Sussex Sustainability Research Programme Symposium 2020
The world looks a lot different since the last annual Sussex Sustainability Research Programme symposium. So, this year it will be held online and will focus on how research is adapting in the face of the pandemic and global social movements.
For convenience, there are five individual sessions with breaks in-between across the two days to choose from. Book your place on all sessions, or just the sessions that you are able to attend. You will receive a Zoom link and password for each session you register for.
IDS Researchers speaking include: John Thompson, Peter Taylor, and
Ayako Ebata.
Programme
Tuesday 15 September
Session 1: What can sustainability research learn from decolonial research?
10:00 to 11:30
Are the Sustainability and Black Lives/Decolonial Movements two completely separate social impulses or do they have something to say to each other? What do we sustainability researchers have to learn from the Black Lives Movement and Decolonial Research? How can we enact (through research topics and practices) shared concerns about social justice? How can we ensure that our work with partners in the Global South doesn’t perpetuate colonial attitudes?
Session 2: The SDGs take a hit
13:00 to 14:15
Which global goals are going to take the biggest hit from the pandemic and its aftermath? Are there signs of new national or international policies that will affect one or more SDGs in a negative or positive way? Does past research on financial crises give us a hint about the possible impacts of a pandemic-related financial crisis? How can we get the SDGs back on track and how can research help?
Session 3: So now what do I do? Our tactics for coping with disrupted research
15:00 to 16:00
Almost all researchers, North and South, have been faced with a disruption of their research. In this session we’ll exchange tips on how we’ve forged ahead despite a shutdown of fieldwork and laboratories, and difficult circumstances for stakeholders. Let’s hear about some useful ideas others can use in case we have to! e.g. Social science research via zoom or smart phone; coping with delayed field studies; coping with gaps in data time series; and many more.
Wednesday 16 September
Session 4 : Before the deluge: new research findings coming on-line
10:00 to 12:30 (with a 20 minute networking break)
A lot of new results from sustainability research were just coming on-line before the pandemic hit, and got more or less buried by the crisis. In this session we’ll briefly showcase some of these new findings from clusters of projects spawned by unique SSRP collaborations.
This session will include:
- Launch of the SSRP online catalogue on methods for sustainability research
- Closing global gaps in global environmental treaties: Global Biodiversity Convention and the Global Ozone Layer treaty
- Poverty-environment-health linkages: studies from three countries
Session 5: Plans for pandemic-related sustainability research
13:30 to 14:30
As we make our way through the deluge, what are our plans for pandemic-related sustainability research? Here we’ll exchange brief reports about new bids, new research ideas, and upcoming funding calls having to do with the pandemic and sustainability.
The Sussex Sustainability Research Programme (SSRP) is a partnership between the University of Sussex and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS). Find out more about SSRP’s research projects.
