Name and Surname
Ognjen Kojanić
Contact email
ognjenkojanic@gmail.com
Short Biography
Ognjen Kojanić is an environmental and economic anthropologist with a geographical focus in the former Yugoslavia. He holds a BA in ethnology and anthropology from the University of Belgrade, an MA in sociology and social anthropology from Central European University, and a PhD in cultural anthropology from the University of Pittsburgh. He was a Humboldt Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Cologne, a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Freiburg, and a Fellow at the Research Platform “Transformations and Eastern Europe” at the University of Vienna. He has published articles and book chapters dealing with labor, property relations, and class politics; infrastructure and human-environment relations; and the anthropology of European peripheries. His current research lies at the intersection of urban political ecology and infrastructure studies.
Research abstract
Green Change from Below: How Grassroots Relations to Urban Infrastructure Can Shape a Just Green Transition in the Balkans
The project “Green Change from Below: How Grassroots Relations to Urban Infrastructure Can Shape a Just Green Transition in the Balkans” focuses on decision-making and social contestations related to the infrastructural assemblage in a former wetland area on the north bank of the Danube River in Belgrade. The guiding questions are: How can the grassroots understandings of the relationship between built and natural environment in cities influence green change? Specifically, how can already existing practices in relation to urban infrastructure show the way to positively shape coordinated actions in the Balkans that can drive the green and just transition? Data is collected using a mix of qualitative social science methods including ethnographic participant observation and interviews, archival work, and content analysis to study various aspects of infrastructural management that are relevant to understanding and coming up with responses to key challenges of the green transition in the Balkans. Broadly, the aim is to contribute to scientific knowledge and potential solutions that can inform urban environmental policy in the face of climate change. The research results will be of relevance to policymakers and practitioners who work on urban water and waste management, green infrastructure, and forestry and park services.