Editor’s choice
Editor’s choice
Eeva Primmer is the next Executive Director of Stockholm Environment Institute, bringing more than 25 years of leadership and research experience at the intersection of science, policy and practice. She will take up the role from May 2026.
Eeva comes to SEI from the Finnish Environment Institute (Syke), where she has served as Research Director since 2019. In that role, she has been responsible for the quality, integrity and impact of Syke’s research, and has led cross-cutting work on societal change and the quality of information – helping ensure that research supports policy and implementation in meaningful ways, and advances sustainability transformation.
Solving sustainability challenges requires rigorous knowledge production about how people, organizations, institutions and processes work, alongside a deepening understanding of ecosystems and the environment. We need genuine integration of these knowledge streams to better support decision-making.
Eeva Primmer
Alongside her institutional leadership, she has played an active role in international science–policy processes. She is a Bureau Member of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and a Panel Member of the UNEP International Resource Panel (IRP). Through this work, she has helped shape global conversations on biodiversity, resource governance and sustainability, focusing on how research can best support decision-making.
Eeva combines extensive leadership experience with scientific excellence and has strong expertise in evidence-based decision making and international science-policy processes. In these turbulent times, she is the right person to lead SEI on our continued journey of bridging science, policy and practice.
Lennart Båge, Chair of the SEI Board
Originally trained in forestry, Primmer holds a PhD in Agriculture and Forestry from the University of Helsinki and is an adjunct professor (Docent) of Environmental Policy. Her research spans environmental governance, ecosystem services, biodiversity and natural resource management, with particular attention to how institutions and organizations adapt to complex environmental challenges.
Ulrika Lamberth, Senior Press Officer, SEI, [email protected], + 46 73 801 70 53
Press release / New SEI modelling shows Ukraine can reach climate neutrality by 2050, but needs to invest roughly EUR 550 billion more in decarbonization.
Feature / Key insights from a new SEI report on wastewater in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with author Daniel Ddiba.
Journal article / This article explores gender-differentiated lived experiences of fisherfolk in a changing climate in Kurigram, Bangladesh.
