Barbara Willaarts

Barbara Willaarts joined IIASA in January 2017 to become the Project Manager of the Integrated Solutions for Water, Energy and Land (ISWEL) project. Dr. Willaarts work involves coordinating the different research activities that are being developed by the four research programmes involved in ISWEL (Water, Transitions to New Technologies, Energy and Ecosystem services and Management) to ensure project consistency and compliance. She is also participating in the set up and developments of the stakeholder engagement process that will be develop within ISWEL. Communication and outreach are also part of her duties.

Dr. Willaarts holds a degree in Environmental Biology from Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (Spain), an MSc in Environmental Sciences from Wageningen University (The Netherlands) and a PhD in Environmental Planning from Universidad de Almeria (Spain).

Before joining IIASA, she worked as a researcher for different research organizations, think tanks and also as a consultant for several international organizations. She has experience in biophysical modeling (water, carbon, biodiversity), policy analysis and stakeholder engagement.During the course of her career to date, she has participated in a dozen research projects addressing issues related with land use and ecosystem services planning, the water-food-energy nexus and sustainable diets. She has coordinated several projects and published over 30 publications including peer-review, books and policy briefs.


Last update: 11 JAN 2017

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, e149906. 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149906.

Willaarts, B. , Palazzo, A. , Kahil, T. , Tang, T. , & Heyl, A. (2021). Sustainable development pathways to water, food, and energy security in the Zambezi basin. IIASA Policy Brief. Laxenburg, Austria: PB-27

Willaarts, B. , Vinca, A. , Parkinson, S. , Riahi, K. , Byers, E. , & Heyl, A. (2021). Cooperation and joint investments are key to sustainable development in the Indus basin. IIASA Policy Brief. Laxenburg, Austria: PB-28

Vinca, A. , Parkinson, S. , Riahi, K. , Byers, E. , Siddiqi, A., Muhammad, A., Ilyas, A., Yogeswaran, N., et al. (2020). Transboundary cooperation a potential route to sustainable development in the Indus basin. Nature Sustainability 10.1038/s41893-020-00654-7.

Rivas-Tabares, D., de Miguel, Á., Willaarts, B. , & Tarquis, A.M. (2020). Self-organizing map of soil properties in the context of hydrological modeling. Applied Mathematical Modelling 88, 175-189. 10.1016/j.apm.2020.06.044.

Willaarts, B. , Lechón, Y., Mayor, B., de la Rúa, 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, no.105795. 10.1016/j.ecolind.2019.105795.

Hagemann, N., van der Zanden, E.H., Willaarts, B. , Holzkämper, A., Volk, M., Rutz, C., Priess, J.A., & Schönhart, M. (2020). Bringing the sharing-sparing debate down to the ground—Lessons learnt for participatory scenario development. Land Use Policy 91, e104262. 10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.104262.

Wada, Y. , Vinca, A. , Parkinson, S. , Willaarts, B. , Magnuszewski, P., Mochizuki, J. , Mayor, B., Wang, Y., et al. (2019). Co-designing Indus Water-Energy-Land Futures. One Earth 10.1016/j.oneear.2019.10.006.

Willaarts, B. (2019). Integrated Solutions for Water, Energy, and Land Project overview. In: II Stakeholder Workshop Indus Basin, 21-22 August 2019, Kathmandu, Nepal.

Markantonis, V., Reynaud, A., Karabulut, A., El Hajj, R., Altinbilek, D., Awad, I.M., Bruggeman, A., Constantianos, V., et al. (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. 10.3389/fenvs.2019.00084.

Karner, K., Cord, A.F., Hagemann, N., Hernandez-Mora, N., Holzkämper, A., Jeangros, B., Lienhoop, N., Nitsch, H., et al. (2019). Developing stakeholder-driven scenarios on land sharing and land sparing – Insights from five European case studies. Journal of Environmental Management 241, 488-500. 10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.03.050.

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 664, 1020-1029. 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.02.111.

Langan, S. , Willaarts, B. , Vinca, A. , & van Dijk, M. (2019). Integrated Solutions for Water, Energy and Land. In: UNIDO, 16 April, 2019, Vienna.

Willaarts, B. , Magnuszewski, P., Palazzo, A. , Parkinson, S. , Mayor Rodriguez, B., Vinca, A. , van Dijk, M., & Langan, S. (2019). Bridging the gap across scales in scenario planning: Co-designing water-energy-land visions and pathways in transboundary basins. In: Scenario Forum Conference, 10-13 March 2019, Denver, USA.

Rivas-Tabares, D., Tarquis, A.M., 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. 10.1016/j.agwat.2018.09.012.

Johnson, N., Burek, P. , Byers, E. , Falchetta, G., Flörke, M., Fujimori, S., Havlik, P. , Hejazi, M., et al. (2019). Integrated Solutions for the Water-Energy-Land Nexus: Are Global Models Rising to the Challenge? Water 11 (11), no. 2223. 10.3390/w11112223.

Palazzo, A. , van Dijk, M., Willaarts, B. , Magnuszewski, P., Mayor Rodriguez, B., Burek, P. , Kahil, T. , Tang, T. , et al. (2018). Integrated solutions for water, energy, and land nexus management the Zambezi Basin: stakeholder engagement and modeling. In: 3rd Zambezi Basin Stakeholders’ forum: Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems (WEFE) Nexus for Socio-Economic Benefits in the Zambezi River Basin, 8-9 October 2018, Lilongwe, Malawi.

Byers, E. , Parkinson, S. , Balkovic, J. , Burek, P. , Ebi, K., Gidden, M. , Grey, D., Greve, P., et al. (2018). Global climate and development hotspots assessment: Asia under pressure. In: 5th Asian Energy Modelling Workshop, 10-12 September 2018, Singapore.

Willaarts, Barbara (2018). Envisioning desirable pathways for the Indus Basin. In: Indus Basin Knowledge Forum (IBKF), 31 May-2 June 2018, Laxenburg, Austria.

Blas, A., Garrido, A., & Willaarts, B. (2018). Food consumption and waste in Spanish households: Water implications within and beyond national borders. Ecological Indicators 89, 290-300. 10.1016/j.ecolind.2018.01.057.

Byers, E. , Gidden, M. , Leclere, D., Balkovic, J. , Burek, P. , Ebi, K., Grey, D., Greve, P., et al. (2018). Global exposure and vulnerability to multi-sector development and climate change hotspots. In: International Energy Workshop, 19-21 June 2018, Gothenburg, Sweden.

Byers, E. , Gidden, M., Leclere, D., Burek, P. , Ebi, K.L., Greve, P., Grey, D., Havlik, P. , et al. (2018). Global exposure and vulnerability to multi-sector development and climate change hotspots. Environmental Research Letters 13, e055012. 10.1088/1748-9326/aabf45.

Willaarts, B. , Langan, S. , Balkovic, J. , Burek, P. , Byers, E. , Deppermann, A., Frank, S. , Gidden, M. , et al. (2018). Integrated Solutions for Water, Energy and Land Progress report 3. United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)

Parkinson, S. , Kahil, M., Wada, Y. , Krey, V. , Byers, E. , Johnson, N., Burek, P. , Satoh, Y., et al. (2017). Hydro-economic modeling of integrated solutions for the water-energy-land nexus in Africa. In: AGU Fall Meeting, 11-15 December 2015, New Orleans.

Gidden, M. , Byers, E. , Burek, P. , Ebi, K., Greve, P., Havlik, P. , Hillers, A., Johnson, N., et al. (2017). Exposure and Vulnerability to Energy, Water, and Land Hotspots under Different Climate Futures. In: 10th Integrated Assessment Modelling Consortium Meeting, December 2017.

Byers, E. , Gidden, M. , Burek, P. , Leclere, D., Palazzo, A. , Parkinson, S. , Rogelj, J. , Satoh, Y., et al. (2017). Multi-sector climate impacts assessment for water, energy and land. In: Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project Meeting, 9-10 October 2017, Potsdam, Germany.

Byers, E. , Gidden, M. , Burek, P. , Leclere, D., Palazzo, A. , Rogelj, J. , Satoh, Y., Wada, Y. , et al. (2017). Future exposure and vulnerability to multi-sector hotspots. In: Impacts World 2017, 11-13 October 2017, Potsdam, Germany.

Willaarts, B. , Langan, S. , Balkovic, J. , Burek, P. , Byers, E. , Deppermann, A., Gidden, M. , Greve, P., et al. (2017). Integrated Solutions for Water, Energy and Land Progress report 2. United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)