Sustainability

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.

People

Lyla Mehta

Professorial Fellow

Ian Scoones

Professorial Fellow

Amber Huff

Resource Politics and Environmental Change Cluster Lead

Jeremy Allouche

Professorial Fellow

Lars Otto Naess

Resource Politics and Environmental Change Cluster Lead

Wei Shen

Research Fellow

Shilpi Srivastava

Research Fellow

Programmes and centres

Recent work

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Showing 1249–1260 of 14678 results

Working Paper

Accountability in Crises: Connecting Evidence from Humanitarian and Social Protection Approaches to Social Assistance

BASIC Research Working Paper 13

This paper seeks to connect evidence from humanitarian and development accountability approaches to better understand the linkages and disconnects, and to identify opportunities for future research and learning.

31 March 2022

Report

WASH and Older People

Today, people worldwide can expect to live into their 60s and beyond. There are estimated to be around 900 million older adults (aged 60 years and above), around 13 per cent of the world population There are estimated to be around 900 million older adults (aged 60 years and above), around 13...

Sue Cavill & 6 others

30 March 2022

News

Five books on sustainability now fully open access

Five titles from the STEPS Centre’s Pathways to Sustainability book series have been made open access for the first time, making them freely available to download, read and share. The new open access titles include the first comprehensive discussion of the pathways approach, Dynamic...

30 March 2022

Past Event

Pakistan Hub webinar series

The rise of populism in South Asia

In this distinguished lecture the speakers examine the relationship between the leftist populists of the 1970s and the right-wing populists of the 2010s and explore whether their authoritarian practices differ. Watch the recording India has long held an exceptional status as the most...

30 March 2022

Past Event

Social assistance in crises roundtable: knowledge gaps and policy challenges

BASIC (Better Assistance in Crises) Research is a Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) funded programme examining why, how and when to use social protection approaches in different crisis contexts, to deliver more effective social assistance so that vulnerable people cope better...

30 March 2022

Journal Article

Social Accountability and Health Systems’ Change, Beyond the Shock of Covid-19: Drawing on Histories of Technical and Activist Approaches to Rethink a Shared Code of Practice

Background: Recognition of the value of “social accountability” to improve health systems performance and to address health inequities, has increased over the last decades, with different schools of thought engaging in robust dialogue. This article explores the tensions between health policy...

Erica Nelson
Erica Nelson & 3 others

29 March 2022

Why learn with us.

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).