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 IDS Working Paper explores the labour trajectories and aspirations, and the labour intermediaries of Nepali ‘Adult Entertainment Sector’ (‘AES’) workers. Our research objective was to understand these experiences to develop more effective policies and interventions to prevent human...
In today’s uncertain world, having a sense of what the future holds is vital. This is why biblical predictions and prophecies hold so much cachet, offering hope in times of turmoil. While religion may be the ‘opium of the people’ it can provide a sense of direction when none seem...
Despite a growing focus on the justice dimensions of climate and environmental change, this issue of the IDS Bulletin argues that there are still ‘blind spots’ in dominant mainstream approaches to climate and environmental justice. These approaches share a tendency to place growth, not...
National tax administrations are increasingly investing in the digital facilities needed to make it possible for taxpayers to go online both to file their routine tax returns (e-filing) and remit the tax payments due (e-payment). These facilities potentially benefit both taxpayers and tax...
Pastoralists have often been pitted against conservationists. A colonial vision of ‘forests’ continues to enclose certain areas and exclude local pastoralists from accessing their habitats. Take the example of the Rabari pastoralists in India evicted from the Gir National Park or the recent...
On December 7 and 8, over 100 policymakers, researchers, members of civil society, and other stakeholders will gather at the Radisson Blu in Freetown for a conference on the topic of tax for development in Sierra Leone.
The event is hosted by the International Centre for Tax and Development...
South Africa is the only country in sub-Saharan Africa to have enacted a carbon tax to date. Although the country was ahead of the curve when it began considering the tax’s implementation in 2010, it took until 2019 for the Carbon Tax Act to be passed (RSA 2019).
By this time 58 carbon taxes...
As they increasingly adopt digital infrastructure, public administrations worldwide are increasingly collecting, generating and managing data. Empirical researchers are, at the same time, collaborating more and more with administrations, accessing vast amounts of data, and setting new research...
Poonam Pandey is a Maria Zambrano fellow at the Post-Growth Innovation lab, University of Vigo, Spain. She was co-investigator the IDS project 'Green Revolutions in Brazil, China and India: epic narratives of the past and today's South-South technology transfers'.
The Genetically Modified (GM)...
How can the arts be used in environmental communication and dialogue? We present experiences using arts-led deliberation from across Africa. Citizens, researchers, activists, policy actors, artists and others are welcome.
Watch now
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3Q-wul9fjU
Activists and...
Between 7-19 December, delegates from nearly 200 countries will gather in Montreal for Biodiversity COP15, the first UN conference on biodiversity since 2018. Touted as a ‘make or break’ moment following the failure to meet any of the Aichi targets on biodiversity between 2011-2020,...
Join us ahead of Genocide Prevention Day to listen to women from Iraq’s diverse ethnic and religious communities who share their research and experiences of historical and contemporary injustices and how communities are mobilizing for recognition and redress. These communities still bear the...
7 December 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).