We transform the knowledge, action and leadership needed for more equitable and sustainable development globally, through our world-class research, learning and teaching.
Over the last fifty years, we have worked with governments, philanthropic foundations, academic institutions and civil society organisations to transform approaches to progressive social, political and economic change. Here are some of our stories of change:
In 2020 IDS launched the International Initiatives, a network of partnerships that facilitate research and collaboration to strengthen mutual learning for development. The network spans places at the leading edge of development thinking and practice, due to accelerating geopolitical change. The...
16 August 2021
This past year, the IDS-led Coalition for Religious Equality and Inclusive Development (CREID) has established strong relationships with policy influencers in the UK and the United Nations. We also provided much-needed evidence on the poorly documented discrimination of religious minority...
9 August 2021
The IDS-led K4D programme had an active year informing health provision, boosting understanding of water security, reacting rapidly to calls for evidence on Covid-19 – and providing evidence and learning to help optimise the UK’s international development...
26 July 2021
Even before Covid-19 prompted our shift to online teaching, IDS was already exploring the potential for broadening access for a wider range of participants through online learning. Launched in June 2020, ‘Social Protection: A Primer’ was a timely short course offered to professionals – and...
12 July 2021
A case study on inclusive, transformative attributes of female leadership shone a light on the wide-scale success of the Pedagogical Leadership in Africa (PedaL) partnership for higher education reform. IDS is a partner, alongside universities in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and...
5 July 2021
Covid-19 has highlighted more than ever the great importance of digital connectivity. Yet, as research by the IDS Digital and Technology Cluster shows, persistent digital inequalities in the UK and the US threaten to exclude the most...
28 June 2021
IDS marked 50 years of research on climate, the environment and pastoralism in 2020, offering a chance to explore how insights from this body of work have challenged conventional thinking about environmental change and led to wide-reaching impacts in practice and policy. IDS research on...
21 June 2021
We remain as committed as ever to transforming development knowledge, action and leadership through our teaching and learning programmes. During the Covid-19 crisis a huge range of new measures were put in place to continue this work while adapting and responding in the best interests of our...
19 June 2021
Researchers from the IDS-based International Centre for Tax and Development (ICTD) worked with the city council of Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown and the International Growth Centre to create a more equitable, efficient property tax system. Revenue potential has since increased fivefold,...
14 June 2021
An IDS research project in the Sundarbans delta of South Asia is showing how partnerships with local communities can yield new knowledge and ideas for more climate-resilient livelihoods. This year, the TAPESTRY project offered lessons for policymakers, practitioners, researchers and civil...
2 June 2021
Religious minority communities in Lahore, Pakistan, are frequently deprived of basic services such as access to clean drinking water and waste management which are available to neighbouring religious majority Muslim residents, according to research by local NGO, Hive, supported by Al Khoei...
29 April 2021
In 2020 we launched a network of IDS International Initiatives focused on the geographies at the leading edge of development thinking and practice due to accelerating geopolitical change. These Initiatives are already having collaborative impact in strengthening mutual learning for development...
26 March 2021