Bárbara Willaarts

Senior Researcher

International consultant and researcher passionate about water security and governance. I firmly believe that only through systemic, transdisciplinary, and holistic approaches can we rise to the great and complex challenges facing our society today

About Elena

Director of ICATALIST, member of the European Scientific Council on Climate Change, lead author of IPCC Working Group II on Adaptation, Vulnerability and Impacts. She collaborates as an expert in the Spanish Citizens’ Climate Assembly.

At ICATALIST her role focuses on the development of strategic projects related to climate change adaptation and sustainability for different stakeholders, social innovation and innovation-based public policy. She leads an interdisciplinary team to implement projects that aim to have a positive impact, based on a range of products and services around shared values.

Founder and Director of ICATALIST. Elena completed her PhD at King’s College, London. She holds a Master’s degree from Cambridge University and a Master’s degree in Investigative Journalism, Data Management and Visualisation from the Juan Carlos I University with the newspaper “El Mundo”.

She was Associate Professor at IE Business School and Visiting Senior Fellow at the London School of Economics as Alcoa Research Fellow.

Professionally, Elena has worked with several organisations, including UNESCO, FAO, UNDP, the EU Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, universities and basin agencies, as well as with the private and third sectors.

She has published on a variety of topics mainly related to water security, social innovation, collaborative decision making, water governance, climate change adaptation, policy evaluation, knowledge management and transfer.

Its current main focus is on climate change adaptation, collective action and the role of green infrastructure, as well as strategic (ground) water management.

" We only reflect the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are found in the inner world. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change."

- M. Gandhi

Current positions

– CEO and founder of Icatalist

– President of the BRIGAID Connect Association

– Lead author IPCC

– Member of the European Climate Change Advisory Council

– Expert at the Citizens’ Climate Assembly

Linkedin Envelope

About Bárbara Willaarts

I am a biologist by training, with extensive experience in environmental planning, natural resource governance —particularly water— and the development of participatory processes to foster innovative solutions to complex challenges at the interface of water, land-use planning, and sustainability.

My professional goal is to generate knowledge, tools, and capacity-building processes that contribute to a more informed society and support better decision-making.

At ICATALIST, I am Head of the Participation and Capacity-Building Area, currently coordinating the organization’s contribution to the European project NATALIE on nature-based solutions. In addition, I collaborate with public administrations and institutions in the development of participation strategies and the co-design of visions and strategies for the sustainable management of water resources.

Publications

    1. Palazzo, A. , Kahil, T. , Willaarts, B. , Burek, P. , van Dijk, M. , Tang, T. , Magnuszewski, P., Havlík, P. , Langan, S. , & Wada, Y. (2024). Assessing sustainable development pathways for water, food, and energy security in a transboundary river basin. Environmental Development 51 e101030. 10.1016/j.envdev.2024.101030. (In Press)
    2. Martin, J. , Kanade, R., Bhadbhade, N., Joy, K.J., Thomas, B.K., Willaarts, B. , & Hanger-Kopp, S. (2024). Review of the food, water and biodiversity nexus in India. Environmental Science & Policy 159 e103826. 10.1016/j.envsci.2024.103826.
    3. Willaarts, B.A. , Novais, M.H., González Navarro, J.M., López Lara, G., Morais, M., Zilliox, E., & Peñate Suárez, B. (2024). The governance of the water-energy nexus: Co-produced narratives to take stock and address energy dependencies of the urban water cycle in Atlantic Europe. Environmental Science & Policy 160 e103835. 10.1016/j.envsci.2024.103835.
    4. Weber Salazar, P., Macpherson, E., & Willaarts, B. (2024). Towards durable legal protections for rivers in Chile. Water International 1-24. 10.1080/02508060.2024.2346394.
    5. Özcan, Z., Willaarts, B. , Klessova, S., Caucci, S., Prista, L., Adamos, G., & Laspidou, C. (2024). From nexus thinking to nexus implementation in South Europe and beyond: mutual learning between practitioners and policymakers. Sustainability Nexus Forum 32 (1) 10.1007/s00550-024-00538-w.
    6. Su, H., Willaarts, B., Luna Gonzalez, D., Krol, M. S., & Hogeboom, R. J. (2022). Gridded 5 arcmin datasets for simultaneously farm-size-specific and crop-specific harvested areas in 56 countries. Earth System Science Data, 14(9), 4397-4418.
    7. Awais, M. , Vinca, A. , Parkinson, S., McPherson, M., Byers, E. , Willaarts, B. , Muhamma, A., & Riahi, K. (2022). Replenishing the Indus Delta through multi-sector transformation. Frontiers in Environmental Science 10 e958101. 10.3389/fenvs.2022.958101.
    8. Ilyas, A., Parkinson, S. , Vinca, A. , Byers, E. , Manzoor, T., Riahi, K. , Willaarts, B. , Siddiqi, A., & Muhammad, A. (2022). Balancing smart irrigation and hydropower investments for sustainable water conservation in the Indus basin. Environmental Science & Policy 135 147-161. 10.1016/j.envsci.2022.04.012.
    9. Chico, D., Pahlow, M., Willaarts, B. A., Sinisgalli, P., & Garrido, A. (2022). An Integrated Approach to Assess the Water Efficiency of Introducing Best Management Practices: An Application to Sugarcane Mechanisation in Brazil. Water, 14(7), 1072.
    10. Rivas-Tabares, D., Tarquis, A. M., De Miguel, Á., Gobin, A., & Willaarts, B. (2022). Enhancing LULC scenarios impact assessment in hydrological dynamics using participatory mapping protocols in semiarid regions. Science of the Total Environment, 803, 149906.
    11. Willaarts, B. A., Blanco, E., Llavona, A., & Martínez, D. (2021). Análisis comparativo de acciones con enfoque del Nexo Agua-Energía-Alimentación: lecciones aprendidas para los países de América Latina y el Caribe.
    12. Vinca, A., Parkinson, S., Riahi, K., Byers, E., Siddiqi, A., Muhammad, A., Ilyas, A., Yogeswaran, N., Willaarts, B., Magnuszewski, P. and Awais, M., 2021. Transboundary cooperation a potential route to sustainable development in the Indus basin. Nature Sustainability, 4(4), pp.331-339.
    13. Willaarts, B.A, Lechon, Y., Mayor, B., De la Rua C, Garrido A. (2020) Cross-sectoral implications of the implementation of irrigation water use efficiency policies in Spain: A nexus footprint approach. Ecological Indicators 109: 105795 doi: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2019.105795
    14. Naranjo, L., & Willaarts, B. A. (2020). Guía metodológica: diseño de acciones con enfoque del Nexo entre agua, energía y alimentación para países de América Latina y el Caribe.
    15. Hagemann, N., van der Zanden, E. H., Willaarts, B. A., Holzkämper, A., Volk, M., Rutz, C., … & Schönhart, M. (2020). Bringing the sharing-sparing debate down to the ground—Lessons learnt for participatory scenario development. Land Use Policy, 91, 104262.
    16. Wada, Y., Vinca, A., Parkinson, S., Willaarts, B.A., Magnuszewski, P., Mochizuki, J., Mayor, B., Wang, Y., Burek, P., Byers, E. and Riahi, K., 2019. Co-designing Indus Water-Energy-Land Futures. One Earth, 1(2), pp.185-194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2019.10.006
    17. Johnson, N., Burek, P., Byers, E., Falchetta, G., Flörke, M., Fujimori, S., Havlik, P., Hejazi, M., Hunt, J., Krey, V. Willaarts, BA, and Langan, S., 2019. Integrated Solutions for the Water-Energy-Land Nexus: Are Global Models Rising to the Challenge?.Water, 11(11), p.2223. doi:10.3390/w11112223
    18. Karner, K., Cord, A. F., Hagemann, N., Hernandez-Mora, N., Holzkämper, A., Jeangros, B., … & Willaarts B.A (2019). Developing stakeholder-driven scenarios on land sharing and land sparing–Insights from five European case studies. Journal of Environmental Management 241, 488-500. doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.03.050
    19. Markantonis, V., Reynaud, A., Karabulut, A., El Hajj, R., Altinbilek, D., Awad, I. M., … & Willaarts, B.A. Matoussi, M. S. (2019). Can the Implementation of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus Support Economic Growth in the Mediterranean Region? The Current Status and the Way Forward. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 7, art-84. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2019.00084
    20. Blas, A., Garrido, A., Unver, O., & Willaarts, B. (2019). A comparison of the Mediterranean diet and current food consumption patterns in Spain from a nutritional and water perspective. Science of The Total Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.02.111
    21. Rivas-Tabares D, Tarquis AM, Willaarts B, & De Miguel Á (2019). An accurate evaluation of water availability in sub-arid Mediterranean watersheds through SWAT: Cega-Eresma-Adaja. Agricultural Water Management (212): 211-225. DOI:10.1016/j.agwat.2018.09.012.
    1. Byers, Edward, Matthew Gidden, David Leclère, Juraj Balkovic, Peter Burek, Kristie Ebi, Peter Greve, Willaarts, B.A et al. (2018) “Global exposure and vulnerability to multi-sector development and climate change hotspots.” Environmental Research Letters 13, no. 5 (2018): 055012. doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aabf45
    2. Salmoral, G., Willaarts, B. A., Garrido, A., & Guse, B. (2017). Fostering integrated land and water management approaches: Evaluating the water footprint of a Mediterranean basin under different agricultural land use scenarios. Land Use Policy, 61, 24-39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.09.027
    3. Blas, A., Garrido, A., & Willaarts, B.A. (2016). Evaluating the Water Footprint of the Mediterranean and American Diets. Water, 8(10), 448. https://doi.org/10.3390/w8100448
    4. Willaarts, B.A., Oyonarte, C., Muñoz-Rojas, M., Ibáñez, J. J., & Aguilera, P. A. (2015). Environmental factors controlling soil organic carbon stocks in two contrasting Mediterranean climatic areas of southern Spain. Land Degradation & Development.DOI: 10.1002/ldr.2417
    5. Flachsbarth, I., Willaarts, B.A., Xie, H., Pitois, G., Mueller, N., Ringler, C., Garrido A. (2015). The Role of Latin America’s Land and Water Resources for Global Food Security: Environmental Trade-Offs of Future Food Production Pathways. Plos ONE DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0116733
    6. Novo, P., Dumont, A., Willaarts, B.A., & López-Gunn, E. (2015). More cash and jobs per illegal drop? The legal and illegal water footprint of the Western Mancha Aquifer (Spain). Environmental Science & Policy, 51, 256-266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2015.04.013
    7. Cabello, V., Willaarts, B.A., Aguilar, M., & del Moral Ituarte, L. (2015). River basins as social-ecological systems: linking levels of societal and ecosystem water metabolism in a semiarid watershed. Ecology and Society, 20(3), 20. http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-07778-200320
    8. García-Llorente,M., Iniesta-Arandia, I., Willaarts,B.A., Harrison, P.A., Berry, P. Bayo, M.M., Castro, AJ., Montes, C., Martín-López B. (2015). Biophysical and socio-cultural factors underlying spatial trade-offs of ecosystem services in semiarid watersheds. Ecology and Society 20(3):39. http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-07785-200339
    9. Salmoral, G.. Willaarts, B.A, Troch, P., Garrido (2014). Drivers influencing streamflow changes in the Upper Turia Basin, Spain. Science of the Total Environment 503-504: 258-268. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.07.041
    10. López-Gunn, E., Willaarts, B.A., Rica, M., Corominas, J. and R. Llamas (2013). The Spanish water “pressure cooker”: Threading the interplay between resource resilient water governance outcomes by strengthening the robustness of water governance processes. International Journal of Water Governance 1:13-4. dx.doi.org/10.7564/12-IJWG8
    11. Willaarts, B.A; Volk, M; Aguilera, P. (2012). Assessing the ecosystem services supplied by freshwater flows in Mediterranean Agroecosystems. Agricultural Water Management 105:21-31 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2011.12.019
    12. Martín-López, B; Iniesta-Arandia, I; García-Llorente, M; Palomo, I; Gómez-Baggethun, E; Willaarts, B.A; González, A; Santos-Martín, F; Onaindia, M; López-Santiago; Montes, C. (2012). Uncovering ecosystem services bundles through social preferences: Experimental evidence from Spain. PloS ONE DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0038970.
    13. Rescia, A; Willaarts, BA; Schmitz, MF; Aguilera, P (2011). Changes in land uses and management in two Nature Reserves in Spain: Evaluating the social–ecological resilience of cultural landscapes. Landscape and Urban Planning 98:26-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2010.07.007
    14. Willaarts, B.A., De la Rúa, C., Cabal, H., Garrido, A., Lechon, Y (2016). El Nexo Agua-Tierra-Energía en España. Fundación Canal Isabel II. 210 pp. ISBN: 978-84-945176-1-7
  • De Stefano. L., Willaarts, B.A. Garrido, A. (2016). International Workshop on Drought Management in Spain and California: Lessons Learned. Fundación Botín. 12 pp. ISBN: 978-84-15469-52-0
    1. Díaz-Alcaide, S., Martínez-Santos, P., Willaarts, B. (2015) Huella hídrica y agua virtual en Cantabria. Fundación Botin, Observatorio Del Agua, Santander, 136 pp ISBN -13: 978-84-606-5834-4
    2. Willaarts, B, Garrido, A., Llamas M.R (2014) (eds). Water for food security and well-being in Latin America and the Caribbean region: Social and Environmental Implications for a Globalized Economy. 455 pp. Earthscan, 10.4324/9781315883137
    3. Willaarts, B.A., Garrido, A., De Stefano, L., Llamas R (2014). Seguridad Hídrica y Alimentaria en América Latina. Implicaciones regionales y Globales. Botin Foundation. 34 pp. ISBN: 978-84-15469-37-7
    4. López-Gunn, E., Ballesteros, M., De Stefano. L., Garrido, A.., Hernández-Mora., Willaarts, B.A. (2016), Water security or water ‘securities’? Increasing complexity in balancing of multiple goals in Spain. In: Handbook on Water Security, Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing, Editors: Claudia Pahl-Wostl, Anik Bhaduri, Joyeeta Gupta, pp.257–279 9781782548003
  • Willaarts, B.A., Garrido, A., De Stefano. L. (2014), Water and food security in Latin America and the Caribbean: regional opportunities to cope with global challenges, In: Willaarts, B.A.,Garrido, A., Llamas, M.R. (Eds.), Water for Food and Wellbeing in Latin America and the Caribbean. Social and Environmental Implications for a Globalized Economy. Routledge, Oxon and New York, pp. 3-24.
  1. Campuzano, C., Hansen, A.M., De Stefano, L., Martínez-Santos, P., Torrente, D., Willaarts, B.A (2014), Water resources assessment, In: Willaarts, B.A., Garrido, A., Llamas, M.R. (Eds.), Water for Food and Wellbeing in Latin America and the Caribbean. Social and Environmental Implications for a Globalized Economy. Routledge, Oxon and New York, pp. 27-53.
  2. Willaarts, B.A, Salmoral G., Farinaci J. Sanz M. (2014). Trends in Land Use and Ecosystem Services in Latin America. In: Willaarts, B, Garrido, A., Llamas M.R (2014) (eds). Water for food security and Human wellbeing in Latin America and the Caribbean region: Social and Environmental Implications for a globalized economy. Earthscan, Oxon and New York, pp. 55-80.
  3. Willaarts, B.A., Garrido A., Soriano, B., Molano M and Fedorova O. (2014). Tracking Progress and Links between Water and Food Security in Latin America and the Caribbean. In: Willaarts, B, Garrido, A., Llamas M.R (2014) (eds). Water for food security and Human wellbeing in Latin America and the Caribbean region: Social and Environmental Implications for a globalized economy. Earthscan, Oxon and New York. pp 143-173.
  4. Willaarts, B.A., Fedorova O., Arévalo, D., de la Mora, G., Echeverria, M., López Gunn, E., Phumpiu Chang P. (2014). Legal framework and economic incentives for managing ecosystem services in Latin America. In: Willaarts, B, Garrido, A., Llamas M.R (2014) (eds). Water for food security and Human wellbeing in Latin America and the Caribbean region: Social and Environmental Implications for a globalized economy. Earthscan, Oxon and New York. pp 365-384.
  5. Willaarts, B. A., Ballesteros, M., & Hernández-Mora, N. (2014). Ten years of the Water Framework Directive in Spain: An overview of the ecological and chemical status of surface water bodies. Integrated Water Resources Management in the 21st Century: Revisiting the paradigm, Taylor & Francis. London, pp 99-120. ISBN13:9781138071865
  6. Willaarts, B.A (2012). Linking land management to water planning: Estimating Spanish forest water consumption. In. Stefano and Llamas (eds). Water, Agriculture and the Environment: can we square the circle? Taylor and Francis, London, pp 139-151.
  7. Garrido, A; Willaarts, B; Rey, L; López-Gunn, E. (2012). Considerations on Climate Variability and Change in Spain In. Stefano and Llamas (eds). Water, Agriculture and the Environment: can we square the circle? Taylor and Francis, London, pp 191-202
  8. López-Guun, E; Willaarts, B; Dumont, A; Martínez Santos, P (2012). What means water and food Security in Spain In. Stefano and Llamas (eds). Water, Agriculture and the Environment: can we square the circle? Taylor and Francis, London, pp 23-34.
  9. De Stefano, L., Hernández-Mora, N., López-Gunn, E., Willaarts, B., & Zorrilla-Miras, P. (2012). Public participation and transparency in water management. Water, Agriculture and the Environment in Spain: can we square the circle? Taylor and Francis, London, pp 217-225.
  10. Willaarts, B; Garrido A. (2012). El papel de la Huella Hídrica en la seguridad Alimentaria. En Retos medioambientales de la industria alimentaria Pp 53-63.
  11. Willaarts, B; Castro, A; Cabello, J; Calaforra, J.M; López, E; Aguilera, P; Castro, H. (2009). El Parque Natural de Cabo de Gata-Nijar. En Enciclopedia de Andalucía.
  12. Willaarts, B; Aguilera, P; Martín López, B; Volk, M (2008). Consecuencias eco-hidrológicas asociadas a los cambios en las coberturas de vegetación en paisajes mediterráneos adehesados mediterráneos e implicaciones en el suministro de servicios de los ecosistemas. En VII Simposio del Agua en Andalucía. Vol II. 739-749.

Imagination is more important than knowledge

- Albert Einstein

Current positions

• Senior Researcher at Icatalist

• Researcher and project manager in International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis

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