Browse through the latest media coverage of the STEPS Centre’s work, or for pre-2012 coverage, see the archive.

28 March 2013: Democracy in the Anthropocene? Science and Sustainable Development Goals at the UN

Melissa Leach blogs for the Huffington Post about her experience of  an Expert Meeting at the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs to discuss science and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), successors to the Millennium Development Goals.

25 March 2013: Luddites of the world unite 

Blog for the Guardian by Adrian Ely, STEPS Centre head of impact and engagement, from the World Forum on Science and Democracy

22 March 2013: Are African land grabs really water grabs?

Article for CNN.com by Jennifer C Franco, Lyla Mehta (STEPS Centre water and sanitation convenor) and Gert Jan Veldwisch, CNN.com, for World Water Day 2013.

18 March 2013: Credibility Across Cultures – Expertise, Uncertainty and the Global Politics of Scientific Advice

AllAfrica.com cover the STEPS Centre’s Annual Symposium 2013.

3 March 2013: Getting with the times on scientific advice – deciding by dissensus?

Blog by Anita Makri, SciDev.Net’s opinion and special features editor, on scepticism and debate in climate change policy, reflecting on the STEPS Centre Annual Symposium.

19 Feb 2013: Well-framed science can boost its social impact

How scientific knowledge is presented in public debate, by scientists or journalists, has a big influence on its impact reports David Dickson for SciDev.net, from the STEPS Centre Annual Symposium.

14 Feb 2013: Fear of flying and the hazards of communicating risk

STEPS Centre co-director Andy Stirling blogs for the Guardian about how using numbers to communicate risk can create a false sense of certainty.

14 Feb 2013: Be open about any uncertainty in policy advice

SciDev.Net reports on the 2013 STEPS Symposium, Credibility across cultures: evidence, uncertainty and the global politics of scientific advice.

12 Feb 2013: Policymakers urged to include local knowledge in aid projects

SciDev.Net reports on the 2013 STEPS Symposium, Credibility across cultures: evidence, uncertainty and the global politics of scientific advice.

24 Jan 2013: Pandemic Flu Controversies: What Have We Learned?

Ian Scoones and Melissa Leach of the STEPS Centre, and Stefan Elbe of the University of Sussex Centre for Global Health Policy, write in the Huffington Post about lessons learned from previous pandemic flu preparedness approaches.

01 Jan 2013: Whose land is it anyway?

Ian Scoones, STEPS Centre Co-director, is interviewed in this Free Speech Radio Network documentary by Zak Brophy about land grabs, focussing on cases in Kenya.

5 Dec 2012: Sustainability gets off the ground

Melissa Leach, director of the STEPS Cente, is quoted in a Guardian article about empowering local people to tackle their own problems and what this means for global aid work.

1 Nov 2012: Land grabbing: What has changed?

Ian Scoones, co-director of the STEPS Centre, blogs for the Huffington Post on new debates emerging about land-grabbing, one of the world’s most challenging and pressing issues.

12 July 2012: Developing world: Bring order to unregulated health markets, Nature

Gerry Bloom and David Peters highlight the dangers of unregulated medical treatment, and argue that the services provided by informal providers can and must be improved.

12 July 2012: Appropriating nature? China Dialogue

Putting a value on nature once seemed at the forefront of progressive thinking, but in an interview with the Transnational Institute, Melissa Leach argues that it has instead turned into a wave of land grabbing.

20 June 2012: Q. and A.: The Dark Side to ‘Green’ Transactions, New York Times

STEPS director Melissa Leach is interviewed by Joanna M Foster for the New York Times about the appropriation of nature in the name of ‘green’ market initiatives.

20 June 2012: The dark side of the green economy: ‘Green grabbing’ by Melissa Leach, Al Jazeera

Melissa Leach blogs for Al Jazeera about fostering an agenda focused on distribution, equity and justice in green market arrangements.

18 June 2012: Homegrown solutions ‘crucial to sustainable development’  Scidev.net

Melissa Leach is interviewed by Ochieng Ogodo of Scidev.net in Rio about our new work on Transforming Innovation for Sustainability

18 June 2012: Rio+20 must make inclusive innovation stepping stone to a sustainable future, The Guardian

At Rio+20, Adrian Smith and Adrian Ely call for innovation that is inclusive in its process as well as its outcomes, considering the forms, depth and scope of this inclusion, and looking at the promise offered by grassroots innovation.

14 June 2012: Science and politics at Rio and beyond, Outreach magazine

In an article published by the Stakeholder Forum magazine Outreach, at Rio+20, Melissa Leach and Adrian Ely argue inclusive, democratic politics that respect the principles of  direction, diversity and distribution will be critical if SDGs are to build towards sustainable, fair futures.

14 June 2012: Science, politics and the post-Rio+20 agenda, Huffington Post

Melissa Leach and Adrian Ely write: “The really knotty politics about the role of science in securing a sustainable future of our planet will begin as soon as the Rio+20 Earth Summit ends.”

1 June 2012: The ‘Geeks’ Fight Back: Challenges for Science and Democracy, Huffington Post

Ian Scoones blogs for the Huffington Post about the nature of dissent, debate and deliberation in society about major technological and scientific issues, in this case, biotechnology.

4 May 2012: Edge of sustainability: why Rio+20 mustn’t ignore people on city fringe, The Guardian

As cities grow, so do the overlooked peri-urban areas. Rio+20 must ensure the poor don’t lose out from rapid urbanisation, write Fiona Marshall and Lyla Metha on Poverty Matters, the blog of the Guardian’s Global Development site.

2 May 2012: Supporting grassroots innovation: Facts and Figures, SciDev.net

Adrian Smith and colleagues Elisa Arond, Mariano Fressoli, Hernán Thomas and Dinesh Abrol explore grassroots innovations, their potential for development and challenges facing practitioners.

6 March 2012: Rio+20 and sustainable development goals, The Guardian

Why Rio+20 must not leave the politics out of sustainable development Melissa Leach, STEPS Centre director, argues on Poverty Matters, the blog of the Guardian’s Global Development site that sustainable development goals won’t have a chance if the pre-summit debate pretends problematic politics don’t matter.

21 February 2012: Energy access ahead of Rio+20, the Guardian

Achieving universal energy access Rob Byrne and Jim Watson, STEPS energy domain convenors write on Poverty Matters, the blog of the Guardian’s Global Development site. Ahead of Rio+20, Rob and Jim say energy for all is a key development aim, but realising it will require a convergence of international aid, carbon finance and government spending, with political will and good governance.