Rikard Warlenius

My research interests revolve around challenges and opportunities in sustainability transitions, which I have examined from different perspectives, using different theoretical approaches and methods.

My doctoral thesis in human ecology at Lund University historicised, conceptualised and quantified concepts such as ecological debt and ecologically unequal exchange. The doctoral thesis was part of the EU-funded EJOLT project, which involved both academic institutions and environmental justice organisations.

After completing my doctorate, I participated in the research project Grassroots initiatives for Energy transition, funded by the Swedish Energy Agency and Formas (2020-2024). While working at the Department of Global Studies at the University of Gothenburg, I was involved in the development of a bachelor's programme in Sustainable Development, Social Change and Climate Change (HUSK).

I have a particular interest in critical perspectives on economic growth and degrowth, which has resulted in a book (Klimatet, tillväxten och kapitalismen, 2022) as well as book chapters and journal articles.

I am currently at the beginning of a new research project, Democracy and Controversy in the Green Transition: The Case of Critical Mineral Extraction in Sweden (MMW, 2025-2029), which examines Swedish cases of extraction for the green transition.

I supervise three PhD students that are all doing research on green transitions. One is within the Formas-funded research school Just Transitions, which has an advanced transdisciplinary design in which academic institutions work tightly together with practioners in municipalities and regions through the entire process.