Malin

Jonell

PhD

Researcher

malin.jonell@su.se

+46 70 487 79 92

RSS-link

Profile summary

  • Food system governance
  • Corporate biosphere stewardship
  • Value chains & eco-certification
  • Sustainability indicators
  • Blue food

Malin Jonell’s work focuses on food system governance, with a particular emphasis on the role of mid-value chain actors, such as food retailers, in driving systemic change.

Jonell is a researcher at the Stockholm Resilience Centre and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Her research centers around sustainable food production and consumption. She looks specifically at the potential role of markets, trade and the private sector in driving positive change in local and global food systems.

Jonell leads projects on leveraging supermarkets for sustainable food systems (ReSus), improving private sector sustainability indicators (CAPS), and advancing sustainable blue food strategies in Sweden and Japan. Her work examines the effectiveness of existing initiatives and explores opportunities for collaboration and relational approaches in the food and blue food sectors. She also co-leads work in Mistra Food Futures on next-generation indicators to guide food system performance.

At the Stockholm Resilience Centre, she co-leads the Transformative futures research theme. Her publications include articles and book chapters in leading journals such as Nature, Nature Communications, Environmental Research Letters, and The Lancet. She serves on the editorial board of Environmental Research: Food Systems.

Malin Jonell holds an MSc in Marine Ecotoxicology and a PhD in Systems Ecology from Stockholm University. As a postdoc with the EAT-Lancet Commission (2016–2019), she helped define scientific targets for sustainable food production and healthy diets. Jonell was part of the core team behind the Blue Food Assessment, launched in 2021 to inform the role of blue foods in future food systems.

She co-leads the course module Corporations and Sustainable Development in the Anthropocene II in Sustainability Science II at Stockholm University. Jonell is a regular lecturer in courses at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Karolinska Institutet.

A strong advocate for science communication, Jonell frequently speaks at industry events and appears in media to share insights with practitioners and the public. Some recent examples include a webinar organised by Svensk Dagligvaruhandel and an interview with Now This on the role of blue food in future sustainable diets. She also serves on the scientific council of Questionmark, NL.

Current funding

  • Formas: Dnr 2020-00862
  • Formas: Dnr 2021-02327
  • Formas: Dnr 2023-01805
  • Mistra Food Futures (DIA 2018/24 #8)

Awards and achievements

  • Early career research grant from Swedish Research Council Formas, 2020: Seafood in Japan and Sweden - alternative pathways to sustainability
  • Research grant from Swedish Research Council Formas, 2021: ‘ReSus’ Retail for Sustainability - Mid-value chain engagement for food system transformation
  • Research grant from Swedish Research Council Formas, 2023: CAPS - Climate Action through Product Sustainability in the Food System
  • Östersjöakuten award 2022

Supervision

Abigayil Blandon

PhD

Main supervisor

Astrid Mohss

MSc

Main supervisor


Key publications


Blandon, A., M. Jonell, H. Ishihara, and A. Zabala. 2025. What does “sustainable seafood” mean to seafood system actors in Japan and Sweden? Ambio.

Jonell, M., M. Phillips, P. Rönnbäck, M., Troell. “Eco-Certification of Farmed Seafood: Will It Make a Difference?” Ambio 42(6):659–74.

Jonell, M., Tlusty, M.F., Troell, M., Rönnbäck, P., 2019. Certifying farmed seafood. In: Vogt, M. (Ed.), Sustainability Certification Schemes in the Agricultural and Natural Resource Sectors: Outcomes for Society and the Environment. Routledge, New York, pp. 157–178. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203701737-7.

Crona, B. I., E. Wassénius, M. Jonell, J. Z. Koehn, R. Short, M. Tigchelaar, T. M. Daw, C. D. Golden, J. A. Gephart, E. H. Allison, S. R. Bush, L. Cao, W. W. L. Cheung, and F. Declerck. 2023. Four ways blue foods can help achieve food system ambitions across nations. Nature 616, 104-113

Lindahl, T. and Jonell, M. 2020. Methods for changing dietary habits. The Consumer Authority, Background Report 2020:4.

Publications by Jonell, Malin

Reframing the local-global food systems debate through a resilience lens

Journal / article | 2023

Wood, Amanda, Queiroz, Cibele, Deutsch, Lisa, Gonzalez-Mon, Blanca, Jonell, Malin, Pereira, Laura, Sinare, Hanna, Svedin, Uno, Wassenius, Emmy. 2023. Reframing the local-global food systems debate through a resilience lens. Nature Food. https://doi.org/10.1038/S43016-022-00662-0

Despite the growing knowledge that food system solutions should account for interactions and drivers across scales, broader societal debate on how to solve food system challenges is often focused on two dichotomous perspectives and associated solutions: either more localized food systems or greater global coordination of food systems. The debate has found problematic expressions in contemporary challenges, prompting us to revi...

A rebalanced discussion of the roles of livestock in society

Journal / article | 2023

Iryna Herzon, Rachel Mazac, Maijaliisa Erkkola, Tara Garnett, Helena Hansson, Minna Kaljonen, Teea Kortetmäki, Annika Lonkila, Malin Jonell, Mari Helena Niva, Anne-Maria Pajari, Theresa Margarete Tribaldos, Marjaana Toivonen, Hanna L. Tuomisto, Kari Koppelmäki, Elin Röös. 2023. A rebalanced discussion of the roles of livestock in society. Nature food. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-023-00866-y

The many roles of animals in modern agriculture and food systems have come under considerable scrutiny in the context of sustainability. A recent Correspondence1 presented The Dublin Declaration of scientists, outlining the societal roles of meat, as well as the key messages aimed to rebalance contemporary debates on the role of meat and livestock (first presented in a special issue on the same topic that accompanied the Decla...

Strong and weak sustainability in Nordic aquaculture policies

Journal / article | 2022

Luthman, O., Jonell, M., Rönnbäck, P., Troell, M. 2022. Strong and weak sustainability in Nordic aquaculture policies. Aquaculture. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2021.737841

In this paper, we critically analyze how sustainability is considered in aquaculture policies and strategies using the Nordic countries as a case. The strong versus weak sustainability concepts are used to define and clarify what sustainability aspects are central to each state. To illustrate these concepts further, we draw on and modify four mainstream environmental discourses defined by John Dryzek and apply them to the stro...

Blue food demand across geographic and temporal scales

Journal / article | 2021

Naylor, R., Kishore, A., Sumaila, U., Issifu, I., Hunter, B., Belton, B., Bush, S., Cao, L., Gelcich, S., Gephart, J., Golden, C., Jonell, M., Koehn, J., Little, D., Thilsted, S., Tigchelaar, M., Crona, B.. 2021. Blue food demand across geographic and temporal scales. Nature Communications. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-25516-4

Numerous studies have focused on the need to expand production of ‘blue foods’, defined as aquatic foods captured or cultivated in marine and freshwater systems, to meet rising population- and income-driven demand. Here we analyze the roles of economic, demographic, and geographic factors and preferences in shaping blue food demand, using secondary data from FAO and The World Bank, parameters from published models, and case st...