Opinion

Student Opinion

A master’s student’s reflections of diversity at IDS

MA Development Studies student Deep Mehta shares his honest reflections about his year with us – including the challenges and frictions caused when your values, beliefs and opinions and not always aligned with those who you are studying with. Much of what I say here overlaps with what...

Deep Mehta, IDS student, MA Development Studies

19 September 2024

Opinion

Africa’s urban food system: ‘invisible’ to the continent’s development fraternity

Early in September, two summits of continental importance were held to reflect and consider Africa’s future. The first was the 2024 African Food Systems Forum (AFSForum2024) held in Kigali and the other was the inaugural Africa Urban Forum on “Sustainable Urbanization for Africa’s...

Gareth Haysom

17 September 2024

Opinion

Is the world prepared for a brown gold rush?

Human waste is rich in water, nutrients and organic compounds, most of which nowadays are just going down the drain. The concept of “brown gold” highlights the sheer scale of the economic benefits if we were able to recover all these hidden resources by reusing the treated...

Andrés Hueso González & 2 others

17 September 2024

Opinion

What is safe for whom? Negotiating new technologies under conditions of uncertainty

In the regulation of new technologies, the questions of what is safe for whom are always thrown up. This is the third blog in a short series discussing the new book – Navigating Uncertainty: Radical Rethinking for a Turbulent World. The third chapter looks at a range of technologies – AI,...

Ian Scoones

16 September 2024

Opinion

Meeting the need for speed

In this blog written from a meeting of thousands of knowledge brokers and scientists at the Global Evidence Summit, I ask how are we going to put the rapid into rapid evidence reviews? I was excited to attend a session at the Global Evidence Summit in Prague this week on “Meeting the Need for...

James Georgalakis

12 September 2024

Opinion

The financial crash: lessons from pastoralists?

This blog continues the short series on the new book, Navigating Uncertainty: Radical Rethinking for a Turbulent World. In the chapter on Finance and banking, I look at the 2007-08 financial crash and how particular models and regulatory practices created a false sense of security through the...

Ian Scoones

9 September 2024

Opinion

How to understand alignment between scientists on contested policy issues

This week hundreds of policy researchers, implementation scientists, knowledge brokers, and donors gather in Prague to explore how to get research into action. Most of the Global Evidence Summit will be focused on research translation, building capacity for evidence informed decision making and...

James Georgalakis

9 September 2024

Opinion

Addressing gender disparities in tax expenditures

As the fiscal space of governments worldwide is becoming more constrained, ensuring efficient use of revenues is moving up policy agendas. Tax expenditures are benefits granted through the tax system to specific groups, sectors, or activities. With trillions of dollars spent through these...

Sofia Berg & 2 others

4 September 2024

Opinion

Urbanisation is real in SA, yet food security is still seen as a rural challenge – time for policy rethink

The future of any young child conceived today in one of the under-serviced areas of a South African city demands that we act on food insecurity now, and act with urgency and initiative seldom seen in our governance structures. The environmental author Rob Nixon describes society’s...

Gareth Haysom

3 September 2024

Opinion

How to design effective Grievance Redress Mechanisms in the global South

Grievance Redress Mechanisms (GRMs) – formal processes for assessing and resolving complaints – are viewed as empowering citizens in the global South, but the effectiveness and of such mechanisms are often questioned. New evidence from Mozambique sheds light on how GRMs can be better...

Ludovico Alcorta & 2 others

2 September 2024

Opinion

Navigating uncertainty: introducing a new book

Whether it’s climate change, financial volatility, pandemic outbreaks or new technologies, we don’t know what the future will hold. Uncertainties are everywhere. But how can we navigate them successfully? As Helga Nowotny described in her book, such “uncertainties are written into the...

Ian Scoones

2 September 2024

Impact Story

Future development leaders find their vocations and voices at IDS

IDS teaching aims to produce the next generation of informed and knowledgeable leaders and experts, equipping them to respond to societal and environmental challenges. A launch pad for careers Eesha Kapoor and Shreyan Acharya graduated from the MA Development Studies course in the 2021-2022...

1 September 2024

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Showing 1–12 of 2101 results

A master’s student’s reflections of diversity at IDS

Africa’s urban food system: ‘invisible’ to the continent’s development fraternity

Is the world prepared for a brown gold rush?

What is safe for whom? Negotiating new technologies under conditions of uncertainty

Meeting the need for speed

The financial crash: lessons from pastoralists?

How to understand alignment between scientists on contested policy issues

Addressing gender disparities in tax expenditures

Urbanisation is real in SA, yet food security is still seen as a rural challenge – time for policy rethink

How to design effective Grievance Redress Mechanisms in the global South

Navigating uncertainty: introducing a new book

Future development leaders find their vocations and voices at IDS

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