Personal profile
Research
Lennart Olsson is Professor of Geography at Lund University and the founder of LUCSUS (Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies), for which he was the director until August 2016. He was also the PI and coordinator of the 10-year Linnaeus Centre LUCID (Lund University Centre of Excellence for Integration of Social and Natural Dimensions of Sustainability) 2008 - 2018. His research fields include human-nature interactions in the context of land degradation, climate change and food security/sovereignty in Africa and globally. His current research focuses on the politics of agriculture and climate change with a special interest in radical agricultural change. He has had research positions in Australia, USA and Hong Kong and participated in several international assignments including the IPCC and UNEP-GEO assessments. He was coordinating lead author (CLA) for the chapter on livelihoods and poverty (Chapter 13) in IPCC’s 5th Assessment Report, WG II, 2011-14, and CLA for the chapter on Land Degradation in the IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land (2017-19). In 2023 he was awarded an ERC Advanced Grant: The PERENNIAL Project. Since 2019, he is a member of the Board of Directors of the Land Institute, Kansas, USA.
Free keywords
- LSSMC: Computational Social Sciences
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 1 No Poverty -
SDG 2 Zero Hunger -
SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being -
SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation -
SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy -
SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth -
SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities -
SDG 13 Climate Action -
SDG 14 Life Below Water -
SDG 15 Life on Land -
SDG 17 Partnerships for the Goals
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Collaborations the last five years
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Agri-labour mobility in a changing climate: A systems approach to vulnerability and precarity among migrant farmworkers
Kavak, S., Islar, M. & Olsson, L., 2026 Feb, In: World Development. 202, 107329.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Development policy affects coastal flood exposure in China more than sea-level rise
Wang, Y., Ye, Y., Nicholls, R. J., Olsson, L., van Vuuren, D. P., Peterson, G., He, Y., Li, M., Fan, J. & Scown, M., 2025 Oct, In: Nature Climate Change. 15, 10, p. 1071-1077 7 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Integrating Multi-Level Sustainability and Ecosystem Integrity for Adaptive Scenario Planning in China
Wang, Y., He, Y., Zhou, H., Kuiper, J. J., Scown, M., Carpenter-Urquhart, L. R., Olin, S., Olsson, L., Ye, Y., Shen, S., Fan, J. & Peterson, G. D., 2025 Oct, In: Earth's Future. 13, 10, e2025EF006853.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Managing development choices is essential to reduce coastal flood risk in China
Wang, Y., Ye, Y., Nicholls, R. J., Olsson, L., P. van Vuuren, D., Peterson, G., He, Y., Li, M., Fan, J. & Scown, M., 2025 Oct, In: Nature Climate Change. 15, 10, p. 1033-1034 2 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Debate/Note/Editorial › peer-review
Open Access -
Habitability for a connected, unequal and changing world
Sterly, H., Borderon, M., Sakdapolrak, P., Adger, N., Ayanlade, A., Bah, A., Blocher, J., Blondin, S., Boly, S., Brochier, T., Brüning, L., Bunchuay-Peth, S., O'Byrne, D., Safra De Campos, R., Nii Ardey Codjoe, S., Debève, F., Detges, A., Franco-Gavonel, M., Hathaway, C. & Funke, N. & 26 others, , 2025, In: Global Environmental Change. 90, 102953.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access
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Climate Change requires Agricultural Change
Ardö, J. (Researcher), Olin, S. (Researcher), Tagesson, T. (Researcher), Vestin, P. (Researcher), Hicks, L. (Researcher), Rousk, J. (Researcher), Olsson, L. (Researcher) & Andersson, E. (Researcher)
2026/01/01 → 2026/12/31
Project: Network
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Roots of Change: Perennial Grains and the Future of Agricultural Sustainability
Schüller, S. (Research student), Andersson, E. (Supervisor) & Olsson, L. (Assistant supervisor)
2024/07/01 → …
Project: Dissertation
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PERENNIAL: Is there a PERENNIAL future of agriculture?
Olsson, L. (PI), Andersson, E. (Researcher), Carton, W. (Researcher), Schüller, S. (Research student), Kardum Smith, C. (Administrator), Ardö, J. (Researcher), Biermann, T. (Research engineer), Gustafson, A. (Researcher), Olin, S. (Researcher), Tagesson, T. (Researcher), Widengren, V. (Research student), Vestin, P. (Researcher), Voss, A.-K. (Research student), Crews, T. (Researcher), Streit Krug, A. (Researcher), Westerbergh, A. (Researcher), David, C. (Researcher) & Rey, S. (Researcher)
2024/04/01 → 2028/05/31
Project: Research
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Unravelling climate change impacts on migrant farmworkers in agri-food production
Kavak, S. (PI), Islar, M. (Researcher) & Olsson, L. (Researcher)
2022/12/26 → 2026/12/25
Project: Research
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Capturing Carbon in Perennial Cropping Systems
Vestin, P. (Researcher), Ardö, J. (PI), Andersson, E. (Researcher), Olsson, L. (Researcher), Westerbergh, A. (Researcher), Crews, T. (Researcher) & Olin, S. (Researcher)
FORMAS, The Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning
2022/10/01 → 2027/09/30
Project: Research
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Activities
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Odling, hantering, och användning av det nya perenna spannmålet Kernza
Ardö, J. (Member of programme committee) & Olsson, L. (Chair)
2024 Nov 26Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Organisation of workshop/ seminar/ course
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Grand Seminar: The "IPCC AR6: Impacts, adaptation and vulnerability" -report in a Swedish context
Nikoleris, L. (Organiser), Dänhardt, J. (Organiser), Madjidian, J. (Organiser), von Arnold, C. (Organiser), Mccormick, K. (Chair), Boyd, E. (Keynote/plenary speaker), Malmqvist, E. (Invited speaker), Hanson, H. (Invited speaker), Smith, H. (Invited speaker), Olsson, L. (Invited speaker) & Caretta, M. A. (Invited speaker)
2022 Mar 9Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Organisation of workshop/ seminar/ course
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Nordic AI Popup Live om smart mat och klimat
Wisbrant, J. (Organiser), Nilsson, M. (Speaker), Ahlse, M. (Speaker), Röös, E. (Speaker), Schmitt, R. (Speaker), Pettersson, M. (Speaker), Olsson, L. (Speaker), Åström, K. (Speaker) & Wester, J. (Speaker)
2021 May 5Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Organisation of public lecture/debate/seminar
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CEC Fellows concept seminar on Food Security
Clough, Y. (Organiser), Wittbom, C. (Organiser), Andersson, G. (Presenter), Olsson, L. (Presenter), Persson, K. M. (Presenter) & Gullstrand, J. (Presenter)
2020 May 20Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Organisation of workshop/ seminar/ course
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