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Stockholm Resilience Centre

Topic: Organization

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Stockholm Resilience Centre
Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University
AbbreviationSRC
FormationJanuary 1, 2007; 19 years ago (2007-01-01)
TypeResearch institute
PurposeA thriving and resilient biosphere that enables well-being for all.
HeadquartersStockholm, Sweden
Official language
English
Director
Line Gordon
Websitestockholmresilience.org

Stockholm Resilience Centre (SRC), explores how people and nature can live and develop on a planet under pressure. The centre is a collaboration between Stockholm University and the Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.[1]

The centre states that its mission [2] is to:

  • advance the scientific understanding of the complex, dynamic interactions of people and nature in the Biosphere
  • train the next generation of sustainability researchers and leaders
  • engage in collaborations with change agents

Stockholm Resilience Centre has a particular focus on social-ecological resilience, where humans and nature are studied as an integrated whole.[3] The centre advises policymakers and industry on ecosystem management and long-term sustainable and equitable development in Europe and elsewhere around the world.[4][5]

Organisation

Stockholm Resilience Centre has approximately 160 staff.[6] Line Gordon is director of the centre since 2018, following Johan Rockström.[7] The centre has many productive and influential researchers.

The Centre is governed by a board with additional strategic advice provided by two international boards. There is a scientific advisory council of leading sustainability researchers to provide advice on scientific development of the Centre, which is led by Elena Bennett from McGill University.[8] There is also an international advisory board that provides strategic advice to the Centre in its efforts to have global impact within science, business, policy and practice, currently led by Jim Balsillie.[9]

The centre's researchers are among the most cited researchers in the world. In 2024, five centre's researchers were included in the prestigious Clarivate list of the world’s most cited researchers.[10] This distinguished group includes: Sarah Cornell, Thomas Elmqvist, Max Troell, Johan Rockström and Carl Folke.[11]

Research

Stockholm Resilience Centre consists of six focus areas which concentrate research on specific angles of sustainability science, resilience and social-ecological systems:

  • The human ocean focus area engages in new and emerging research frontiers for a more sustainable and equitable future for the ocean.[12]
  • The food for resilience focus area studies the prerequisites for and pathways to sustainable and resilient global food systems.[13]
  • The Anthropocene dynamics focus area explores how global biophysical and socioeconomic dynamics emerge, interact, and shape the relationships between humans and nature, and what the social and environmental consequences are.[14]
  • The resilience and sustainable development focus area addresses the challenges and the diversity of trajectories associated with sustainable development for all in the context of the Anthropocene.[15]
  • The interacting complexities focus area explores how to address complex sustainability challenges by drawing on different complexity perspectives.[16]
  • The stewardship and transformative futures focus area explores the knowledge systems, values, meanings, practices, behaviours, and governance arrangements that can contribute to fair and just sustainable futures.[17]

Education

Along with a PhD programme in Sustainability Science SRC also operates a Masters programme in Social-Ecological Resilience for Sustainable Development and a number of specialised courses, such as its executive programme in resilience thinking[18] aimed at CEOs and chairpersons and a number of Stockholm University courses focused on global change, sustainable business, social-ecological resilience and systems theory.[19]

Notable work

The nine planetary boundaries as of 2015

The Planetary Boundaries

In 2009, Stockholm Resilience Centre's then director Johan Rockström led an international group of 28 leading academics, who proposed a new Earth system framework, the "planetary boundaries", for government and management agencies as a precondition for sustainable development. The framework posits that Earth system processes on the planet have boundaries or thresholds that should not be crossed. The extent to which these boundaries are not crossed marks what the group calls the safe operating space for humanity. The group identified nine "planetary life support systems" essential for human survival and attempted to quantify just how far seven of these systems have been pushed already. They then estimated how much further we could go before our survival is threatened; beyond these boundaries, there is a risk of "irreversible and abrupt environmental change" which could make Earth less habitable.[20] Boundaries can help identify where there is room and define a "safe space for human development", which is an improvement on approaches that aim to minimize human impacts on the planet.[20]

In 2015, the scientists published an update. They changed the name of the boundary "loss of biodiversity" to "change in biosphere integrity" meaning that not only the number of species but also the functioning of the biosphere as a whole is important, and "chemical pollution" to "novel entities," including in it not only pollution but also organic pollutants, radioactive materials, nanomaterials, and microplastics. According to the 2015 update, four of the boundaries have been exceeded: climate change, loss of biosphere integrity, land-system change and altered biogeochemical cycles (phosphorus and nitrogen).[21] By now, the concept of planetary boundaries had gained significant international media attention and was covered in, among others, the Economist[22] and National Geographic.[23]

In 2022, they concluded that the novel entity boundary has been exceeded.[24]

In 2023, scientists assessed all nine planetary boundaries for the first time. They found that six of these boundaries have been crossed, with four of them posing a high risk. Additional to the crossed boundaries assessed in 2015, the freshwater change and novel entities boundaries have been crossed.[25] A new study also shows the broad impact that the Planetary Boundaries framework has on society and science.[26]

In 2025, a seventh boundary, ocean acidification, was confirmed as transgressed as well. [27]

Development studies scholars have been critical of aspects of the framework, arguing that its adoption could place burdens on the Global South. Proposals to conserve a certain proportion of Earth's remaining forests can be seen as rewarding the countries such as those in Europe that have already economically benefitted from exhausting their forests and converting land for agriculture. In contrast, countries that have yet to industrialize are asked to make sacrifices for global environmental damage they may have had little role in creating.[28]

Breaking Boundaries documentary

In 2021 Netflix released the documentary film Breaking Boundaries: the Science of Our Planet, directed by Jonathan Clay and presented by Sir David Attenborough and Johan Rockström. The 75-minute production follows the scientific journey of Rockström and his team's discovery of the nine planetary boundaries.[29] Alongside the film's release, a book of the same name was published, with a foreword from Greta Thunberg.[30]

The Planetary Health Diet

The Planetary Health Diet is a flexitarian diet developed by the EAT-Lancet Commission as part of a report released in The Lancet on 16 January 2019. Stockholm Resilience Centre was the scientific coordinator of the report.[31]

The aim of the planetary health diet is to create new dietary paradigms to:[32]

  • Feed a world's population of 10 billion people in 2050
  • Greatly reduce the worldwide number of deaths caused by poor diet
  • Be environmentally sustainable as to prevent the collapse of the natural world

The report promotes diets consisting of a variety of plant-based foods, with low amounts of animal-based foods, refined grains, highly processed foods, and added sugars, and with unsaturated rather than saturated fats.[31]

While the report received significant media coverage, including features in the Guardian,[33] CNN[34] and BBC,[35] it was also criticized on social media for advocating eating less meat.[36] Later on, it was found that this critique was part of a concerted campaign started by pro-meat advocates a few days ahead of the launch of the report.[37]

Doing business within Planetary Boundaries

The report “Doing business within Planetary Boundaries” was launched in 2024 by the Stockholm Resilience Centre.[38] It was presented at Norrsken, Europes biggest hub for tech and impact, in Barcelona.[39] The report provides a tool that allows businesses to report their environmental impacts more accurately and with less effort. To do this the report presents two variables:

  • Essential Environmental Impact Variables (EEIVs): assess the most important environmental impacts of companies in a standardized manner (what, where and how much impact)
  • Earth System Impact score (ESI): a science-based tool to investigate companies impact beyond the primary focus of carbon

Other

  • Stockholm Resilience Centre is the co-founder and a scientific partner of SeaBOS, a partnership between the world's ten largest seafood companies that aims to make the industry more sustainable.[40]
  • The centre has hosted two international science conferences on resilience and sustainability in 2008[41] and 2017.[42]
  • In 2011 it hosted the third Nobel Laureate Symposium on global sustainability together with the Royal Swedish  Academy of Sciences, Stockholm Environment Institute, the Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics, and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.[43]
  • In 2021 the first Nobel Prize Summit was hosted by the Nobel Foundation and organised by the US National Academy of Sciences in partnership with the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Stockholm Resilience Centre/Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics.[44]

Specialist programmes

  • Global Resilience Partnership[45]
  • SwedBio[46]

References

  1. ↑ "About us – Stockholm Resilience Centre" (in en). 2 December 2007. http://stockholmresilience.org/about-us.html. 
  2. ↑ "New Mission" (in en). 2 September 2020. https://www.stockholmresilience.org/news--events/general-news/2020-09-02-centre-launches-new-vison-and-mission.html. 
  3. ↑ Global Economic Dynamics and the Biosphere: Funders and Partners – Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
  4. ↑ OECD (2013) Green Growth in Stockholm, Sweden page 68, OECD Publishing. ISBN 9789264195158.
  5. ↑ "SeaBOS" (in en-US). https://seabos.org/. 
  6. ↑ "Roots of resilience". https://www.stockholmresilience.org/about-us/our-story.html. 
  7. ↑ "Stockholm Resilience Centre introduces new leadership group". https://www.stockholmresilience.org/news--events/general-news/2018-06-08-stockholm-resilience-centre-introduces-new-leadership-group.html#:~:text=Current%20deputy%20director%2C%20associate%20professor%20Line%20Gordon%20has,as%20new%20chair%20of%20the%20centre%E2%80%99s%20governing%20board.. 
  8. ↑ "International Science Advisory Council – Stockholm Resilience Centre" (in en). 4 May 2019. https://www.stockholmresilience.org/about-us/strategic-advisory-councils/international-science-advisory-council.html. 
  9. ↑ "International advisory board – Stockholm Resilience Centre" (in en). 6 November 2017. https://www.stockholmresilience.org/about-us/strategic-advisory-councils/international-advisory-board.html. 
  10. ↑ "Highly Cited Researchers 2024: Explore the list". https://clarivate.com/highly-cited-researchers/. 
  11. ↑ "Centre researchers among most cited in the world". https://www.stockholmresilience.org/news--events/general-news/2024-11-21-centre-researchers-among-most-cited-in-the-world.html. 
  12. ↑ "The human ocean" (in en). 12 December 2020. https://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/research-themes/ocean.html. 
  13. ↑ "Food for resilience" (in en). 12 December 2020. https://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/research-themes/food.html. 
  14. ↑ "Anthropocene dynamics" (in en). 12 December 2020. https://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/research-themes/anthropocene-dynamics.html. 
  15. ↑ "Resilience and sustainable development" (in en). 12 December 2020. https://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/research-themes/development.html. 
  16. ↑ "Interacting Complexities" (in en). 12 December 2020. https://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/research-themes/interacting-complexities.html. 
  17. ↑ "Stewardship and transformative futures" (in en). 12 December 2020. https://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/research-themes/stewardship-transformation.html. 
  18. ↑ "Resilience thinking and transformative business leadership" (in en). https://executive.stockholmresilience.org/. 
  19. ↑ "Education" (in en). 26 April 2012. https://www.stockholmresilience.org/education.html. 
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Rockström, Johan; Steffen, Will; Noone, Kevin; Persson, Åsa; Chapin, F. Stuart; Lambin, Eric F.; Lenton, Timothy M.; Scheffer, Marten et al. (2009-09-01). "A safe operating space for humanity". Nature 461 (7263): 472–475. doi:10.1038/461472a. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 19779433. Bibcode: 2009Natur.461..472R. 
  21. ↑ "Planetary Boundaries - an update" (in en). 15 January 2015. https://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/research-news/2015-01-15-planetary-boundaries---an-update.html. 
  22. ↑ "Boundary conditions". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2012/06/16/boundary-conditions. 
  23. ↑ "Earth's Dashboard Is Flashing Red—Are Enough People Listening?" (in en). 2015-02-02. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/150202-climate-science-public-opinion-evidence-global-warming. 
  24. ↑ Persson, Linn; Carney Almroth, Bethanie M.; Collins, Christopher D.; Cornell, Sarah; de Wit, Cynthia A.; Diamond, Miriam L.; Fantke, Peter; Hassellöv, Martin et al. (2022-01-18). "Outside the Safe Operating Space of the Planetary Boundary for Novel Entities". Environmental Science & Technology 56 (3): 1510–1521. doi:10.1021/acs.est.1c04158. ISSN 0013-936X. PMID 35038861. PMC 8811958. Bibcode: 2022EnST...56.1510P. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c04158. 
  25. ↑ Richardson, Katherine (13 September 2023). "Earth beyond six of nine planetary boundaries". Science Advances 9 (37). doi:10.1126/sciadv.adh2458. 
  26. ↑ Rockström, Johan (8 November 2024). "Planetary Boundaries guide humanity's future on Earth". Nature Reviews Earth & Environment 5 (11): 773–788. doi:10.1038/s43017-024-00597-z. 
  27. ↑ https://www.stockholmresilience.org/news--events/general-news/2025-09-24-seven-of-nine-planetary-boundaries-now-breached.html
  28. ↑ Biermann, Frank; Kim, Rakhyun E. (2020-10-17). "The Boundaries of the Planetary Boundary Framework: A Critical Appraisal of Approaches to Define a "Safe Operating Space" for Humanity". Annual Review of Environment and Resources 45 (1): 497–521. doi:10.1146/annurev-environ-012320-080337. ISSN 1543-5938. 
  29. ↑ "New Netflix documentary brings the planetary boundaries to the world" (in en). 30 April 2021. https://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/research-news/2021-04-30-new-netflix-documentary-brings-the-planetary-boundaries-to-the-world.html. 
  30. ↑ Gaffney, Owen (2021). Breaking boundaries : the science of our planet. Johan Rockström, Greta Thunberg (First American ed.). New York, NY. ISBN 978-0-241-46675-9. OCLC 1142324134. 
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 "The planetary health diet" (in en). 17 January 2019. https://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/research-news/2019-01-17-the-planetary-health-diet.html. 
  32. ↑ "What is the planetary health diet?" (in en). https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/what-is-the-planetary-health-diet. 
  33. ↑ "New plant-focused diet would 'transform' planet's future, say scientists" (in en). 2019-01-16. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/16/new-plant-focused-diet-would-transform-planets-future-say-scientists. 
  34. ↑ Nina Avramova (16 January 2019). "This diet could help save lives, and the planet". https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/16/health/new-diet-to-save-lives-and-planet-health-study-intl/index.html. 
  35. ↑ "A bit of meat, a lot of veg - the flexitarian diet to feed 10bn" (in en-GB). BBC News. 2019-01-17. https://www.bbc.com/news/health-46865204. 
  36. ↑ Crampton, Liz (18 January 2019). "Lancet report opens fresh debate about meat" (in en). https://politi.co/2Fzc9JE. 
  37. ↑ Garcia, David; Galaz, Victor; Daume, Stefan (2019-12-14). "EATLancet vs yes2meat: the digital backlash to the planetary health diet" (in English). The Lancet 394 (10215): 2153–2154. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(19)32526-7. ISSN 0140-6736. PMID 31780094. 
  38. ↑ Crona, Beatrice. "Doing Business Within Planetary Boundaries". Stockholm Resilience Centre and Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics. https://www.stockholmresilience.org/download/18.70974969192bd3915f9a117/1730893682320/Doing%20business%20within%20Planetary%20Boundaries.pdf. 
  39. ↑ "Barcelona". https://www.norrsken.org/houses/barcelona. 
  40. ↑ "SeaBOS" (in en-US). https://seabos.org/. 
  41. ↑ "PRESS INVITATION: Welcome to the first major International Conference on Resilience" (in sv). April 2008. https://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/su/pressreleases/press-invitation-welcome-to-the-first-major-international-conference-on-resilience-205196. 
  42. ↑ "Stockholm Resilience Centre" (in en-US). http://www.mistrareport2017.org/en/project/stockholm-resilience-centre/. 
  43. ↑ Folke, Carl; Rockström, Johan (November 2011). "3rd Nobel Laureate Symposium on Global Sustainability: Transforming the World in an Era of Global Change". Ambio 40 (7): 717–718. doi:10.1007/s13280-011-0190-0. ISSN 0044-7447. PMID 22338711. 
  44. ↑ "Nobel Prize Summit - Our Planet, Our Future" (in en-US). https://www.nobelprize.org/events/nobel-prize-summit/2021/. 
  45. ↑ "Global Resilience partnership". https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/partners-2/. Retrieved 2020-11-04. 
  46. ↑ "SwedBio". http://swed.bio. Retrieved 2017-04-28. 



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