Across Southern Africa, communally governed rangelands and grasslands support wildlife, vast informal economies and millions of people. There has been international interest in rangelands as spaces for landscape restoration and ecosystems management associated with ‘nature-based...
In response to the 2022 multi-country Mpox outbreak, a six-month ESRC-funded rapid research collaboration between IDS and the University of Ibadan focused on Nigeria: the country with the highest number of recorded Mpox cases in...
A networking and research initiative that aims to share and amplify stories and knowledge from the spaces, movements and struggles for the commons and against enclosures. Through research, arts, storytelling and networking, Future Natures explores the relationships, practices and values...
The System Change HIVE will explore and communicate visions of better lives to inform public thinking and work towards fairer systems that safeguard life-support systems and prioritise well-being and justice.
Crisis and hope loom large in discussions around the UN’s COP28 climate conference. Climate change continues to be discussed as a crisis that requires rapid action. Governments around the world have made sweeping pledges to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Meanwhile, businesses and...
Across the world, authoritarian, populist politics has made remarkable gains in recent years. Populist leaders have exploited poverty, inequalities, resentment and uncertainty to attract support and take power. The problems they exploit are most deeply felt in rural areas, and...
The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report is now published, and as you might expect, concerns about climate change and ecological collapse are strongly featured. Based on the views of 750 ‘global experts and decision makers’, along with facts, figures and projections from various...
If the first few weeks of 2020 are anything to go by, this year looks set to be a turbulent one. Wildfires in Australia have caused devastation. Indonesia is shocked by severe flooding in its capital. The latest chapter in conflict in the Middle East threatens to escalate, but nobody knows what...
Mpox (previously known as monkeypox) was first ‘discovered’ in 1958, though it’s only in the past year that it’s gained significant international public attention. The disease can have very visible symptoms, with painful lesions that spread all over the body in more severe cases. In...
The Politics of Uncertainty: Challenges of Transformation: Chapter 12
Current crises that link nature with human agency are increasingly described as ‘apocalyptic’, and people faced with uncertain futures continue to express their doubts, fears and hopes in spiritual terms. Religious language and practice provide ways to deal with strong emotions about...
This free book highlights some of the major findings that have emerged over the last decade of the STEPS Centre’s research on sustainable agriculture.
Mega-Infrastructure Projects (MIPs) represent a central element of globalized development. MIPs like the Chinese driven ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ (BRI) include large-scale agrarian, road, rail, port and energy networks. They are complex ventures involving international capital and multiple...
Since 2018, the PASTRES research programme, co-hosted by IDS, has explored how pastoralists navigate uncertainty in diverse settings around the world. The programme also aimed to draw lessons for other areas of life – including challenges in finance, insurance, disease outbreaks, climate...
Seven stories about living with uncertainty What are you uncertain about? If you can’t control or predict the future, how can you prepare for it? Uncertainty can be scary, but can it also be a source of hope or opportunity? In this exhibition, visitors are invited to explore seven...
If you can’t control or predict the future, how can you prepare for it? Uncertainty can be scary, but can it also be a source of hope or opportunity? A new series from the IDS co-hosted PASTRES programme of seven illustrated stories explores uncertainty in the worlds of economics, banking...