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.
Through a real time analysis of the Covid-19 pandemic across rural Zimbabwe, this Working Paper explores the competing narratives that framed responses and their politics.
In this third blog in our series ‘Lessons on using Contribution Analysis for impact evaluation’ we give an example of how a contribution analysis inspired approach was used in a short four-month consultancy project.
We supported the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in a...
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.
As the UK's cost of living crisis bites, new research shows that 1 in 10 of England’s poorest households (9 percent) reduce spending on food or clothes to afford phone or home internet, whilst almost 1 in 5 (17 percent) run out of data before the end of each month.
With many essential...
Low-income countries are facing strong pressure to bring in more revenue at home. With digital financial services (DFS) rapidly expanding across Africa and other low-income countries a growing number are therefore considering new taxes on DFS.
In light of the heated debate over DFS taxes, this...
For students looking to start their postgraduate degree in international development this autumn and for anyone with an interest in development studies, we have put together a selection of recently published books which IDS staff have recommended as essential reading.
These books cover a...
Small food businesses are vital to delivering affordable, nutritious food to low-income communities. Yet food systems are under threat from multiple stressors.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a global crisis affecting everyone. Yet, its challenges and countermeasures vary significantly over time and space. Individual experiences of the pandemic are highly heterogeneous and its impacts span and interlink multiple dimensions, such as health, economic, social...
In the past year, O’bai Conteh made an important contribution to addressing sexual and reproductive health in his home country Sierra Leone. O’bai’s studies at IDS were supported by the IDS Graduate Scholarship. O’bai graduated from the IDS MA Gender and Development in 2018 and is...
Masresha Taye has been working with pastoralists and those involved in providing insurance in the Borana area, in southern Ethiopia. In this short video, he discusses insights from his doctoral research with PASTRES.
In this episode of the IDS Between the Lines podcast, IDS Fellow Amrita Saha interviews James Bacchus about his book: Trade Links: New Rules for a New World. James is a Distinguished University Professor of Global Affairs and Director of the Center for Global Economic and Environmental...
Global crises generate many questions which need to be answered, often very rapidly. The social science researchers who dedicate so much time, commitment and effort to addressing these questions are quite familiar with turbulence and uncertainty. Many are, by necessity, ready and willing to...
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).