Amin Rastandeh

Research

     My research is at the nexus of spatial planning/design, biodiversity conservation, climate change, and GIS. I integrate field-collected data with geo-spatial modeling tools, methods, and approaches to better understand pattern-process relationships in the face of the climate crisis across various spatial scales, from small towns to ecoregions. Details are available in my Google Scholar.

     I work for the Division of Strategic Sustainability Studies in the Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science & Engineering at KTH - Royal Institute of Technology, where I collaborated with Sara Borgström from KTH and Erik Andersson from the University of Helsinki in the project Mistra Sport & Outdoors (MSO) – Theme 3: Sustainable Use of Land and Water. I was the study leader of Recreation Ecology of Norra Järvafältet – Data Collection and Geospatial Modeling. The aim of this study was to develop a new method of Public Participatory GIS to understand how, where, when, and why people use peri-urban landscapes for outdoor recreation in areas of ecological importance for biodiversity conservation. For details on the conceptual framework of this study, see ourPerspectivein Nature-Based Solutions.

     Currently, I examine the feasibility of applying large-scale land-sharing and land-sparing strategies for biodiversity conservation in the wildland-urban interface to measure the interactions and feedback among recreation, conservation, food production, and urbanization. The results of this work have the potential to be used by landscape architects, spatial planners, and environmental managers.

     I received my PhD from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, where I modeled and measured the potential role of landscape composition and configuration in safeguarding indigenous wildlife species against the impacts of climate change in urban New Zealand applying a mixed-method research approach.

     Before joining KTH, I worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of South Dakota, where my primary role was to map, model, and analyze the relationship of landscape social values to anthropogenic and biophysical factors across rural and urban landscapes of the Upper Missouri River Basin using environmental, climate-change, wildlife, social, and land-cover data.

Teaching

     I currently teach two courses, in collaboration with my colleagues:

• Project Sustainable Urban Planning - Assessments, Plans and Processes (AG2809)
• Resilience Thinking in Sustainable Planning (AL2511)

     My teaching is research-led. I have worked with a variety of students of different backgrounds and have used a wide spectrum of learning tools and methods, accordingly. I have experience in teaching in-person, online, and hybrid courses, including field-based and large-scale studio classes.

Supervision

     I am willing to supervise and provide mentorship to undergraduate and postgraduate students whose research interests are related to the following topics:

• Reconciliation Ecology (Conservation vs. Food-Water-Recreation-Urbanization Nexus)
• Land-Use Analysis for Biodiversity Conservation
• Land-Use Preferences and Landscape Social Values
• Alternative Futures for Complex Landscapes

Recently Supervised Master Thesis Projects

• Wallner, Clara. (2025). Cities and Protected Areas in Urban Regions: A Spatial Analysis of Global Case Studies.
• Xiong, Siqi. (2024). Mapping Environmental Justice in Access to Urban Green Spaces: A Spatial Exploration among Various Demographic Groups in Stockholm Region.

Keywords

Reconciliation Ecology ● Landscape Architecture ● Green-Blue Infrastructure ● Human-Environmental Interactions ● Biodiversity ● Land-sharing ● Land-sparing ● Citizen Science ● Geographic Information Systems ● Climate Change

SDGs

Life on Land; Climate Action; Sustainable Cities & Communities