Claudia R. Binder

Claudia R. Binder (born in Montreal) is a Swiss, Canadian and Colombian environmental scientist working in the field of human-environment systems and sustainability s. Since March 2016 she has been a full professor the La Mobilière Chair on Urban Ecology and Sustainable Living at École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland and founding director of the Laboratory for Human-Environment Relations in Urban Systems (HERUS) at School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC) of EPFL. Since January 2020 she has been serving as dean of ENAC at EPFL.

Early life and education Binder was born in Montreal, Canada, and spent most of her childhood in Switzerland and Colombia. Binder joined École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in March 2016 and founded the Laboratory for Human-Environment Relations in Urban Systems (HERUS)

At EPFL, Binder is the academic director of Design Together, a cross-disciplinary teaching initiative. In 2018 she was appointed to the management team of the Energy Center and in 2019 as head of the working group on EPFL’s energy and sustainability strategy.

Research Her research involves analyzing, modeling and assessing the transition of urban systems towards sustainability. She examines the dynamics of urban metabolism, what characterizes a sustainable city, and what drives and hinders transformation processes. She does so by combining knowledge from social, natural and data science. Her research focuses on food, energy, and sustainable living and transport in urban systems. Member of the Steering Committee SNSF’s National Research Program 71 (Managing Energy Consumption) Member of the Swiss Competence Centers for Energy Research (SCCER) Member of the University Council of LMU Munich (2019)

Publications