Celestial (policy) navigation

by Jim Sumberg, STEPS Centre research fellow The proposition that public policy should be ‘evidence-based’ is now widely accepted (although there is still considerable contestation around the meaning, nature, types,…

Decorating the Christmas tree with perfect Sustainable Development Goals?

By Katharina Welle, STEPS Centre PhD student  The 2013 STEPS Symposium on “credibility across cultures” examined questions surrounding ‘best available’ scientific advice in relation to global policy processes on sustainable…

Crossing swords over science

Kendo practice / gratapictures / Flickr (cc-by-nc) By Nathan Oxley, STEPS Centre Why do words matter in the politics of science? The topic of language kept coming back again and…

What role does the scientific community have in post-2015 debates?

ECOSOC, from unisgeneva’s photostream on Flickr by Pedro Telles, MA student, Institute of Development Studies Those who work in the development field currently find themselves in tricky debates around the…

STEPS Symposium 2013: S is for Society

Susan Owens.Photo: Lance Bellers Guest blog by Sandra Pointel, Doctoral researcher, SPRU The last session of the STEPS Symposium on Credibility Across Cultures was promising. Its focus on “power, plurality…

STEPS Symposium 2013: Beyond Rio+20 – Improving global structures for scientific advice

Lidia Brito. Photo: Lance Bellers Guest blog by Ruth Segal, Doctoral Researcher, SPRU   In recent years, global initiatives have attempted to co-ordinate scientific advice and assessments – on climate…

STEPS Symposium 2013: Science and developing countries – whose expertise counts?

Dipak Gyawali at the symposium. Photo: Lance Bellers Guest blog by Rachael Taylor, PhD student, SPRU The second session of the STEPS Symposium on the global politics of scientific advice…

Anne Glover on science advice in Europe

The STEPS Centre’s symposium on the global politics of science advice looked at how evidence informs decision-making. The speakers included Prof Anne Glover, Chief Scientific Adviser to the President, European…

STEPS Symposium 2013: Photo gallery

The 2013 STEPS Symposium, Credibility Across Cultures: expertise, uncertainty and the global politics of scientific advice, was held in February 2013 at the University of Sussex. Browse the photo gallery…