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.
Since 2016, Nigerians have experienced a stable fuel supply even if prices have continued to rise. This supply stability came to a sudden halt in January 2022, bringing back memories of long queues and harsh living conditions witnessed since 2007.
Since 2016, Nigerians have experienced a stable fuel supply even if prices have continued to rise. This supply stability came to a sudden halt in January 2022, bringing back memories of long queues and harsh living conditions witnessed since 2007.
Accessible version of IDS Policy Briefing 202. As every aspect of life – from job seeking to health care – moves online, digital connectivity is a daily necessity, not a luxury. This Policy Briefing explores the extent of digital poverty in the UK.
Healing justice is a political organising framework that aims to address the systemic causes of injustice experienced by marginalised peoples due to the harmful impacts of oppressive histories, intergenerational trauma, and structural violence.
Accessible version of IDS Policy Briefing 201. Small food businesses are vital to delivering affordable, nutritious food to low-income communities. Yet food systems are under threat from multiple stressors.
75 years ago, Britain ended its 200-year rule of India and the independent nations of Pakistan and India were born. IDS researcher Lyla Mehta who was born and raised in Bombay, India, reflects on this anniversary and today’s struggle for freedom and human rights for all.
This partition was...
Effective social assistance in protracted crises is not only about technical capacities. Politics plays a key role – from the agendas of global actors operating at the interface of social protection and humanitarian assistance, to how (contested) governance at sub-national level and below...
Research from IDS and its partners provides insights on the impacts of the past 12 months on the people of Afghanistan and what can be done to best support them.
The Taliban took back power in Afghanistan, taking over Kabul on 15 August 2021, after US-led forces withdrew from the country. The...
The impacts of Covid-19 on teaching and learning at IDS have been both challenging and radical for our postgraduate and professional learners and faculty.
Making the formal decision to teach online for the 2020–21 academic year was not easy. Substantial preparation and support went into...
How can a large scale cash transfer programme be established from scratch, quickly, and during a deep economic crisis? The Government of Sri Lanka faces that challenge. New research reveals that the problem of selecting eligible households may be much less daunting than it appears. The answer...
One year ago the Taliban took control of Afghanistan. This was preceded by existing multiple crises, including drought, Covid-19, and political insecurity, and all have affected the prospects for young women and men to develop pathways out of poverty.
What happened to Afghanistan? After the...
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).