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Prof. Malin Falkenmark

Prof. Falkenmark is an outstanding environmental scientist and synthesiser. Her deepest interests lie in the linkages between humans, land and water, particularly as they relate to water scarcity in developing countries. A globally renowned expert in water issues, she currently serves as Senior Scientific Advisor to the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI). As Senior Scientific Advisor, Prof. Falkenmark is a leading contributor to the institute’s scientific agenda. She is an active author, lecturer and advocate on behalf of SIWI and the issues it works with.

From 1991- 2003, she was also Chair of the Scientific Program Committee for the Stockholm Water Symposium/World Water Week in Stockholm. There, she helped establish the annual August meeting on global water issues as a leading conference for increasing capacity, promoting partnership and improving future policy implementation among those working in the water, environment and human development fields.

Previous Experience

After 12 years working at the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute as an expert on freshwater ice and contaminant dispersion in freshwater bodies, Prof. Falkenmark spent most of her scientific career as full time Executive Secretary of the National Committee for Unesco's International Hydrological Decade/Programme housed by the Natural Science Research Council of Sweden. This position and her own research made her internationally well-known and highly respected.

Prof. Falkenmark is a future-oriented scientist and a pioneer of interdisciplinary environmental and water research. To date her impressive body of work includes some 400 publications. During her career she has introduced two broadly used concepts: the water scarcity indicator/water crowding, and the concepts green and blue water. Her particular interests are interdisciplinary; with focus placed on regional similarity and difference, especially in the areas of water scarcity, land/water/ecosystem linkages, and their policy implications.

Dr. Falkenmark has also held numerous high level posts on international boards and committees. She is frequently invited as key speaker to international conferences and symposia, which have included two organised by the World Academies of Sciences. Some of these posts include: Rapporteur General of the United Nations Water Conference Mar del Plata (1997); World Bank Consultant with special responsibility regarding the looming water scarcity (1988-92); member of the UN Committee on Energy and Natural Resources for Development; Scientific Advisor to the Global Environment Facility and the Comprehensive Freshwater Assessment of the World; and member of the UN Millennium Project Task Force for Environmental Sustainability.

Key Current and Previous Projects and/or Publications

Professor Falkenmark’s impressive body of publications can be generalised into four main topics of interest: looming water scarcity, human/land/water/environment linkages, bridge-building to political sciences, bridge-building to other natural sciences (chemistry, ecology, agriculture), and policy-oriented issues. Some of her works include:

Co-authored (together with Gunnar Lindh) the book “Vatten åt en svältande värld” (Nature och Kultur 1975), translated into English for the UN Water Conference in Mar del Plata, published as “Water for a Starving World” (Westview Press 1976)
Within UNESCO’s International Hydrology Programme she initiated and co-edited (with Tom Chapman) the textbook “Comparative Hydrology” (UNESCO 1979).
Within the Global Water Partnership she initiated a study on how to enter the protection of vital ecosystems into IWRM, published in 2003 as “Water Management and Ecosystems. Living with Change” (TEC Background papers No 9)
In 2003, she co-edited, together with Professor Carl Folke, a special issue of The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. Biological Sciences on “Freshwater and Welfare Fragility. Syndromes, Vulnerabilities and Challenges” (Vol. 358, No 1440).
In 2004, she co-authored together with Dr. Johan Rockström the ecohydrological synthesis “Balancing Water for Humans and Nature. The New Approach in Ecohydrology” (Earthscan Publications). (1975) the latter in Technology (2005)

Professional Affiliations, Registrations and Honours

In 1976, Prof. Falkenmark led the planning and development of the Department for Water and Environment Studies at Linköping University, where she later served as Guest Professor. After her formal retirement in 1991, she remains connected to the Department of Systems Ecology at Stockholm University as a Professor of Applied and International Hydrology. In 2007, she joined the Stockholm Resilience Center as a guest professor. Prof. Falkenmark has been distinguished with multiple international awards including:

Recognition as a Global 500 Laureate
Recipient of the 2005 Great Prize of the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm
Recipient of the 1998 Volvo Environmental Prize (shared with Prof. David Schindler, Canada
Recipient of the European Geophysical Society 2005 Henry Darcy Medal
Recipient of the 2005 Crystal Drop Award of the International Water Resources Association
Conferred by the universities of Linköping and Lund Doctor’s degree Honoris Causa, the former in Philosophy