We are deeply saddened and shocked to learn that Professor Arjen Hoekstra – Adjunct Senior Research Fellow of IWP - passed away unexpectedly on the 18th of November 2019. He was only 52 years old.
Arjen was Professor Water Management at the University of Twente and joined the Institute of Water Policy at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore on an adjunct appointment in 2016. Every year he spent several weeks in Singapore to work with IWP researchers and students. Projects on urban water security led to several joint publications and his presentations on the Water Footprint, a concept which he pioneered, inspired many. Recently he was listed as one of the most influential scientists in the world.
Arjen was an incredible scholar and a friend of IWP. He was unstinting with his time, his energy and his vast reservoir of ideas, goodwill and network. He was always driven by both the urgency and the significance of work on the environment. Our latest project was on the future of food and water narratives, and the urgent need for such narratives to inform behavioural change.
We will honour his memory in our work ahead, and are proud to count Arjen Hoekstra as our collaborator.
We send deep condolences to his wife and children, and our hope that they find strength to deal with this great loss.