What methods can help to ‘open up’ and ‘broaden out’ pathways to sustainability, revealing alternatives to one-track visions of progress and expertise? Sustainability challenges – from Covid-19 to climate change,…
The ‘Methods bazaar’: what did we learn about transdisciplinary methods for sustainability?
COP26: Two worlds talked past each other – or never even met
At the 2021 UN climate change conference in Glasgow, moving between the corporate slickness of the official “Blue Zone” (a UN-managed space which hosts the negotiations) and the wider fringe…
Land reform in the UK: reporting from the Mass Trespass
Access to land is not only a concern in places like Zimbabwe. In England, less than 1% of the population own half the land and 92% of land is out…
Degrowth and the pluriverse: continued coloniality or intercultural revolution?
by Saurabh Arora and Andy Stirling UPDATE – 12 May 2021: Timothée Parrique, researcher and author on degrowth, has posted a response to this essay on his website. “And then…
To meet the Sustainable Development Goals, we must transform innovation
By Saurabh Arora and Andy Stirling This blogpost is republished from STRINGS (Steering Research and Innovation for Global Goals). In 1925, Mahatma Gandhi famously included ‘science without humanity’ and ‘knowledge…
Waves of challenging research for sustainability
by Patricia Pérez Belmont, Umbela Transformaciones Sostenibles How can research methods inform and catalyse change towards more sustainable worlds? Last month, the STEPS Centre held an online event to launch…
A crossroads for ‘genome editing’ in Europe – questions, options and dilemmas
A new policy briefing on genome editing discusses choices and dilemmas facing policy makers and societal stakeholders in the European Union and the United Kingdom. The UK is considering changing…
Post-pandemic transformations: new directions for development studies?
by Melissa Leach, Hayley MacGregor and Ian Scoones Does the pandemic reveal new directions for development studies? This was the focus of discussion at a recent IDS seminar. A new…
Challenging sustainability research: how can methods make a difference?
by Marina Apgar and Rose Cairns, Methods theme convenors In this introductory blogpost for the STEPS theme on Methods, we discuss three meanings of sustainability research as ‘challenging research’. Methods…
The STEPS Centre’s final year: reflections on a 15-year journey
by Ian Scoones and Andy Stirling, STEPS co-directors 2021 is the final year of the ESRC STEPS Centre. Established in 2006, but with an even longer backstory, we have come…