Freshwater Thought Leader Sandra Postel awarded 2021 Stockholm Water Prize

Today, Sandra Postel is awarded the Stockholm Water Prize 2021 for her long and outstanding work to make sense of complex water-related issues. As an author and educator, she has made important contributions to the understanding of some of the greatest challenges of our time and shown that we have the power to find sustainable solutions. Ragn-Sells, one of the founders of the award, congratulates Postel and is looking forward to the award ceremony which takes place on August 25 during the Water Week in Stockholm.

Sandra Postel is a leading authority and prolific author and communicator on international water issues. She has been hailed for her inspiring, innovative, and practical approach to promoting the preservation and sustainable use of freshwater. Throughout her career, Postel has tackled complex water problems in her books, articles, and lectures, with an aim to make them comprehensible to a wide audience.

-It is the honour of a lifetime and I am incredibly grateful. Water is the basis of life – and it is finite. Figuring out how to meet humanity’s needs for water while enabling freshwater ecosystems to thrive is now an existential challenge, because those ecosystems support the web of life to which humanity belongs. We can all play a part in rising to this challenge, Sandra Postel comment.

In its citation, the Stockholm Water Prize Nominating Committee said: “Sandra Postel is a world leading authority on water scarcity and one of the world’s greatest water communicators and educators. No one has exhibited more commitment, capacity, courage, and perseverance to address far-ranging and critical water issues. Her work has been instrumental in shifting both public and professional awareness about the water crisis.”

Read more about Sandra Postel and her work here.

Facts: Ragn-Sells is one of the founders

Stockholm Water Prize was established by the Stockholm Water Foundation to encourage research and development of the earth's aquatic environments. The prize is supported Kungl. Vetenskapsakademien, International Water Association, Water Environment Federation and Stockholm City. The companies that founded Stockholm Water Prize are united by a strong desire to increase sustainability in the water sector. The prize's founders are Bacardi, Poul Due Jensen Foundation, Ragn-Sells, Water Environment Federation, Xylem and Ålandsbanken.

Facts: About SIWI

Stockholm International Water Institute is a policy institute that develops knowledge and inform policy makers about water-smart policies and sustainable development. SIWI conducts research, gathers formal knowledge, and provides advice in five thematic areas: water management, cross-border water management, water and climate change, the connection water/energy/food and water economy. SIWI organizes World Water Week in Stockholm - an annual and globally leading meeting place for water and development issues - and hosts Stockholm Water Prize, Stockholm Junior Water Prize and Stockholm Industry Water Award.