STEPS (Social, Technological and Environmental Pathways to Sustainability) Centre

Completed

Not Energy Related
Other Cross-Cutting Technologies or Research(Environmental, social and economic impacts)

Basic and strategic applied research

SOCIAL SCIENCES (Development Studies)

Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Environmental dimensions)
Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Other sociological economical and environmental impact of energy)
Other (Studies not related to a specific technology area)

Professor I Scoones
Research Department
Institute of Development Studies

Standard

ESRC

01 January 2018

31 December 2021

48 months

£996,159

South East

Economic, Performance & Environment

Professor I Scoones, Research Department, Institute of Development Studies

Dr JM Apgar, Research Department, Institute of Development Studies
Dr S Arora, School of Business Management &Economics, University of Sussex
Dr R Cairns, School of Business Management &Economics, University of Sussex
Dr A Ely, School of Business Management &Economics, University of Sussex
Dr A Huff, Research Department, Institute of Development Studies
Dr J Lind, Research Department, Institute of Development Studies
Dr V Manimegalai, UNLISTED, Madras Institute of Development Studies
Professor F Marshall, School of Business Management &Economics, University of Sussex
Dr L Mehta, Research Department, Institute of Development Studies
Dr A Menon, UNLISTED, Madras Institute of Development Studies
Dr L Naess, Research Department, Institute of Development Studies
Dr C Ochieng, Sci and Tech Policy Analysis and Trainin, African Centre for Technology Studies
Dr DG Ockwell, Sch of Global Studies, University of Sussex
Dr S Srivastava, Research Department, Institute of Development Studies
Professor A Stirling, Sci and Tech Policy Res Unit, University of Sussex

The ESRC STEPS Centre's transition phase will have the following objectives:- To sustain the Centre as a global platform for knowledge exchange, influencing and impact on global sustainability, linked to the Sustainable Development Goals.- To convene a series of major events, with each year focusing on a different theme (transformations, uncertainties, natures and methods), contributing to the continued development of the STEPS pathways approach, and providing a focus for transdisciplinary exchange and policy influencing.- To support the STEPS Global Consortium, and its long-term existence through capacity building and fundraising.- To train a next generation of sustainability professionals through the delivery of the annual STEPS Summer School, and associated e-learning site.- To continue to experiment with and share methods for opening up and broadening out research analysis and policy appraisal, and documenting these on the STEPS methods portal.- To enhance the reach and impact of the Centre and wider Consortium through a range of web-based and social media activities linked to STEPS core activities and those of affiliated projects, in order to generate international economic and societal impacts.A central feature of this phase will be to link research with action through moving further with forging links between researchers and social movements and activists. Through affiliated projects, we will be working in transdisciplinary ways on sustainability challenges across STEPS Centre's domains - including climate/energy, food/agriculture, health/disease, water/sanitation and urban development - and through this work, we will explore the possibilities and constraints of transformative pathways to sustainability.

The ESRC STEPS Centre will link research with action in the exploration of transformative pathways to sustainability. The Centre is part of an emerging STEPS Global Consortium with six hubs across five continents. Work on energy/climate, food/agriculture, health/disease, water/sanitation and urban development will continue through affiliated projects. The STEPS Centre's conceptual and methodological perspective - the 'pathways approach' will continue to be extended, and will provide a focus for debate about what works for sustainability transformations across domains.The transition funding for the Centre will focus on a series of core platform functions, including convening/debating (through an annual event series on global sustainability challenges, including conceptual, methodological and practical policy questions), networking/partnerships (through the continued development of the Global Consortium), influencing/engaging (through linking research and events to policy and action, especially through building links between researchers and social movements/activists working on sustainability transformations across the world), and capacity building (through the training of early career sustainability professionals at the annual Summer School, as well as mentoring and support across the Global Consortium in a range of research, communications, impact and engagement functions).The communications capacity of the Centre will continue to be enhanced through web based and social media capacities, as well as new links to arts and design. Over four years, the global standing of the Centre as a hub for knowledge exchange and policy influencing, particularly around the SDGs, will grow, along with its long-term institutional and financial sustainability.

08/02/18