Vilma Christina Sandström

My research interests cover a wide range of topics related to (food systems) sustainability transformations. My backgound is in environmental science and policy, and in my PhD (University of Helsinki, 2018) I studied food trade and the displacement of environmental impacts through it.

Currently I work as a postdoctoral researcher in Water and development research group. I focus on studying the use of food systems by-products as a way to increase the more efficient and sustainable use of natural resources. I explore and map the material flows and resource competition between the different parts of the food system.

My work is part of the Sustainable food futures within safe operating spaces - SOS.aquaterra- project. The project aims to identify feasible solutions to meet future food demand globally while staying within local and global safe operating spaces (SOS), such as planetary boundaries. In the project, we will develop a novel integrated modelling system that captures interactions between the relevant planetary boundary processes and the global food system. We will also assess the social feasibility of different measures that would ease the pressure food production puts on the environment. Project is funded by a H2020 ERC CoG grant.