Carl Folke

Carl Folke is a systems thinker in integrative science for sustainability, recognized for his work on social-ecological systems, resilience thinking and biosphere stewardship. Professor Folke is former Director of the Beijer Institute, and Founder and Chair of the Scientific Committee of the Anthropocene Laboratory at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and Founder and Chair of the Board of the Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Sweden. He has degrees in both economics and ecology, defended his PhD 1990 on the role of life-supporting ecosystems for social and economic development and became full professor 1996 in natural resource management. Folke has a long record of science, policy, and practice collaboration, working with key actors from local landscapes to international bodies and transnational corporations. He has served as advisor to research institutes in e.g. Europe, North America, South America, South Africa, and Japan. and is genuinely engaged in the arts-science interface. He has received international recognitions, like the Planet and Humanity Medal, the Gunnerus Sustainability Science Award, the Heineken Prize for Environmental Sciences, the Grande Médaille Albert I Monaco, and HM The King of Sweden’s Medal with the ribbon of the Order of the Seraphim. He is elected member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.