Professional summary

Dr Anita Lazurko’s research uses of transdisciplinary research principles, socio-economic and environmental scenario and futures methods and systems analysis to produce integrative, action-oriented evidence about complex sustainability challenges. She applies this expertise to scientific research about a wide range of sectors and issues from biodiversity loss to climate resilience, focusing on developing robust, whole-systems solutions and translating research to impact (e.g., developing and evaluating policy pathways to sustainability targets). Anita’s skillset is relevant for highly collaborative, transdisciplinary processes that synthesize knowledge across a range of disciplines, data types, sectors, and scales. 

Existing projects:

  • PI for UKCEH for scoping phase of Nature Positive Pathways for the UK Economy, in partnership with Green Finance Institute and WWF-UK
  • Co-Investigator and Early Career Board Chair in Land Use for Net Zero Hub (UKRI) Net Zero Futures Platform 
  • Researcher and Reflexivity Task Force Co-Lead in BIONEXT (Horizon Europe) Transformative change at the biodiversity nexus
  • Researcher in PLURALAKES (Water4All) Co-creating sustainable futures for lakes
  • WP Lead and Project Manager in DISTENDER (Horizon Europe) Robust and integrated climate adaptation and mitigation strategies in Europe
Selected publications

Lazurko Anita et al. , (2025), Envisioning nature-positive futures for Europe: inspiring transformative change at the biodiversity nexus. Ecosystems and People, 21, https://doi.org/10.1080/26395916.2025.2561107

Lazurko Anita et al. , (2025), Enriching the European shared socio-economic pathways with considerations of biodiversity and nature using a nexus approach. Climate Risk Management, 50, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crm.2025.100741

Kim HyeJin et al. , (2024), Understanding the role of biodiversity in the climate, food, water, energy, transport and health nexus in Europe. Science of The Total Environment, 925, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171692

Lazurko Anita et al. , (2023), Boundaries of the future: a framework for reflexive scenario practice in sustainability science. One Earth, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2023.10.027

Valve Helena et al. , (2025), Transformative change from below? Linking biodiversity governance with the diversity of bottom-up action. Environmental Science & Policy, 164, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104000

Lazurko Anita et al. , (2023), Operationalizing ambiguity in sustainability science: embracing the elephant in the room. Sustainability Science, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11625-023-01446-6

Lazurko Anita et al. , (2025), Reflexivity as a transformative capacity for sustainability science: introducing a critical systems approach. Global Sustainability, 8, https://doi.org/10.1017/sus.2024.49

Hakkarainen Viola et al. , (2025), Entanglements of knowledge and action in sustainability science: reclaiming reflexivity to embrace the uncomfortable. Sustainability Science, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-025-01717-4

Other Publications

International Science Council. (2024). A guide to anticipation: Working paper on tools and methods of horizon scanning and foresight. Contributors: Dina Abdelhakim; Anne-Sophie Stevance; Peter Bridgewater; Lauren Sullivan; Maxine Newlands; Stuart Barrow; Ana Rengel-Gonçalves; Ranjan Datta; Wilfred Luga; Anita Lazurko et al.. International Science Council.

https://doi.org/10.24948/2024.10

Lazurko, A., Schweizer, V. & Armitage, D. (2023). Exploring “big picture” scenarios for resilience in social–ecological systems: transdisciplinary cross-impact balances modeling in the Red River Basin. Sustainability Science.  

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-023-01308-1