Project

PASTRES: Pastoralism, Uncertainty and Resilience

PASTRES (Pastoralism, Uncertainty and Resilience: Global Lessons from the Margins) was a research project which aims to learn from the ways that pastoralists respond to uncertainty, applying such ‘lessons from the margins’ to global challenges.

We aim to foster a conversation with other policy domains where uncertainty is pervasive, including financial and commodity systems, critical infrastructure management, disease outbreak response, migration policy, climate change and conflict and security governance.

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Key contacts

Project details

start date
16 July 2017
end date
15 July 2022
value
£0

Partners

People

Recent work

News

Remembering Jeremy Swift

Jeremy Swift, long-time IDS Fellow and pioneer of pastoralism studies, sadly passed away on the 22 December 2024. Born on 28 May 1939, he studied Zoology and English (1958-1962) at Oxford for his undergraduate degree. He went on to work for IUCN (International Union for Conservation of...

16 January 2025

Past Event

Navigating uncertainty: Radical rethinking for a turbulent World

In this talk, Ian Scoones will introduces his new book, Navigating Uncertainty: Radical Rethinking for a Turbulent World (Polity Books, 2024). Watch now https://www.youtube.com/live/1fT6IjZgojo?si=c5fd6TuZdYe272Fj&t=81 Uncertainties are everywhere. Whether it’s climate change, financial...

3 October 2024

Impact Story

PASTRES shows pastoralism offers sustainable pathways

IDS has a strong legacy of research that has helped to shape climate and sustainability policy debates around the world. The now-completed PASTRES (Pastoralism, Uncertainty and Resilience: Global Lessons from the Margins) programme epitomises this. Its emphasis was on learning about responses...

4 August 2024

Book

Navigating Uncertainty: Radical Rethinking for a Turbulent World

Uncertainties are everywhere. Whether it’s climate change, financial volatility, pandemic outbreaks or new technologies, we don’t know what the future will hold. For many contemporary challenges, navigating uncertainty – where we cannot predict what may happen – is essential and, as the...

1 August 2024

Opinion

Flexible, hybrid land use and tenure in pastoral areas

This is the fifth in a series of blog posts that bring together PASTRES work from 2018-2023 around a number of themes. In this post, we explore the theme of land and resources. A core theme of PASTRES work has been exploring what forms of land use and tenure make sense given highly variable...

22 December 2023

Opinion

Pastoralists as Conservationists

This is the fifth in a series of blog posts that bring together PASTRES work from 2018-2023 around a number of themes. In this post, we explore the role of pastoralists in rangeland conservation. Pastoralists are often blamed for environmental destruction – not only the climate but...

18 December 2023

Opinion

Mobility is vital for successful pastoralism

This is the third in a series of blog posts that bring together PASTRES work from 2018-2023 around a number of themes. In this post, we show the importance of mobility for pastoralists. To read through our archive on this theme, click on the link at the end of this post. The ability...

15 December 2023

Opinion

Reframing analysis of ecological dynamics in rangelands of Kenya

A paper that I recently published in the journal Landscape Ecology lays out an approach for integration of social science concepts into analyses of vegetation change in rangelands of Kenya. I intended this paper to open up a reflexive dialogue between social scientists and ecologists working...

Ryan Unks, National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center

24 November 2023

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