Sascha Nick

Sascha Nick is a Lecturer at École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), holding positions across multiple departments. He serves as a Scientist at the Laboratory of Environmental and Urban Economics (LEURE) within the School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC), and as a Lecturer in both the College of Humanities (CDH-SHS) and the College of Management of Technology (CDM-MTE).

Dr. Nick's research focuses on wellbeing, low energy demand, net zero pathways, and societal transitions. His work employs systems thinking to identify action levers for accelerating the transition toward 1.5°C pathways, biodiversity restoration, and inclusive wellbeing. He actively engages policymakers, public institutions, and companies in co-creating transformation through strengthened deliberative democracy approaches, including Academic Citizens' Assemblies.

His recent publications reveal a strong trend toward interdisciplinary research connecting environmental science with social and political dimensions of sustainability. His work spans renewable energy development, carbon market integrity, housing transformation, aviation decarbonization, and democratic innovation. The research consistently emphasizes the integration of sufficiency strategies, negative emissions technologies, and wellbeing metrics within systemic transformation frameworks.

Dr. Nick has supervised several student projects focusing on carbon removal technologies, biochar applications, and peatland conservation. His Academic Citizens' Assembly initiative represents a novel approach to engaging diverse stakeholders in complex sustainability decisions. He leads the CO2 Monitor project (https://co2-monitor.ch) and contributes to Swiss Net Zero scenario development through publications like 'go.epfl.ch/netzero' and 'go.epfl.ch/SNEF'.