Wallenberg-funded project to boost Sweden’s forest climate adaptation
KTH Royal Institute of Technology and WaterCentre@KTH are joining a major new research initiative designed to strengthen the resilience of forest management in the face of a changing climate. The effort comes at a time when Swedish forests are increasingly exposed to climate-related pressures, including water-driven extreme events, heightened uncertainty and complex governance demands.
The consortium behind the initiative has received funding from the Wallenberg Foundations to address these challenges. Its aim is to generate new knowledge and practical innovations that can help Sweden’s forestry sector adapt to accelerating environmental change. The project – Resilient Innovation and Sustainable Knowledge for Swedish Forest Management in the Anthropocene – brings together researchers from Stockholm University’s Stockholm Resilience Centre, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Lund University and the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI).
At the heart of the work lies the Swedish Forest Management Approach (SFMA), the dominant model for managing the country’s forests. While SFMA underpins major economic and ecological values, questions are increasing over how well it can respond to emerging climate and environmental pressures. The project will therefore investigate vulnerabilities within the current system, identify hotspots of human-induced risk and develop policy recommendations aimed at strengthening long-term resilience. The findings are expected to support governance not only in Sweden but also in international forest-management contexts.
The funding is a welcome opportunity to link scientific research, policy development and on-the-ground forestry practice. The water challenges are becoming central to forest sustainability, and improving resilience will require coordinated action across institutions and sectors. The new project strengthens KTH’s synergy on forest-related issues within other ongoing projects at the Water Centre, for example the ReForMit project .
Project team
- Ingo Fetzer & Lan Wang-Erlandsson (Stockholm Resilience Centre)
- Zahra Kalantari & Sara Anamaghi (KTH)
- Anna Tengberg (SIWI & Lund University)
- Malin Lundberg Ingemarsson (SIWI)
Text: Åsa Karsberg