Maximilian Benner is an economist and economic geographer with a habilitation degree (venia docendi) in human geography. As senior scientist and senior lecturer at the University of Vienna and non-tenured associate professor (“Privatdozent”) at the University of Klagenfurt, he focuses on the geography of emission-intensive industries (e.g., chemical regions), just transitions and their place-based political, economic, institutional, and power-related foundations, as well as the ideational and discursive foundations of regional sustainability transformations. He has been appointed RSA Ambassador for Austria for the period 2026-2029.
“Die RSA bietet viele Gelegenheiten, aktuelle wissenschaftliche Debatten zur Zukunft von Regionen voranzubringen und Netzwerke auf- und auszubauen. Als ‘Botschafter’ der RSA in Österreich freue ich mich sehr, diese Aktivitäten zu unterstützen, und bin Ihr Ansprechpartner für Ideen und Initiativen, um die wissenschaftliche Community zu Themen der Regionalentwicklung zu fördern.”