Erik Karlsson new member of the steering committee
Erik Karlsson is the newest member of WaterCentre@KTH's steering committee, joining the centre in November 2024. Erik Karlsson is a strategist at Svenskt Vatten, the industry organization for Sweden's water and wastewater organizations. We welcomed him with some questions.
What challenges do you see for the sector where research can contribute solutions?
Sweden's water and wastewater infrastructure faces major challenges. Increased treatment requirements, climate change, together with aging infrastructure mean that we need to find new ways to inventory and renew our infrastructure sustainably, while we currently lack personnel resources. Research is the key to addressing these challenges.
How do you view WaterCentre@KTH's role?
The management of water issues is currently spread across KTH's schools, which is why the centre has a role in creating networks between researchers and students who work with water issues in one way or another. By also building bridges to the public and private sectors, the centre facilitates putting research in a relevant context. WaterCentre@KTH thus creates better conditions for KTH's researchers to benefit society.
Last year we experienced floods in e.g. Spain, do we risk seeing something similar in Sweden?
In recent years, we have seen more acute events not only in Sweden but also internationally where water has created catastrophic situations we are not used to seeing. We haven't yet seen events of the magnitude witnessed in Spain, Germany, Italy, and others, in Sweden. At Svenskt Vatten, we have seen that individual years stand out with more reported floods than usual, although the consequences haven't been as severe as in the aforementioned countries. Our communities are not adapted for this, and it will require a major effort to adjust in order to reduce the consequences of these types of events in the future.