Erik Achille Marie Swyngedouw (pronounced [ˈeːrɪk ˈsʋɪŋɣədʌu]; born 30 July 1956) is professor of geography at the University of Manchester in the School of Environment, Education and Development and a member of the Manchester Urban Institute.
Born in Dutch-speaking Belgium and fluent in Dutch, English, French, and Spanish, he graduated from Sint-Jozefscollege, Hasselt in 1974.
He graduated with an MSc in Agricultural Engineering from the Catholic University of Leuven in 1979, with a thesis focussed on agrarian change in the community of Heers.
From 1988 until 2006, Swyngedouw taught at the University of Oxford, latterly as professor of geography and was a fellow of St. Peter's College.
His interests have also included political-ecological themes, and the transformation of nature, urban governance, politics of scale, notably water issues, in Ecuador, Spain, the UK, and elsewhere in Europe.