Institute of Development Studies

Finding Pathways in a Complex World

The ESRC STEPS Centre's biggest ever conference is taking place at IDS in Brighton on 23-24 September 2010. In advance, STEPS has issued a call for papers and other forms of participation, with a submission deadline of 31 May 2010.

Addressing environmental sustainability has become a central practical, moral and political challenge of our times. The conference, Pathways to Sustainability: Agendas for a new politics of environment, development and social justice, will explore how to conceptualise and build ‘pathways' that link environmental integrity and social justice, while alleviating poverty and inequity. Confirmed keynote and plenary speakers include Arun Agrawal, David Demeritt, Kojo Amanor, Tania Li, Andy Dobson and Nancy Peluso.

The challenge of revealing these pathways is even more complex.  This is due to the rapid change in environments, societies and economies, along with globalised, fragmented governance arrangements. With preparations underway for the ‘Rio+20' Earth Summit in 2012, what ideas, concepts and agendas can best inform effective action? How can we enrich and (re)invigorate our intellectual and practical repertoires towards a new politics of environment, development and social justice?

Call for participation

The conference will feature a mix of invited keynote talks, perspectives, provocations and parallel panel sessions, all of which respond to the event's themes:
• contesting sustainabilities;
• framing narratives;
• dynamics and sustainability;
• uncertainty, ambiguity and surprise; and
• pathway-building and governance.

The STEPS Centre welcomes papers which speak to one or more of the five themes, in relation to grounded issues and cases relevant to developing country settings. These papers might address agriculture, forestry, water, health-environment linkages, sustainability in cities, climate change or energy, or issues which connect across these subjects.

Space is limited, and in selecting papers the STEPS Centre will be looking for original arguments and conceptual insights, combined with fresh empirical material. Publication plans for conference presentations will be explored with participants at, and after, the event. Provisionally, STEPS hopes to draw together a selection of plenary and parallel session papers into a special issue of a journal plus associated briefings to feed into the preparations and events surrounding Rio+20.

Submitting a paper

If you would like to submit a paper, please send a title and short abstract (up to 200 words), along with your name and institutional affiliation, to the STEPS Centre Administrative Co-ordinator Harriet Le Bris (h.lebris@ids.ac.uk) before the deadline of 31 May 2010.

Other ways to participate

The conference will also feature poster presentations, five-minute ‘soapbox' talks, and the display of videos and other multi-media materials during an Open Space session.

If you would like to contribute to these, please send a title and brief description of your proposed materials or contribution (up to 200 words), together with details of any technical requirements (such as a video projector or size of display space), to Harriet Le Bris (h.lebris@ids.ac.uk) before the deadline of 31 May 2010.

Nathan Oxley is Communications Assistant for the ESRC STEPS Centre

Image: Lance Bellers

 

Related Events

STEPS Conference 2010: Pathways to Sustainability

Dates: 23 Sep 2010 - 24 September 2010