One of the most influential members of the water community, Professor Arjen Hoekstra, passed away in the Netherlands on 18th November.
Having studied Civil Engineering and obtaining a doctoral degree in the area of policy analysis from Delft University of Technology, Arjen Hoekstra built a wide international network while living in Asia, Africa and Europe.
From 2005, Hoekstra was Professor of Water Management at the University of Twente and Chair of the Department of Multidisciplinary Water Management. However, Hoekstra is most-known for having invented the water footprint concept in 2003, providing the water community with a framework to examine the bond between human consumption and production and the appropriation of the globe’s freshwater.
Arjen Hoekstra set up the Water Footprint Network in 2008, an international network of researchers and practitioners that strives for more sustainable and equitable water use worldwide,
Working tirelessly to broaden the scientific understanding of the real appropriation of water required for different human activities, he lay the basis for the interdisciplinary field Water Footprint Assessment, which investigates the relation between water management, consumption and trade.
He was also involved in various research projects and acted as an adviser to several governments, international organizations, companies and multilateral insitutions including the World Bank and UNESCO.