Professor
University of Iceland
Kristín Vala Ragnarsdóttir
- 2026
- Attendee
Professor Kristín Vala Ragnarsdóttir is an Earth and sustainability scientist, academic, and activist whose research, teaching, publications, and advocacy focus on regenerating the Earth from a systems perspective, with wellbeing at the centre. Her work spans natural resource availability and management, new economic thinking for sustainability, and transformation literacy needed to create a thriving future for people and nature within planetary boundaries. In 2026, she co-authored The Elgar Companion to Creating a Regenerative Economy for Wellbeing with Ásgeir Brynjar Torfason.
Ragnarsdóttir has advised governments and international organisations on sustainability, wellbeing, education, nature protection, futures thinking, energy, and circular economy. In Iceland, she served on the government’s 2050 Energy Policy Committee and represented the Climate Council and Sustainable Development Council. She co-developed wellbeing indicators for the Prime Minister’s Office and facilitated Iceland becoming an early member of the Wellbeing Economy Governments partnership. She was also a member of Bhutan’s International Expert Working Group on a New Development Paradigm, focusing on indicators beyond GDP.
Internationally, she has advised on green policies in Sweden, the UK, Bhutan, and China, and worked with the European Commission, Club of Rome, Ecocide Law Alliance, and other organisations. She co-founded and is an Ambassador for the Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll), and co-founded its Iceland Hub.
Ragnarsdóttir is Professor Emerita at the University of Iceland, where she was Professor of Earth and Sustainability Science and Dean of Engineering and Natural Sciences. Previously, she was Professor of Environmental Sustainability at the University of Bristol. She is a member of Academia Europaea and several national academies, a Distinguished Fellow of the Schumacher Institute, and a board member of Landvernd.
Her work has received numerous awards, including the Schumacher Institute Award of Excellence for Furthering Sustainability and Equality Learning and a Times Higher Education Award for Outstanding Contribution to Sustainable Development.
