Photo: R. Kautsky/Azote
Freshwater is the bloodstream of the biosphere and vital for all life on land.
Malin Falkenmark
In the Anthropocene, freshwater is facing significant challenges.
The 2023 update to the planetary boundaries framework revealed that all forms of freshwater, including blue water from rivers, lakes, and groundwater, as well as green water in the form of root-zone soil moisture, are no longer within the Earth system's feasible conditions. This change is being manifested in more extreme floods and droughts, while the over-fertilisation and waste water deposition into water resources by humans is driving pollution. This overuse of local and regional water resources are increasingly threatening the livelihoods of billions of people, as well as endangering ecosystems and biodiversity, and putting global land carbon sinks at risk. Additionally, frozen water, i.e., the cryosphere, including ice sheets, sea ice, mountain glaciers, snow, and permafrost, is degrading rapidly that threaten to accelerate sea level rise, undermine water security, and destabilize the Earth’s energy balance.
At Stockholm Resilience Centre, our research focuses on understanding how to foster water resilience in social-ecological systems at local and global scales. This is particularly important where freshwater — from lakes, wetlands and estuaries to ice, snow, clouds and soil moisture — is closely linked with food systems, urban and rural communities, agriculture and forestry, and Earth system resilience.
Our work explores a range of topics that are key to building a resilient and sustainable water future. We investigate the planetary boundaries for green, blue and frozen water, using this scientific understanding to guide effective action. Our research on knowledge co-production, governance, and policy interdependencies helps us find collaborative solutions to adapt and transform in the face of change. This includes advancing our understanding of complex interacting shocks and resilience losses that are teleconnected globally through both biophysical and socioeconomic flows, such as those embodied in international trade and atmospheric moisture fluxes. We look at how situations with conflicts can transform into opportunities for collaboration, and how plural values guide planning with future pathways. We are working on new approaches to urban water resilience, exploring how equity and informal systems can support essential needs such as safe access to clean water.
Key publications
- Johan Rockström, Malin Falkenmark, Carl Folke et al., Water Resilience for Human Prosperity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014). https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/water-resilience-for-human-prosperity/DE1D169AA5890214AA8B76890A2B4BBA
- Ahlström, H., Hileman, J.,Wang-Erlandsson, L., Mancilla-García, M., Moore, M-L., Jonas, K., Pranindita, A., Kuiper J.J., Fetzer, I., Jaramillo, J., Svedin, U., (2021) An Earth system law perspective on governing social-hydrological systems in the Anthropocene. Earth System Governance, 10, 100120. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589811621000240
- Moore M-L, Wang-Erlandsson L, Bodin Ö, et al (2024) Moving from fit to fitness for governing water in the Anthropocene. Nat Water 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-024-00257-y
- García, M.M. and Bodin, Ö., 2019. Participatory water basin councils in Peru and Brazil: expert discourses as means and barriers to inclusion. Global Environmental Change, 55, pp.139-148.
- Olsson, P., Gunderson, L.H., Carpenter, S.R., Ryan, P., Lebel, L., Folke, C. and Holling, C.S., 2006. Shooting the rapids: navigating transitions to adaptive governance of social-ecological systems. Ecology and society, 11(1),
- Rockström, J., Falkenmark, M., Allan, T., Folke, C., Gordon, L., Jägerskog, A., Kummu, M., Lannerstad, M., Meybeck, M., Molden, D. and Postel, S., 2014. The unfolding water drama in the Anthropocene: towards a resilience‐based perspective on water for global sustainability. Ecohydrology, 7(5), pp.1249-1261,
- Gunderson, L.H., Carpenter, S.R., Folke, C., Olsson, P. and Peterson, G., 2006. Water RATs (resilience, adaptability, and transformability) in lake and wetland social-ecological systems. Ecology and Society, 11(1).
- Falkenmark, M., Wang-Erlandsson, L., Rockström, J. (2019): Understanding of Water Resilience in the Anthropocene, J. Hydrol. X 2, 100009.
- Keys, P. W., van der Ent, R. J., Gordon, L. J., Hoff, H., Nikoli, R., and Savenije, H. H. G.: Analyzing precipitationsheds to understand the vulnerability of rainfall dependent regions, Biogeosciences, 9, 733–746, 2012.
- Wang-Erlandsson, L., Tobian, A., van der Ent, R.J., Fetzer, I., te Wierik, S., Porkka, M., Staal, A., Jaramillo, F., Dahlmann, H., Singh, C., Greve, P., Gerten, D., Keys, P.W., Gleeson, T., Cornell, S.E., Steffen, W., Bai, X., & Rockström, J. (2022) A planetary boundary for green water. Nat Rev Earth Environ 3, 380–392.
Important initatives
The Global Commission on the Economics of Water
IPBES Nexus Assessment on biodiversity, water, food, and health
The International Moisture Recycling Research Network (IMRRN)
IACS Working Group on Cryosphere Stewardship
International Cryosphere Climate Initiative (ICCI)
Contact us
info@stockholmresilience.su.se
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Freshwater projects
Key publications about Freshwater
Johan Rockström, Malin Falkenmark, Carl Folke et al., Water Resilience for Human Prosperity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014). https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/water-resilience-for-human-prosperity/DE1D169AA5890214AA8B76890A2B4BBA
Ahlström, H., Hileman, J.,Wang-Erlandsson, L., Mancilla-García, M., Moore, M-L., Jonas, K., Pranindita, A., Kuiper J.J., Fetzer, I., Jaramillo, J., Svedin, U., (2021) An Earth system law perspective on governing social-hydrological systems in the Anthropocene. Earth System Governance, 10, 100120. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589811621000240
Moore M-L, Wang-Erlandsson L, Bodin Ö, et al (2024) Moving from fit to fitness for governing water in the Anthropocene. Nat Water 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-024-00257-y
García, M.M. and Bodin, Ö., 2019. Participatory water basin councils in Peru and Brazil: expert discourses as means and barriers to inclusion. Global Environmental Change, 55, pp.139-148.
Olsson, P., Gunderson, L.H., Carpenter, S.R., Ryan, P., Lebel, L., Folke, C. and Holling, C.S., 2006. Shooting the rapids: navigating transitions to adaptive governance of social-ecological systems. Ecology and society, 11(1)
Rockström, J., Falkenmark, M., Allan, T., Folke, C., Gordon, L., Jägerskog, A., Kummu, M., Lannerstad, M., Meybeck, M., Molden, D. and Postel, S., 2014. The unfolding water drama in the Anthropocene: towards a resilience‐based perspective on water for global sustainability. Ecohydrology, 7(5), pp.1249-1261,
Gunderson, L.H., Carpenter, S.R., Folke, C., Olsson, P. and Peterson, G., 2006. Water RATs (resilience, adaptability, and transformability) in lake and wetland social-ecological systems. Ecology and Society, 11(1).
Falkenmark, M., Wang-Erlandsson, L., Rockström, J. (2019): Understanding of Water Resilience in the Anthropocene, J. Hydrol. X 2, 100009.
Keys, P. W., van der Ent, R. J., Gordon, L. J., Hoff, H., Nikoli, R., and Savenije, H. H. G.: Analyzing precipitationsheds to understand the vulnerability of rainfall dependent regions, Biogeosciences, 9, 733–746, 2012.
Wang-Erlandsson, L., Tobian, A., van der Ent, R.J., Fetzer, I., te Wierik, S., Porkka, M., Staal, A., Jaramillo, F., Dahlmann, H., Singh, C., Greve, P., Gerten, D., Keys, P.W., Gleeson, T., Cornell, S.E., Steffen, W., Bai, X., & Rockström, J. (2022) A planetary boundary for green water. Nat Rev Earth Environ 3, 380–392.
