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 1261–1272 of 14671 results

Opinion

Holding the Private Sector Accountable in Development: The Case of Southern Water

Bruna Viana & 2 others

24 March 2022

Brief

Impact of Vietnam’s Covid-19 Response on Vulnerable Groups

IDS Policy Briefing 191

Our research shows how Vietnam’s Covid-19 policy response has influenced Vietnamese migrant workers and counter-trafficking work, particularly in border areas.

Thao Ngoc Do & 3 others

24 March 2022

Past Event

CSW66 Side Event: Why Covid-19 recovery must be gender-responsive

This panel discussion will delve into the evidence generated by the CORE research initiative. Speakers will explore the impact the pandemic is having across the most vulnerable groups, how gender intersects and often exacerbates these effects and what recommendations for future policy responses...

24 March 2022

News

New podcast on how citizen action tackles the big global challenges

In this new episode of the IDS podcast Between the Lines, IDS Research Fellow John Gaventa interviews Ben Jackson and Harriet Lamb, authors of the book From Anger to Action: Inside the Global Movements for Social Justice, Peace, and a Sustainable Planet. Questions asked amongst others include:...

23 March 2022

Opinion

Rising groundwater and collapsing latrines in Gulu, Uganda

22 March 2022

Opinion

The mirage of water in Kuttanad: a photostory

Kuttanad, in Kerela, India, is a tourist hotspot surrounded by water and wetlands. Yet its water resources have come under considerable pressure in recent years and have become contaminated and depleted. On World Water Day 2022, we use photos to highlight the everyday challenges faced by...

22 March 2022

Opinion

Why we should frame water as a climate connector this World Water Day

In most policy discussions, “water” has a very narrow definition in colloquial language. However, a broader, pragmatic, and positive set of talking points about water can serve as a powerful diplomatic tool for communicating coherence and resilience across sectors. In the words of a former...

John Matthews

22 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).