Rutgerd Boelens

RA (Rutgerd) Boelens is a Professor in Water Governance and Social Justice at Wageningen University & Research (WUR), with concurrent appointments as Special Professor at the University of Amsterdam and Visiting Professor at the Catholic University of Peru and Central University of Ecuador. His work bridges law, politics, sociology, and water management, focusing on hydrosocial territories, water justice movements, and socio-environmental conflicts in the Andes, Spain, and Latin America.

• Expertise: Political ecology of water, hydrosocial territories, water rights, resource management, interdisciplinary research.
• Projects: Coordination of ERC Consolidator Grant 'Riverhood', NWO Water Struggles, and INREF 'River Commons'.
• Leadership: Director of the transnational Water Justice Alliance and Chair of Territorial Studies at CONACYT (Mexico).

His recent research, reflected in 2025 and 2024 publications, examines multispecies justice, eco-scalar politics, and critical cartography in river defense across Colombia, Ecuador, and Spain. He received the Impact Docs Award for the documentary 'Diary of Travelling Rivers' (2023). Boelens actively engages transdisciplinary knowledge co-creation, advising on global water governance and leading the 'Moving Rivers Webinar Series'.