The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in 2012 was another opportunity to reflect on the links between global and local sustainability. High-profile global processes, including the Convention on…
Linking global and local sustainability: new journal article
COP19: Cutting edge policy research
The ESRC STEPS Centre is seeking to address the many different impacts that climate change has on peoples’ lives and livelihoods in sustainable ways that work for people and planet, using…
New book: land deals and the state
A new book examines the state’s role in land deals through theoretical insights and empirical studies from around the globe. Governing Global Land Deals: The Role of the State in…
Living on the edge: Rethinking aid amidst complexity
By Melissa Leach, STEPS Centre director These days, a remarkably short and convenient flight takes one from Sussex UK – where among other STEPS Centre activities this week I’ve been…
From Uncertainty in India to low carbon in Kenya: Our autumn newsletter is out now
Our autumn 2013 newsletter gives a snapshot of a few of the areas we are researching right now. A new briefing looks at how people deal with uncertainty about climate, disease or natural disasters in…
Post-2015 outcome document: inclusivity needed
By Julia Day “With less than 850 days remaining.” It’s a sobering thought. If we were talking about football, we’d be well in to extra time now. As it is,…
Engaging science and politics in a Post-2015 framework
A new STEPS Centre/IDS policy briefing examines how science and politics must be engaged in a post-2015 framework in order to tackle the interlinked environmental and social justice challenges which the world faces….
Celestial (policy) navigation
by Jim Sumberg, STEPS Centre research fellow The proposition that public policy should be ‘evidence-based’ is now widely accepted (although there is still considerable contestation around the meaning, nature, types,…
Democracy in the Anthropocene? Science and Sustainable Development Goals at the UN
Melissa Leach, STEPS Centre director, was one of 28 scientists invited to attend a United Nations Expert Meeting to discuss science and Sustainable Development Goals. She reflects on the issues addressed,…
Decorating the Christmas tree with perfect Sustainable Development Goals?
By Katharina Welle, STEPS Centre PhD student The 2013 STEPS Symposium on “credibility across cultures” examined questions surrounding ‘best available’ scientific advice in relation to global policy processes on sustainable…