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Sustainability

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.

People

Melissa Leach

Emeritus Fellow

Lyla Mehta

Professorial Fellow

Ian Scoones

Professorial Fellow

Amber Huff

Research Fellow

Jeremy Allouche

Professorial Fellow

Lars Otto Naess

Research Fellow

Wei Shen

Resource Politics and Environmental Change Cluster Lead and Research Fellow

Shilpi Srivastava

Resource Politics and Environmental Change Cluster Lead and Research Fellow

Programmes and centres

Recent work

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Showing 1993–2004 of 15426 results

Publication

Water, Climate Change, and Conflict

K4D Helpdesk Report

There is a growing global water crisis and that this is one of the of the most significant threats the world is facing. Climate change is one of the key drivers of the water crisis as it changes the global water cycle, increases variability in availability and water stress and scarcity, as well...

31 March 2022

Working Paper

Accountability in Crises: Connecting Evidence from Humanitarian and Social Protection Approaches to Social Assistance

BASIC Research Working Paper 13

This paper seeks to connect evidence from humanitarian and development accountability approaches to better understand the linkages and disconnects, and to identify opportunities for future research and learning.

31 March 2022

Report

WASH and Older People

Today, people worldwide can expect to live into their 60s and beyond. There are estimated to be around 900 million older adults (aged 60 years and above), around 13 per cent of the world population There are estimated to be around 900 million older adults (aged 60 years and above), around 13...

Sue Cavill & 6 others

30 March 2022

News

Five books on sustainability now fully open access

Five titles from the STEPS Centre’s Pathways to Sustainability book series have been made open access for the first time, making them freely available to download, read and share. The new open access titles include the first comprehensive discussion of the pathways approach, Dynamic...

30 March 2022

Past Event

Pakistan Hub webinar series

The rise of populism in South Asia

In this distinguished lecture the speakers examine the relationship between the leftist populists of the 1970s and the right-wing populists of the 2010s and explore whether their authoritarian practices differ. Watch the recording India has long held an exceptional status as the most...

30 March 2022

Past Event

Social assistance in crises roundtable: knowledge gaps and policy challenges

BASIC (Better Assistance in Crises) Research is a Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) funded programme examining why, how and when to use social protection approaches in different crisis contexts, to deliver more effective social assistance so that vulnerable people cope better...

30 March 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).

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