Our interdisciplinary research explores how pathways to sustainability, green transformations and equitable access to resources such as land, water and food can be achieved and help us meet the environmental as well as human development-related goals of the UN Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development.
Our work builds on a long tradition of critical social science engagement with environmental issues and resource politics in collaboration with partners globally. It explores how pathways to sustainability are shaped by political-economic and social processes, and understands how they are driven by technology, markets, states and citizens. Our research sheds new light on how we can achieve green transformations that move us from fossil fuel to renewable energy, from throw-away to circular economies. It addresses the politics of sustainability, and understands how transformations occur at local levels as well as global, in both rural and urban settings, and be led by citizens as well as national governments. In doing so, it shines a light on how sustainable resource use, consumption and production is shaped by issues such as gender, livelihoods and politics.
The ESRC STEPS Centre (Social, Technological and Environmental Pathways to Sustainability) is an interdisciplinary global research and policy engagement centre.
This Knowledge, Evidence and Learning for Development (K4D) Programme Helpdesk Report synthesises the literature from academic sources, knowledge institutions, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and trusted independent media outlets on the approach used by the Russian government to provide...
There have been multiple efforts in recent years to introduce cash transfers complemented by livelihood support in protracted crisis contexts. This approach to strengthening livelihoods is known as ‘cash-plus’, graduation, or economic inclusion programming.
While cash alone can assist...
Children and young people are engaged with contradictions and tensions, and ethical and existential questions, in their everyday lives. They are already grappling with many uncertainties, including the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change. This Sussex Development Lecture will explore the power...
The Institute of Development Studies (IDS) has been ranked first in the world for development studies, together with the University of Sussex, in the latest QS University Rankings by Subject released today (6 April).
Our degrees are delivered in partnership with the University of Sussex who...
This webinar will introduce the recently published guidelines and framework for monitoring and evaluation of rural sanitation and hygiene, and explain some of the main features of the documents.
Andy Robinson, author of the guidelines and framework, will discuss the aims of the work, and how...
Dr. Esther Duflo is the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics in the Department of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a co-founder of J-PAL. In her research, she seeks to understand the economic lives of the poor, with the aim to...
The book Revolutionizing Development: Reflections on the work of Robert Chambers, edited By Andrea Cornwall and Ian Scoones has now been made fully open access and can be read for free from the publisher’s website.
This new edition has been made open access to coincide with...
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has today published its Sixth Assessment Report on the mitigation of climate change. Written by leading climate scientists from around the world, it details the progress made in limiting global emissions and the available mitigation options...
On 30 March 2022, Better Assistance in Crises (BASIC) Research facilitated a virtual roundtable with 76 participants on the knowledge gaps and policy challenges for social assistance in protracted crises.
Watch the recording
https://youtu.be/RoU3BemP52U
Learning from current crises
One...
This paper focuses on how soft skills in female entrepreneurship programmes strengthen agency and impact economic empowerment of women entrepreneurs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
The IDS-led Coalition for Religious Equality and Inclusive Development (CREID) was delighted to welcome two delegations last week from the University of Mosul, led by its President Professor Dr Kossay Al-Ahmady, and from the University of Duhok, led by Dr Lukman Hasan, Vice President for...
In an extraordinary time of challenge and change, we use more than 50 years of expertise to transform development approaches that create more equitable and sustainable futures. The work you do with us will help make progressive change towards universal development; to build and connect solidarities for collective action, locally and globally. The University of Sussex has been ranked 1st in the world for Development Studies for the past five years (QS World University Rankings by Subject).