STEPS at Transformations 2019

Members of the STEPS Centre, including the global consortium, will be presenting at and facilitating various sessions at Transformations 2019 in Santiago, Chile. The conference is a fantastic opportunity for…

Local knowledge and ideas are key to action on climate disruption

Press release, 20 September 2019 Vulnerable coastal areas of South Asia face a ‘perfect storm’ of increasing climate uncertainties combined with threats to livelihoods from inequality, industrial development and marginalisation,…

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In turbulent times, how can science, technology and innovation be joined up?

Co-operating across national borders is difficult, but the UN has recently been working on a more co-ordinated approach for science and technology to contribute to development goals. The rise of…

STEPS co-director Ian Scoones awarded Ester Boserup prize for research on development

Ian Scoones, Professorial Fellow at IDS and co-director of the ESRC STEPS Centre has been awarded the 2019 Ester Boserup prize for research on development. In a lecture on 14…

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New papers explore heated debates in agronomy for development

A special issue of Experimental Agriculture, ‘Doing Development-Oriented Agronomy: Rethinking Methods, Concepts and Direction’ brings together a selection of papers that not only present agronomic research findings, but critically review orientations, methodologies…

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Uncertainty, politics and science

STEPS co-director Andy Stirling has written a series of three blog posts to introduce the STEPS Centre’s theme for 2019: Uncertainty. In the series, he explores how uncertainty is framed…

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Preparing for pandemics and the role of uncertainty explored in new project

The Institute of Development Studies (IDS) has announced a new project funded by the Wellcome Trust: Pandemic Preparedness: local and global concepts and practices in tackling disease threats in Africa….

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Call for abstracts: ‘Post-automation’ Symposium, September 2019

A call for paper proposals has been issued for an international symposium on ‘post-automation’ at the University of Sussex in September 2019. STEPS members Adrian Smith (SPRU, University of Sussex)…

pastoralist with sheep in a mountainous landscape

How do pastoralists handle uncertainty? Insights from Asia, Europe and Africa

Pastoralists are experts in uncertainty. In a series of 3 blog posts, STEPS director Ian Scoones reports back from visits to the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, Isiolo (Northern Kenya) and…