Stockholm Resilience Centre
The Stockholm Resilience Centre is an international research center on sustainability science, based at Stockholm University. Founded in 2007 through a partnership with the Beijer International Institute of Ecological Economics, the centre has become one of the world's leading institutions for Earth-system and socio-ecological research. Its 2009 planetary boundaries framework, led by Johan Rockström, is the most widely cited scientific framework for operationalizing the limits of the biosphere.
In the AI Story
The centre's distinctive approach integrates natural and social sciences — combining Earth-system modeling with governance research, economics, and anthropology. This integration is what enabled the planetary boundaries framework: it is not merely a scientific account of thresholds but an analytical tool designed to inform human decision-making about economic activity.
Raworth's partnership with the centre is direct and ongoing. The ecological ceiling of her doughnut is a visualization of the centre's planetary boundaries. The centre's subsequent work on Earth-system tipping points, Anthropocene dynamics, and safe-and-just boundaries has extended and refined the framework Raworth deploys.
The centre's 2023 Earth Commission report, co-led by Johan Rockström and Joyeeta Gupta, extended the planetary boundaries framework into the social dimension — identifying "safe and just" boundaries that integrate Earth-system stability with human well-being, bringing the scientific framework into closer alignment with the full doughnut.
Key Ideas
Integrated sustainability science. The centre's methodology combines Earth-system science with social and economic research, not treating the domains separately.
Planetary boundaries authorship. The 2009 Nature paper led by Rockström originated the framework that anchors the doughnut's ceiling.
Ongoing refinement. The centre continues to update the framework through major assessments, most recently in 2023.
Partnership with Raworth. The centre's scientific work and Raworth's framework are intellectually entangled and mutually reinforcing.
Appears in the Orange Pill Cycle
Further reading
- Johan Rockström et al., "A Safe Operating Space for Humanity," Nature (2009)
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Research Themes and Publications (ongoing)
- Johan Rockström and Mattias Klum, Big World, Small Planet (2015)
- Earth Commission, A Safe and Just Corridor for People and Planet (2023)
- Carl Folke, "Resilience: The Emergence of a Perspective for Social-Ecological Systems Analyses," Global Environmental Change (2006)