Is it right to call opponents of GM crops ‘wicked’? In a recent interview, Owen Paterson denounced in starkly moralistic language people whom he sees as holding up progress on…
Good & evil: two articles on closing down the debate on GM crops
Framing impact: a simple word for a complex beast
What is this thing called “impact”? More specifically, what are we talking about when we speak of the non-academic impact of research? In this post I want to explore some…
How was a ‘policy space’ created for pastoralism in Kenya?
Pastoralism in Kenya has long been neglected and understood. Pastoralists have been seen by some as vulnerable, a source of conflict and a drain on the country’s resources. But recent…
Against ‘monocultures’ in agriculture and knowledge
Faced with the undeniable fact of hunger in developing countries, ‘sustainable intensification’ has been claimed as a science-led solution to food security. In an article for SciDev.Net, Prof Brian Wynne…
Climate change: where stereotypes go to die
What do you mean when you call someone a climate sceptic? I went to a panel discussion last Thursday evening, “Tackling scepticism: How can we most effectively communicate climate change?”…
Responsibility at the Science-Publics-Policy Interface: What I learnt at the 2013 Science in Public Conference
The village of Onna, after the 2009 L’Aquila earthquake. Photo: Darkroom_Daze (Flickr) by Stephen WhitfieldDPhil Student, Institute of Development Studies This year’s ‘Science in Public’ conference hosted by Nottingham University…
Getting the facts right on land grabs: 5 new (free) articles
As part of its series on land grabs, The Journal of Peasant Studies has released a collection of 5 new articles on the problem of recording accurate and reliable information…
New UK climate envoy, Rear Admiral Neil Morisetti, on climate change and conflict
Today’s Guardian reports comments on climate change as a global threat from the first interview with the UK’s interim Special Representative for Climate Change, Rear Admiral Neil Morisetti, since he…
Irrigation isn’t the only way to achieve food security in Ghana
Farmers attending their livestock in Northern Ghana (2012) by Ericsson Images / Flickr By Rachael Taylor, PhD studentSPRU, University of Sussex Earlier this month, a number of Members of the…
Summer School 2013 begins
Group discussion on transitions and grassroots innovation Our annual Summer School has hit the ground running, with 40 students from around the world descending on Sussex to hear and challenge…