By Adrian Ely, Anabel Marin and Sam Geall Research at the STEPS Centre addresses sustainable development challenges that are felt both globally and locally. Over the last two months three events have reinforced the international linkages within our work, illustrating the interconnectedness and similarity of diverse efforts of researchers and civil society groups across the…
Seed Laws… Government Advocacy and Grassroots Action
‘Thousands of models’: Planetary boundaries, values & power
The role of current patterns of human habitation in earth systems processes is pushing beyond planetary boundaries; which is to say our impacts on climate and biosphere risk tipping our environments into states dangerous to our societies. As Katherine Richardson from Copenhagen University puts it, “Earth is familiar with large environmental changes, but modern human…
COP20: Research from the edge
The UN Climate Change Conference (COP20) in Lima, Peru (1-12 December 2014) will settle the key elements of a global climate deal to be finalised in Paris next year, when the deadline for a new deal runs out. The ESRC STEPS Centre and its partners around the world have been working on policy-relevant research in…
A day with Argentina’s ‘street engineers’
They take pride in what they do at the Reciclando Sueños co-operative. Situated in the La Matanza district of greater Buenos Aires, the workers describe themselves as cartoneros profesionales (professional recyclers) and ingenieros callejeros (street engineers). Whilst some in the city see waste picking as a lowly activity, these workers consider themselves to be providing…
Recordando el Plan de Lucas: que nos puede decir el movimiento para producción social útil sobre la innovación inclusiva hoy?
This post is a translated and edited version of an article first published in English on the Guardian’s Political Science blog En enero de 1976 los trabajadores de Lucas Aerospace publicaron un plan alternativo para el futuro de su empresa manufacturera. Fue una respuesta novedosa a los anuncios que miles de despidos porrazones de reestructuración…
Technology & democracy: the story of Brazil’s Social Technology Network
A new STEPS working paper tells the story of a recent experiment in grassroots innovation – the Social Technology Network (STN) in Brazil. The paper, by Mariano Fressoli and Rafael Dias, is linked to our project on historical and comparative perspectives on grassroots innovation. Formed in 2004, the STN was a ‘hybrid’, involving social movements,…
Call for participation: Engineering, social justice & peace, Argentina
The Network on Engineering, Social Justice and Peace (ESJP) has issued a call for participation ahead of its Annual Meeting in Buenos Aires in August 2014. STEPS Centre member Adrian Smith is among the speakers. Conference themes include: How can engineering and engineers contribute to community development? How can engineering and engineers contribute to the…
Call for abstracts: ‘Innovation for social inclusion’, 4s/ESOCITE meeting (August 2014)
STEPS member Adrian Smith (convenor of our Grassroots Innovation project) is co-organising a session on ‘innovation for social inclusion’ at the ESOCITE/Society for Social Studies of Science (4s) annual meeting next August. The meeting takes place from 20-23 August 2014 in Buenos Aires. Full details of the meeting are on the 4s website, and the…
NEW PAPER: LESSONS FROM LATIN AMERICA
A new STEPS Centre paper, by Elisa Arond, Iokiñe Rodríguez, Valeria Arza, Francisco Herrera and Myriam Sánchez, investigates the challenges of linking science, technology and innovation to social needs, in the context of Latin America. Innovation, Sustainability, Development and Social Inclusion: Lessons from Latin America is one of a series of working papers relating regional…
SHIT AND CITIZENSHIP
In the last 15 years, the way sanitation is treated in Brazil has changed dramatically. The picture of poor investment and danger to public health is being replaced by climbing investment and a vision of sanitation as an issue of rights, dignity and equity. The seminar “Shit and Citizenship: The Political Economy of Sanitation Investment…