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Geopolitics, sustainability and change – and what do they mean for Sweden?

A new 58 million SEK programme, Mistra Geopolitics, will explore how politics, trade and resource issues, a changing climate, population and other geographical factors might interact with security at the international level – and what the implications for sustainable development are for a country like Sweden.

Caspar Trimmer / Published on 21 December 2016

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Måns Nilsson
Måns Nilsson

Executive Director

SEI Headquarters

Åsa Persson
Åsa Persson

Research Director and Deputy Director

SEI Headquarters

Robert Watt
Robert Watt

Engagement Director

SEI Headquarters

Profile picture of Magnus Benzie
Magnus Benzie

Senior Research Fellow

SEI Oxford

Nina Weitz
Nina Weitz

Team Leader: Global Goals and Systems; Senior Research Fellow

SEI Headquarters

Henrik Carlsen
Henrik Carlsen

Senior Research Fellow

SEI Headquarters

Profile picture of Björn-Ola Linnér
Björn-Ola Linnér

SEI Affiliated Researcher

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LEGO micro world map – built up. Source: dirkb86 via Flickr

“With looming resource scarcities, a transformed global political scene, and the unequally distributed impacts of environmental change, the relationships between geography, security and politics are going to need careful handling as we move towards a sustainable future”, said Karl Hallding, Senior Research Fellow at SEI.The main funding for the four-year programme comes from the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research (Mistra).

The programme’s director, SEI AssociateBjörn-Ola Linnér, a climate policy researcher and Professor at Linköping University, said: “The research programme will enable us to carry out advanced study of these complex challenges and identify opportunities for Swedish actors to contribute to welfare and global development.”

The multi-disciplinary research team behind Mistra Geopolitics reflects the complexity of geopolitical understanding. Led by SEI, it includes researchers from Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), and Linköping, Lund, Stockholm and Uppsala universities, along with the German research institute Adelphi and the UK’s E3G.

“We look forward to working together within this strong research consortium. Sweden and Swedish actors have unique opportunities to contribute to a sustainable global development, while strengthening Swedish competitiveness,” concluded Johan Kuylenstierna, Executive Director of SEI.

Geopolitics is a scientific field that brings together multiple disciplines to study the interaction between geography and international politics. Mistra Geopolitics will launch in early 2017.

About Mistra

The world faces major challenges associated with our environment, human use of natural resources and our impact on our surroundings. The Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research (Mistra) plays an active part in meeting these challenges by investing in the kind of research that helps to bring about sustainable development of society.

Read a project factsheet (PDF, 600 KB)

Read the project press release (in Swedish) »

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