness of the programme to applicants under different employment conditions in their respective universities. Other programmes do not offer opportunities to early-career researchers with unstable and marginal employment positions. This is unfortunately the financial situation in which many Austrian early-career researchers find themselves (including me at the moment of application). The programme offered me, therefore, an amazing opportunity to have an enriching experience in a new stimulating location and, at the same time, a financial relief.
Regarding the university where I stayed, I did not have any preference for any particular institution before application. I was looking for someone that has similar research interests as me, no matter the university where they are based. I contacted and talked with a Slovak researcher in sociology that I found through a review of papers reporting cases of sustainability transformation in Slovakia. She recommended me to get in touch with colleagues at the University of Banská Bystrica (UMB), who were very open to work together with me on the topic of transitioning in urban stormwater management. Moreover, they reported that some changes were starting to occur in the city of Banská Bystrica regarding my research topic, which made the need for research on the topic highly needed and the possibility to do some work there even more stimulating. The shared research interests with the research institution and the starting transformation processes at the city level made the UMB a perfect place for my stay.
