STEPS Centre Symposium at the DSA Conference The first STEPS Centre Symposium was held alongside the Development Studies Association annual conference 2007 to tie in with the theme of ‘Connecting Science, Society and Development.

The first STEPS Centre Symposium was held alongside the Development Studies Association Annual Conference to tie in with this year’s theme of Connecting Science, Society and Development. The event was held at the Institute of Development Studies.

Read about what happened at DSA 2007 with posts from all the sessions on The Crossing blog
View the final programme (pdf 97kb) for the DSA 2007.

Speaker presentations from the DSA

Paul Richards, Wageningen University: Green Revolution or What? Science and Food Security for the poor (pdf 562KB)

DSA podcasts from the IDS team:

DSA Day one: http://media.switchpod.com//users/george/Day1DSAconference.mp3
DSA Day two: http://media.switchpod.com//users/george/Day2DSAPodcast.mp3
DSA Day three: http://media.switchpod.com//users/george/Day3DSAconference.mp3

STEPS Centre programme at DSA 2007

Find out more about the STEPS Symposium panels

Join us for the STEPS drinks reception on the first evening of the DSA conference, 18 September at 6.00pm

Hear from David King, UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser and Pedro Sanchez, Scientific Director of UN Millennium project as well as members of the STEPS Centre and advisory committee at the main DSA plenary sessions, including: Prof. Judi Wakhungu, Prof. Sheila Jasanoff, Prof. Erik Millstone and David Dickson

STEPS Symposium panels, running throughout DSA 2007:

• Pathways to sustainability: Linking technology, poverty reduction and social justice. Tues 18 Sept, 4pm-5.30pm
• Peri-urban dynamics and sustainability challenges. Wed 19 Sept, 11.15am-12.45pm
• Technologies spiralling out of control? Politics and ethics of risk and regulation of agro-biotechnology. Wed 19 Sept, 4pm-5.30pm
• Examining the ‘pro-poor consensus’ on agricultural biotechnology: a moveable boundary between public and private? Thurs 20 Sept, 11.15am-12.45pm

DSA 2007 Conference

‘Connecting Science, Society and Development’.

Rapid advances in science and technology create both opportunities and threats, and increasingly attract attention from policymakers, the media and researchers. What can development studies contribute to understanding these trends, and influencing processes and outcomes in innovations in order to ensure maximum benefit for the poor?

These and other questions will be addressed at this year’s annual UK DSA Conference, hosted at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex.

Speakers include:

David King, UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser
Sheila Jasanoff, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard and STEPS Centre Advisory Board member
Pedro Sanchez, Scientific Director of UN Millennium project
Judi Wakhungu, African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS), Kenya and chair of the STEPS Centre Advisory Board

Working groups will be held on themes including agricultural technology and development, technological innovation, biotechnology and the media, Information and Communication Techologies (ICTs) and development, and science and gender.

The DSA of the UK and Ireland represents the strongest and most coherent national platform for development studies within Europe. It provides a ‘space’ where people can meet, exchange information, resources and, more importantly, make contacts that will forge a greater understanding of the underlying causes of poverty and how best to address them. The DSA’s Annual Conference is one such forum. There are also over 20 active study groups that meet regularly throughout the year around the country on a wide variety of subjects. Visit the website on www.devstud.org.uk for more information on the Conference, other meetings and Study Group activity.