Events

KLI Colloquia are invited research talks of about an hour followed by 30 min discussion. The talks are held in English, open to the public, and offered in hybrid format. 

 

Spring 2026 KLI Colloquium Series

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5881861923?omn=85945744831
Meeting ID: 588 186 1923

 

12 March 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

What Is Biological Modality, and What Has It Got to Do With Psychology?

Carrie Figdor (University of Iowa)

 

26 March 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

The Science of an Evolutionary Transition in Humans

Tim Waring (University of Maine)

 

9 April 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

Hierarchies and Power in Primatology and Their Populist Appropriation

Rebekka Hufendiek (Ulm University)

 

16 April 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

A Metaphysics for Dialectical Biology

Denis Walsh (University of Toronto)

 

30 April 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

What's in a Trait? Reconceptualizing Neurodevelopmental Timing by Seizing Insights From Philosophy

Isabella Sarto-Jackson (KLI)

 

7 May 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

The Evolutionary Trajectory of Human Hippocampal-Cortical Interactions

Daniel Reznik (Max Planck Society)

 

21 May 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

Why Directionality Emerged in Multicellular Differentiation

Somya Mani (KLI)

 

28 May 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

The Interplay of Tissue Mechanics and Gene Regulatory Networks in the Evolution of Morphogenesis

James DiFrisco (Francis Crick Institute)

 

11 June 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

Brave Genomes: Genome Plasticity in the Face of Environmental Challenge

Silvia Bulgheresi (University of Vienna)

 

25 June 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

The Evolvability of the Mammalian Ear: From Microevolutionary Variation to Macroevolutionary Patterns

Anne LeMaitre (KLI)

 

KLI Colloquia 2014 – 2026

Event Details

Laura Menatti
KLI Colloquia
Salutogenesis: A New Approach to Understand Health-Environment Interactions?
Laura MENATTI (KLI, Klosterneuburg)
2024-04-04 15:00 - 2024-04-04 17:00
KLI
Organized by KLI
You are invited to a Zoom meeting. 
When: Apr 4, 2024 03:00 PM Vienna 
Register in advance for this meeting:
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
 
Topic description / abstract:
Medical research and medical theory increasingly emphasize the need to include, explain, and address the role of the environment in health. This includes clarifying the positive and negative health outcomes of environmental factors for individuals, especially concerning exposure and vulnerability to climate change. My research path at KLI has primarily explored this issue from a philosophical and  a conceptual perspective, aiming to understand the intertwined nature of health and the environment. Although my research is predominantly theoretical and philosophical, it continually engages with interdisciplinary analysis and practical applications.

Specifically, I have focused on understanding the health-environment connection through the lens of the salutogenic approach, originally introduced by Aaron Antonovsky (1979; 1987; 1996). My analysis adapts and applies this approach to comprehend the interplay between health and the environment, introducing the concept of salutogenic environments. The objectives of my analysis are twofold: 1) emphasizing the positive and preventive aspects of the environment concerning health, and 2) providing clarity on the contrast between pathogenic and salutogenic elements in the environment.

In this talk, I will provide a brief historical and theoretical introduction to the concepts of salutogenesis. Subsequently, I will delve into the role of salutogenic environments, addressing the related epistemological, normative, and professional implications. Emphasis will be placed on the significance of salutogenic environments, highlighting their innovative potential in addressing the contemporary health and environmental crisis.
 
Biographical note:
Laura Menatti is specialised in environmental philosophy, landscape theory, and philosophy of medicine. Her research aims at developing a theoretical and practical framework for the investigation of the notion of environment and its effects on health. During her research career, she has pursued an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary trajectory. Her research activities are at the crossroads of philosophy, environmental and cognitive science, they are based on a quantitative and qualitative research methodology and on-field activities. She has been teaching and doing research in different faculties and departments (medicine, architecture, philosophy, science) in Spain, Chile, Italy and France.
 
Recently she has been a visiting fellow (Spring Term 2022) at the Center for Philosophy of Science of the University of Pittsburgh. During 2021, she has worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the  IAS-Research Centre for Life, Mind & Society of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), in San Sebastian (Spain).
 
She has been collaborating as lecturer with the Bordeaux School of Architecture and Landscape (ENSAPBx Bordeaux - France), the University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU) and the Public University of Navarra (UPNA), the University of Chile (Santiago), and the University of Desarrollo (UDD, Chile). She is also book reviews editor of the journal Landscape Research.
She has two PhDs in philosophy, one in aesthetics from the University of Pavia (Italy) and a second one in philosophy of globalisation from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). In 2015, her second PhD thesis received The Landscape Research Group Dissertation Prize for the best PhD essay on landscape (section art and design) by the Landscape Research Group (research group associated with the journal Landscape Research, Q1 Scopus).