Centre for Rising Powers and Global Development
The Centre for Rising Powers and Global Development is at the forefront of research and practical analysis that helps connect governments, donors, civil society, and academia to explore new way to address global development challenges, with a particular focus on the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and other increasingly influential middle-income countries.
The BRICS and other rapidly-changing and increasingly influential middle-income countries, such as Indonesia and Mexico, are now recognised as epicentres of development policy innovation, as well as drivers of global growth.
Policymakers in developing countries and traditional donors alike are seeking to build stronger economic and political ties with these countries and to learn from their rapid development progress, whilst researchers and policy analysts are increasingly seeking to study the economic and geopolitical implications of their rise.
About the Centre for Rising Powers and Global Development (CRPD)
The centre builds on the work of the IDS Rising Powers in International Development programme, and brings together experts from our global network of policy, research, business and civil society partners to produce new thinking and practical policy guidance on effective approaches to engagement and mutual learning. CRPD's unique offering is a comparative and interdisciplinary focus to its research.
Areas of focus include agriculture,development finance and institutions, energy and sustainability, health and restructuring global governance.
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Alex Shankland - Research Fellow
- Power and Popular Politics Health and Nutrition
- T: +44 (0)1273 915746
- E: a.shankland@ids.ac.uk

Anuradha Joshi - Cluster Leader
- Governance Cities
- T: +44 (0)1273 915710
- E: a.joshi@ids.ac.uk


Gerry Bloom - Research Fellow
- Health and Nutrition Digital and Technology
- T: +44 (0)1273 915667
- E: g.bloom@ids.ac.uk

Hayley MacGregor - Research Fellow
- Health and Nutrition Power and Popular Politics Gender and Sexuality
- T: +44 (0)1273 915676
- E: h.macgregor@ids.ac.uk



Ian Scoones - Research Fellow
- Resource Politics Rural Futures Green Transformations
- T: +44 (0)1273 915679
- E: i.scoones@ids.ac.uk


Jeremy Allouche - Research Fellow
- Resource Politics Conflict and Violence
- T: +44 (0)1273 915834
- E: j.allouche@ids.ac.uk
Jing Gu - Research Fellow, Centre Director
- Business, Markets and the State Green Transformations
- T: +44 (0)1273 915692
- E: j.gu@ids.ac.uk



Richard Jolly - Research Associate
- Business, Markets and the State
- T: +44 (0)1273 915880
- E: r.jolly@ids.ac.uk




Stephen Spratt - Research Fellow, Cluster Leader
- Green Transformations Business, Markets and the State Digital and Technology
- T: +44 (0)1273 915799
- E: s.spratt@ids.ac.uk

Wei Shen - Research Fellow
- Green Transformations
- T: +44 (0)1273 915639
- E: w.shen@ids.ac.uk

Changing health and welfare in China and the UK
The project looks at the changing role of state and non-government actors in providing social services in China’s rapidly evolving welfare regime, and aims to promote mutual learning between officials and researchers in China and the UK. Despite historical, social and institutional differences, there is a degree of similarity in strategies emerging. More details
BRICS Economic Engagement Footprint Study
This project investigated the nature of economic relations between the BRICS and Africa, in order to quantify the development footprint, focusing on various elements such as trade, investment. finance, ODA and migration. The current phase aims to look at development finance and the role of BRICS development banks. More details
Russia and International Development Cooperation
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia was redefined as an aid recipient, but in 2007, it officially signalled its intention to reverse this role. The Rising Powers in International Development Programme is looking at the growing role of Russia in the field of international development cooperation More details
India and International Development Cooperation
Trade and investment linkages between India and the African continent have been growing rapidly, and recently, its role providing foreign assistance has become more prominent. The Rising Powers in International Development Programme is looking at the growing role of India in the field of international development cooperation. More details
Business from the BRICS
The Rising Powers in International Development Programme is looking at the growing role of business from the BRICS countries in the field of international development cooperation. More details
China and International Development Cooperation
China is now the African continent's biggest trading partner, and also involved in a wide range of development cooperation projects including in agriculture, health and social policy. The Rising Powers in International Development Programme is looking at the growing role of China in the field of international development cooperation. More details
Civil society and the BRICS
The Rising Powers in International Development Programme is looking at the growing role of civil society from the BRICS countries in the field of international development cooperation. More details
Brazil and International Development Cooperation
Brazil is a founding member of the BRICS group, Latin America's largest economy and the world's sixth-largest economy. The Rising Powers in International Development (RPID) programme is looking at Brazil's growing role in the field of international development cooperation. More details
China-UK Cooperation on African Trade and Investment for Poverty Reduction
This IDS led project aims to evaluate changing trade and investment relations between China, and also the UK, with Kenya and South Africa and the consequences of these changes. More details
Who Drives Climate-Relevant Policies in the Rising Powers?
This project is concerned with the political economy analysis of climate change policies. The central question of the project is who drives/obstructs climate change policies in the rising powers, paying special attention to renewable energy policies. More details
Rising Powers Young Researchers Network (RP-YOUR)
Initially bringing together PhD students and early-career researchers exploring the role of rising powers in international development from across IDS and the University of Sussex, the Rising Powers-Young Researchers Network seeks to expand within Centre for Rising Powers and Global Development global networks. More details

China–UK–Africa Trilateral Cooperation on Trade and Investment: Prospects and Challenges for Partnership for Africa’s Development
IDS Evidence Report 218 (2017)This study was conducted in the context of the China–UK Cooperation on African Trade and Investment for Poverty Reduction. It focuses on the evolution of bilateral relations between China and the UK towards trilateral relations with Africa and on building a framework for future cooperation. More details

Strengthening International Disaster Risk Reduction through Collaboration with China
IDS Policy Briefing 127 (2016)Natural disasters hit developing countries particularly hard. Worldwide, the incidence and intensity of such disasters remain substantial. More details

The BRICS in International Development
This book offers a comprehensive comparative perspective on the increasingly significant development cooperation activities of the BRICS. Providing a powerful set of insights into the drivers for engagement within each country, it brings together leading experts from Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and OECD countries. More details

Towards Mutual Learning with the Rising Powers
IDS Policy Briefing 123 (2016)Mutual learning is emerging as a new way of talking about the ‘how’ of development cooperation, particularly in contexts of rapid change, with countries increasingly recognising that they have much to learn from each other’s experience. More details

Can China’s Bold New Plans Make the Difference in Pakistan?
IDS Policy Briefing 121 (2016)Ever since the 1955 Bandung Conference of Afro-Asian states, China has been active in civil engineering projects around the world, especially in Africa, as a sign of its commitment to the world emerging from colonialism. More details

Centre for Rising Powers and Global Development: Training Course on International Development and Global Health Strategy
IDS Evidence Report 193 (2016)The Centre for Rising Powers and Global Development delivers intensive training courses for government officials and development professionals to explore the theories, policies and practices of international development cooperation, particularly relating to the growing role of the rising powers in global development. More details

Report of a High-level Roundtable on Rising Powers and Global Development, and Launch of the Centre for Rising Powers and Global Development
IDS Evidence Report 184 (2016)This high-level roundtable meeting, held on 22 April 2015, was co-hosted by the Institute of Development Studies, the Development Research Center of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, and the China International Development Research Network. More details

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank: What Can It Learn From, and Perhaps Teach To, the Multilateral Development Banks?
IDS Evidence Report 179 (2016)A striking phenomenon of recent global economic change is the emergence of new development actors, with alternative development experiences and development financing capacity. These actors are now creating collective institutional capacity with the aim of contributing to other countries’ development. They are also increasingly influencing the path of global development. More details

Civil Society from the BRICS: Emerging Roles in the New International Development Landscape
IDS Evidence Report 173 (2016)There is a burgeoning literature on the (re)emergence of the BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – as significant actors in international development. To date, however, most attention has focused on the government-to-government relations established through state-led South–South Development Cooperation (SSDC) and the BRICS’ engagements in multilateral processes. More details

China’s Comprehensive Strategic and Cooperative Partnership with Africa
IDS Policy Briefing 111 (2016)Convened in South Africa in December 2015, the 6th Meeting of the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) culminated in the Johannesburg Action Plan under the theme ‘China–Africa Progressing Together: Win-Win Cooperation for Common Development’. More details

Centre for Rising Powers and Global Development: Learning Events 2015
IDS Evidence Report 170 (2016)This report provides an overview of the objectives of and discussions held at two learning events held by the IDS Rising Powers in International Development programme/Centre for Rising Powers and Global Development in 2015. More details

A Prognosis and Diagnosis for China and the 2016 G20: The Politics of a New Global Economic Geography
IDS Evidence Report 169 (2016)The early Chinese Communist regime depicted T’ao Ch’ien as a people’s poet, an ascetic recluse who embraced poverty and a peasant’s life. In fact, he rose as high as provincial governor, and his verses about labour, poverty and gallons of wine were often metaphors. More details

Trilateral Cooperation on Trade and Investment: Implications for African Industrialisation
IDS Policy Briefing 103 (2015)Africa’s trade and investment relations with China and the UK has changed drastically over the last few decades, especially with Chinese economic growth. However, while economic openness, trade and investment appear to have come hand-in-hand with poverty reduction in the rise of the “Asian Tigers” and, recently, in China itself, the links appear, so far, to be less clear in sub-Saharan Africa. More details

Do Businesses from the BRICS Contribute to Development in Africa?
IDS Policy Briefing 102 (2015)As businesses from emerging economies become more globalised, expectations are raised about their role as responsible corporate citizens and development actors when operating in low-income countries. More details

Towards a Global Reporting System for Development Cooperation on the SDGs: Promoting Transformational Potential and Impact
IDS Working Paper 462 (2015)The proposed SDGs constitute a comprehensive, universal and interactive agenda of structural transformations as the pathway to sustainable development, leaving no-one behind while creating green economies. More details

China’s Emergence as a Global Recycling Hub – What Does it Mean for Circular Economy Approaches Elsewhere?
IDS Evidence Report 146 (2015)This Evidence Report investigates how China’s rise as a global recycling hub affects other countries’ prospects for moving towards a circular economy. This question has received little, if any, attention in the burgeoning literature on sustainability. More details

Mutual Learning for Change: An Assessment of the SIA Programme of the Rising Powers Programme
IDS Evidence Report 147 (2015)The Senior International Associates (SIA) programme is part of the Rising Powers in International Development programme at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), under which senior policy actors in the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), specifically India, China and Brazil, have come to IDS to advance mutual learning since 2012. More details

Is Indian Development Cooperation Taking a New Direction Under Modi?
IDS Policy Briefing 94 (2015)Rising powers such as the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) are taking independent stands and changing the discourse on development cooperation in international fora. India has played a key role in driving this, most recently contributing to the establishment of the BRICS Development Bank and being nominated to host its first presidency. More details

National Development Banks in the BRICS: Lessons for the Post-2015 Development Finance Framework
IDS Policy Briefing 93 (2015)In 2015, the framework to succeed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will be agreed. As described in the outcome document of the United Nations Rio+20 conference, The Future We Want, the mobilisation and effective use of stable, sufficient and suitable development finance must be a crucial part of this framework. More details

China’s Development Finance: Ambition, Impact and Transparency
IDS Policy Briefing 92 (2015)In a context of lagging reform in the Bretton Woods institutions, China has brought the debate on its role as a rising power in global economic governance onto the front pages, notably with the divided response of ‘the West’ to membership in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which is to be headquartered in Beijing. More details
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