by Kasper Ampe, Michael Kriechbaum and Sofie Sandin In June 2018 we attended the IST (International Sustainability Transitions) conference in Manchester. It was a repeat visit for all of us,…
Are alternative visions missing from the debates about sustainability transitions?
New insights on navigating complexity in development
by Marina Apgar and Eric Kasper, Institute of Development Studies The challenges of development are complex. Insights about the nature of complexity – coming from various scientific disciplines – lead…
The global food system still benefits the rich at the expense of the poor
Ramen noodles in Sweden, wheat bread in Tanzania and Chilean wines in China. The cross-Atlantic transit of the potato and the tomato from the Andes to Europe, and back again…
The Wicked Foundations of the Anthropocene
The Anthropocene describes how human society has now become the dominant force on Earth’s geology and ecosystems. The notion of the Anthropocene highlights a confounding contradiction: we have an unprecedented…
African Farmer: a new online game
African Farmer, a free, open source online game, has been launched by the Future Agricultures Consortium and the University of Sussex. The game, conceived by a team including the STEPS…
VIRUS AND BEAST: HOW ONE WORD CHANGES EVERYTHING
How does a single word affect the way we deal with a problem? Last night’s edition of All In The Mind on BBC Radio 4 offered a striking example. Researchers…
COMPLEXITY SCIENCE & DEVELOPMENT
In a world where systems change and interact unpredictably, there’s a growing interest in using complexity science to tackle questions in international development. Our director Melissa Leach spoke last month…
VIDEO: MELISSA LEACH AT NESS 2011
Melissa Leach, STEPS Centre Director, spoke at NESS 2011 (The 10th Nordic Environmental Social Science Conference) in Stockholm last week. Her talk (56 minutes), “Pathways to sustainability? Environmental social science…