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 increased frequency and severity of droughts across Europe, the Arab region, and the Horn of Africa illustrate that climate and water are inextricably linked. This World Water Week, we must consider how to mainstream water into climate policy in the run-up to COP27. To reflect on this...
The wide diffusion of ideas and focus of funders around the 17 Sustainable Development Goals released by the UN, suggest that the era of predominance of economic growth as the main driver of welfare is over. The notion that we should first grow and then worry about poverty reduction, education,...
Tahira Mohamed has been working with pastoralists in Isiolo County, Northern Kenya, during her doctoral research with the PASTRES programme. In this short video, she explains her findings and why they challenge assumptions about how pastoralists live and work.
This is the 29th monthly Knowledge, Evidence and Learning for Development (K4D) Programme’s Humanitarian Evidence and Discourse Summary, signposting to the latest relevant evidence and discourse on humanitarian action to inform and support their response.
It is the result of one day of work...
This rapid review from the Knowledge, Evidence and Learning for Development (K4D) Programme looks at various constitutional courts established in transitional, fragile and conflict-affected contexts—the approaches adopted, sequencing in their establishment, and experiences with political...
The climate emergency is contributing to an unprecedented 828 million hungry people across the world, along with Covid-19, conflict and rising costs. As a result, many are reliant on urgent humanitarian food assistance to try and alleviate their hunger.
Women and girls are deeply affected, with...
Sewage has been pouring into seas and onto beaches in England and Wales. A stark reminder - we must maintain and upgrade sewage and wastewater systems to adapt to changing needs and a changing climate.
The IDS-led international research programme, Action for Empowerment and Accountability (A4EA) concluded in 2021 with a powerful final report, ‘Against the Odds’, which shares new insights on how accountability, governance and citizen empowerment play out differently in fragile and...
This Research and Evidence Paper presents the theory-based and participatory evaluation design of the Child Labour: Action-Research- Innovation in South and South-Eastern Asia (CLARISSA) programme.
The empirical evidence on the drivers of compliance is expanding quickly, but there is less evidence from low-income countries. Mass-media communication channels are a cheap option that budget-constrained revenue administrations can use to communicate with
taxpayers. However, very little is...
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.
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).