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.
Watch the session recording here
https://youtu.be/eX6-noNW-Xc
Join the Rejuvenate project for their next dialogue for academics and practitioners working in the field of child and youth rights and participation.
Young people do not necessarily view uncertainty in their lives as negative,...
The human tragedy of Covid-19 has provided a challenging research environment that has tested the ability of development donors to rapidly mobilise funding and support impact. A new report by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), shows that social science and life science research across...
This report is based on an analysis of 90 research projects supported by the Covid Collective, COVID CIRCLE, and Covid Response for Equity (CORE) initiatives. It provides an overview and insight into how different funders and initiatives were working to facilitate change in the context of the...
The Knowledge, Evidence and Learning for Development (K4D) Programme is hosting an event on 21 September to discuss the importance of putting evidence into action during turbulent times.
Crisis and complexity define the current political, social, and economic landscape. Increased global...
This paper describes the research design for investigating and evaluating the Child Labour: Action-Research-Innovation in South and South-Eastern Asia (CLARISSA) social protection cash-plus intervention in a slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
This resource toolkit has been produced by the Knowledge, Evidence and Learning for Development (K4D) Programme in partnership with the Health Systems Team in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) Human Development Department and renowned global health systems expert Prof. Sophie...
This report from the Knowledge, Evidence and Learning for Development (K4D) Programme sets out to map the different guidance documents available on how to work most effectively with civil society in the delivery of international aid in ways that deepen democracy and advance the rights of...
This Briefing Note from the Knowledge, Evidence and Learning for Development (K4D) Programme responds to key challenges articulated by Foreign, Commonwealth & Development (FCDO) staff in monitoring how, and the extent to which, programming, policy and humanitarian interventions in crisis...
Another new book from the ever-impressive Unit of Zimbabwe Studies at Rhodes University, led by Kirk Helliker, is now out. It is called Livelihoods of Ethnic Minorities in Rural Zimbabwe and is edited by Kirk Helliker, Patience Chadambuka and Joshua Matanzima with 11 excellent chapters based...
Very little is known about why taxpayers in sub-Saharan Africa pay their taxes. This article reports results from a nationwide randomized controlled trial in Eswatini, nudging more than 20,000 income tax payers with behaviorally-informed mailings, building on deterrence, facilitation, and trust...
Scholars have long debated formalizing the informal sector through taxation, but how do these processes affect gender inequalities? Our study in Nigerian markets contributes a gender framework to the equitable taxation literature on formalization.
The study draws on a survey of 451 traders in...
In this blog, Founder and Director of On Think Tanks, Enrique Mendizabal, reflects on a joint research project with IDS which seeks to take a new approach, exploring Knowledge Translation in the Global South.
Knowledge translation (KT) practice has evolved over the decades. Research on KT...
Enrique Mendizabal
7 September 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).