Rebecka Milestad

I am an agronomist, doctor in rural development and docent in environmental strategies research.
My focus is interdisciplinary research from a systems perspective about farm and food resilience, consumer-producer links in food systems, multifunctional agriculture, urban agriculture and urban food systems, and local organic food networks. Among other things, I have explored the contribution to rural development by multifunctional farms, how farm resilience is influenced by production system and choice of market channels, how social relations develop in local organic food systems, and the types of learning that takes place among farmers and consumers at farmers’ markets. I have also worked on the link between local and organic food systems, the Food, Water and Energy nexus in cities on water, and the sustainability of urban agriculture in Stockholm.

My current research concerns the scope and impact of the back-to-the-land migration in rural Sweden (project with SLU and Uppsala University), integrated planning and how this can be a tool for municipalities to take on a more active role in resilient food planning, including preservation of farm land and food preparedness (one project with UU, and another project with UU and FOI), and resource-efficiency and environmental performance of urban vertical farms through circular-based production methods (project with IVL and Universita di Bologna). I also have a  Belmont Forum project on "Co-creating Sustainable Transformation of Food Supply Chains through Cooperative Business Models and Governance" that will take a closer look at the developing Ecodistrict in Sörmland along with similar case studies in Turkey, Taiwan, Thailand and Germany. I am the PI at KTH of a newly funded Driving Urban Transitions (DUT) project on Food production and provisioning through circular urban systems in Eurpean cities.

Between 2018 and 2022 I was engaged with the Centre for Organic Food & Farming (EPOK) at SLU where I covered issues related to rural development and local food.

Until Autumn 2024 I was the vice-director of the KTH FOOD centre and the deputy head of the Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering (SEED). I have also been  head of division of the Division of Strategic sustainability studies, SEED.

From 1st October 2024 I am on a leave of absence from KTH to work for the Swedish Defence Research Institute (FOI).