About
Katrin Grossmann studied sociology at Philipps-University Marburg. In 2006, she finished her PhD on guiding narratives in the governance of shrinking cities. Following, she worked as a researcher at Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ Leipzig before she was appointed as a professor in urban sociology at University of Applied Sciences Erfurt in 2014. In her research, she combines different aspects of justice at the intersections of critical urban studies, sociological theory and the energy transition. Her research fields comprise energy poverty, energy policy and housing as well as social cohesion, migration and conflict. In her work, her emphasis is on the normative underpinnings of urban studies such as justice, sustainability or dignity as well as analytical work to better understand the development of cities and regions, social inequality, residential segregation and neighbourhoud change. Urban shrinkage has been a long term interest in her work which lately lead to a focus on small cities and their trajectories. From 2017-2021, she was part of the core group of the COST-Action ENGAGER on „European Energy Poverty: Agenda Co-Creation and Knowledge Innovation”, leading Working Group 4 on „Innovation: Introducing path-breaking perspectives to the understanding of energy poverty.”