Jorgen Randers and David Collste were commended at a conference on Limits to Growth

Stockholm Resilience Centre researcher and member of the Earth4All modelling team David Collste was commended as a promising young scientist in sustainability research. Jorgen Randers, co-author of Earth for All: A Survival for Humanity, was awarded the Erasme Prize. Randers was part of the team of scientists who authored the Limits to Growth report 1972 and has contributed to keeping it updated ever since.

Both awards were presented at the beginning of December during a conference in Clermont-Ferrand, France, which celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the Limits to Growth.

“It’s a big honour to receive the prize named after my role model, Donella Meadows”, commented David Collste after the award ceremony. The Donella Meadows prize is awarded to a young researcher within the field of systems thinking.

Donella Meadows, after which the award is named, was a groundbreaking systems-thinking researcher and lead author of the report Limits to Growth which was published as a report to the think tank Club of Rome in 1972.

“The award acknowledges David’s accomplishments at the beginning of what I expect will be a long and fruitful career in our field. He supports the work of others and presents his own work in a way that is inspiring”, writes systems researcher Dennis Meadows, co-author of the 1972 book, in a statement.

David Collste was awarded the prize for his his thesis work on the 2030 Agenda, his work on Stockholm Resilience Centre’s contribution to the Stockholm+50 conference entitled Finance and Economy for a Just Future on a Thriving Planet and for his work work within the Earth4All project, which recently released a book titled A Survival Guide for Humanity. Fifty years after Limits to Growth, it summarizes five turnarounds for humanity which can ensure a transition towards an equitable and sustainable future.

“The Earth4All project is only at an early stage. The book has been translated into many languages already and is planned to be launched in Swedish at the beginning of next year. Meanwhile, research is carried out, including improvements to the model underlying the analysis presented in the book. The public campaign is going on simultaneously with a focus on implementing the five turnarounds,” said David Collste.

This article was adapted from a previously published piece by the Stockholm Resilience Centre.