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 paper explores how religious diversity dynamics shaped humanitarian assistance efforts in the context of large-scale displacement due to conflict in Iraq, and what actions were taken to engage with religious inequalities through programmatic responses.
Sharp increases in the cost of living – especially rises in food and energy prices – are happening across the world, pushing many into poverty and hitting the poorest the hardest. In times of crisis, communities often come together to aid and support each other, and there is a growing...
Achieving universal electrification in sub-Saharan Africa requires creative solutions. Renewable mini-grids are a promising technology to electrify remote communities with a substantial productive demand, mainly from agro-processing; however, their economic case in the sub-continent is unclear.
On International Day of Freedom of Religion or Belief, we are delighted to share our newly published eBook “What about us? Global Perspectives on Redressing Religious Inequalities”. Co-published with the IDS-led Coalition for Religious Equality and Inclusive Development (CREID), the book...
Levels of hunger and food insecurity in middle-income and high-income countries are often higher than might be expected, and in some cases are rising rather than falling in recent years.
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Levels and trends in selected food security...
The UN Security Council’s response to Ebola in 2014 legitimised militarised responses. It also influenced re-sponses to COVID-19 in some African countries. Yet, little is known about the day-to-day impacts for ordinary citizens of mobilising armies for epidemic control.
Drawing on 18 months...
IDS Cities Cluster Research Fellow Nausheen Anwar has been appointed to the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) for a new project seeking to better protect people from the growing problem of overheating indoors. The project, titled Informing Decision-Making About Indoor Heat Risks to Human Health is...
How can we make religious equality a reality for those on the margins of society and politics? This book is about the individual and collective struggles of the religiously marginalised to be recognised and their inequalities, religious or otherwise, redressed.
Join us for the launch of IDS’s first eBook What About Us? Global Perspectives on Redressing Religious Inequalities. Produced by the IDS-led Coalition Religious Equality and Inclusive Development (CREID), the book explores how we can make religious equality a reality for those on the margins...
In the global aid system, money is both a solution and a problem. A solution because the flow of resources from high income to low-income countries can help pay for crucial goods (food in hunger crises, infrastructure, support for civil society – the list is endless). But also a problem, in...
Africa’s governments need tax revenue to fund everything from education and social welfare to paying international debts. No wonder governments are eyeing digital financial services (DFS) – a rapidly growing, highly profitable industry – for additional revenue.
However, critics...
Facing the dual threat of climate change and human disturbance, Mumbai – and the world – should listen to its fishing communities
Coastal cities and settlements are at the forefront of climate disruption. Rising sea levels, warmer seas and changes in rainfall patterns are together creating...
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).