A new Open Access Special Issue in World Development based on our work on the changing role of China and Brazil in Africa’s agriculture is now available (links to individual…
Are China and Brazil transforming African agriculture?
Outgrowing the twin simplifications of Growth and Degrowth: part 2
This is the second of a series of 3 blogs by STEPS co-director Andy Stirling, responding to the ideas of Giorgos Kallis on the ‘degrowth hypothesis’. Read Part 1 and…
Video: Dominic Glover on agricultural biotech and smallholder farmers
STEPS member Dominic Glover spoke yesterday at the FAO’s International Symposium on “The Role of Agricultural Biotechnologies in Sustainable Food Systems and Nutrition”. Dominic’s presentation focused on the need to…
India’s seed sector is flourishing. Could African farmers benefit?
Africa’s farmers need quality seeds but the seed sector in Africa has often struggled to meet this need. The continent’s share in the global seed trade is very low, seed…
Call for papers: EASST/4S session on makers, manufacturers and politics of digital fabrication
STEPS member Adrian Smith is one of the organisers of a session at this year’s EASST/4S conference. The session title is ‘Digital fabrications amongst hackers, makers and manufacturers: whose “industrial…
COP21: How can climate-friendly innovation flourish in developing countries?
For low carbon development to work well, innovation is crucial. Both technological hardware like solar panels and grids, and social and institutional structures, need to change as the world looks…
Why climate negotiations should tackle ‘technology injustice’
Climate change is already causing harm to vulnerable people and will continue to do so. If we accept that mitigation and adaptation alone cannot avoid all the adverse impacts of…
Opening up democratic politics for sustainable development: reflections from STEPS America Latina
The event that launched STEPS América Latina earlier this month, ‘Opening up the development agenda’, was a great workshop. It’s rare for a meeting of this kind to be so…
What are we doing when we do open science and inclusive innovation?
Last week I participated in the ‘launch’ event of STEPS América Latina, as part of ongoing work with researchers in the region. There, as elsewhere, we are exploring the politics…
Sharing the Open Source Seed Initiative at STEPS América Latina
by Claire Luby, Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI) Claire Luby presented her work at the STEPS América Latina launch event in November 2015, as part of a panel on ‘horizontal…