Overview
Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics is an international research institute established in 1977 and hosted under the auspices of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, Sweden. It was reorganised in 1991 to focus explicitly on ecological economics, exploring the complex interactions between ecological systems and economic development. The institute draws on interdisciplinary science to better understand sustainability challenges in the Anthropocene era.
Mission and focus areas
The institute’s mission is to promote deeper understanding of how ecological systems and social-economic development interact, with sustainability as its core concern. It fosters collaboration between economists, ecologists and other scientific disciplines to generate insights into environmental change, resource use and sustainable development. Research themes include urban social-ecological systems, aquaculture and sustainable seafood, behavioural economics in nature, as well as governance, technology and complexity. This work contributes to sustainability science and has implications for policy discussions around resource management, climate resilience and sustainable economic frameworks.
Structure and governance
The institute operates under the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, with funding support from sources such as the Kjell and Märta Beijer Foundation. It is led by a director, with Professor Emily Boyd appointed as the incoming director in 2025, succeeding Carl Folke. The governance framework includes an international scientific advisory board and a board of academics and fellows connected to the institute, enabling global scholarly exchange and strategic direction.
Programs and offerings
Beijer Institute runs international research programmes, hosts the annual Askö meetings—informal workshops for leading ecologists and economists—and operates the Beijer Young Scholars network to support early career researchers. It also offers courses, seminars and training opportunities related to sustainability science. The institute publishes research findings, annual reports and collaborates on global scientific initiatives, contributing valuable interdisciplinary knowledge resources for academics, policymakers and sustainability practitioners.
Aims and vision
Humanity is embedded in the Biosphere and shape it from local to global scales, from the past to the future. At the same time humanity is fundamentally dependent on the capacity of the Biosphere to sustain development.
With this overall perspective, the Beijer Institute strives to create research frontiers at the interface of ecology, economics and related disciplines, in order to promote a deeper understanding of the interplay between ecological systems and social and economic development in relation to sustainability.
