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.
The world has been reeling in shock at the devastation being caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Beyond the grave and urgent humanitarian needs for the people of Ukraine, and the millions now displaced, the impacts of the war will potentially be wide reaching and have long-term...
Multiple development actors are interested in stimulating more inclusive fiscal governance. Efforts to generate greater budget transparency, citizen participation in resource allocation, and public oversight of government spending are commonplace. How can development donors and lenders support...
This Handbook has been created for development partners and civil society actors that design and implement youth employment interventions, particularly in contexts marked by fragility and political-economic crises.
Youth employment programmes usually strengthen young people’s business...
In a context of violent conflict, widespread suffering and displacement, social protection is still being delivered in Ukraine. To understand how social protection is being mobilised in this context, Bozena Sojka, with Paul Harvey and Rachel Slater from the Better Assistance in Crises (BASIC)...
IDS Emeritus Professorial Fellow Stephany Griffiths-Jones has been appointed to the Board of the Central Bank of Chile, after receiving 32 votes in favour from the Chilean Senate. A highly regarded economist, Stephany was unanimously voted onto the board, with no abstentions or votes...
Based on a review of the diverse practices of how armed groups tax, we highlight that a full account of why armed groups tax needs to go beyond revenue motivations, to also engage with explanations related to ideology, legitimacy, institution building, legibility and control of populations,...
In this IDS-CIRCY seminar, Professor Jessica Taft traces the complex dynamics of age-based power in children’s movements. Unpacking ideas about ‘kids being in charge’ it explores the possibilities and challenges for contesting the accumulation of power and authority in the hands of older...
It has been widely assumed that market mechanisms are central in incentivizing the development of sustainable innovations and that market formation is critical for the diffusion of innovations. We challenge the centrality of markets in understanding and promoting the development and diffusion of...
In late 2020, ‘vaccine preparedness’ became an established goal of efforts to control the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Throughout the second year of the pandemic, vaccination moved to the forefront of global debate and policy. The remarkable speed and success of vaccine development for Covid-19...
Development outcomes of inclusive business programmes are not self-evident. These programmes operate in dynamic markets full of uncertainties and depend on many other factors not under their control. Building on real-world experiences with theory-based evaluation in inclusive business...
11 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).