He has left his deepest footprints behind

Arjen Hoekstra was the founder of the Water Footprint Network and served till now as Chair of our Supervisory Board. Many of you will know him or have met him over the years.He was Professor Water Management at the University of Twente since 2005, chairing the Multi-disciplinary Water Management research group. He studied Civil Engineering and earned his PhD in policy analysis at the Technical University of Delft. Arjen lived in Europe, Asia and Africa and had a large international network. He led several interdisciplinary research projects, advised governments, NGOs, companies and multilateral institutions including UNESCO and the World Bank. Hoekstra received various prizes, among which very recently an ERC Advanced Grand – Europe’s most prestigious personal research grant. Arjen also had an appointment as visiting professor at the National University of Singapore where he taught classes every summer.

Hoestra was most known for his work on the water footprint concept. He introduced value chain thinking in water management and pioneered with quantifying water consumption in internationally traded goods, showing the relevance of a global perspective on water use and water scarcity. His research became the basis for the new inter-disciplinary research field Water Footprint Assessment.

Arjen Hoekstra was one of the most cited scientists in his field worldwide. His publications cover a rich variety of topics relating to water, food, energy and trade. His books have been translated in several languages, including The Water Footprint of Modern Consumer Society, The Water Footprint Assessment Manual and Globalization of Water. He taught classes on sustainable development, water management, hydrology, water quality, water footprint assessment, valuing natural resources, ecosystem analysis and policy analysis. He developed a number of educational tools, among which the River Basin Game and the Globalization of Water Role Play.