Institute for Global Sustainable Development » IGSD News

A Precarity-Resilience Special Forum is coming out soon, with our Introduction is out already!

Sun, 06 Sep 2026 15:02:00 GMT

Happy to share our newly published article - now live in Contemporary Security Policy Journal: it opens a very timely and important discussion on #precarity and #disempowerment, with implications for our political agency and action. The full Special Forum (which will come out in autumn) will look at various European and international institutions (#EU & #NATO), and countries in the wider, including #Belarus, #Uzbekistan and #Georgia. More soon! Enjoy this innovative lens into the nexus of precarity and #resilience!
Thank you to my co-editor and co-author, Professor Albena Azmanova (City London), the journal editors and all contributors:
Prof. Nathalie Tocci
Prof. Dr. Chiara von Hollen-Pierobon
Dr Katsiaryna Lozka, PhD
Prof. Michelle Pace & Dr Christian Achrainer
Dr Bidzina Lebanidze & Dr Veronika Pfeilschifter
Prof. Timur DADABAEV & Dr Akram Umarov

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13523260.2026.2726503

New partnership HoPE with ADA University

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 13:28:00 GMT

We have been awarded a British Council #TNE #Exploratory grant 'HoPE - a HUB of Planetary Ecologies - for sustainability through research, education and societal impact', to build a new partnership with @ADA University in Azerbaijan. Looking forward to renewing our successful relations with Nargiz Ismayilova, Dr. Fariz Ismailzade and their colleagues! And to growing our CPD offerings on Sustainability, further research funding opportunities, and developing a platform for a dual PGR degree.

CENSE-�� Sustainability Training School, 26-31 July 2026

Tue, 04 Aug 2026 14:50:00 GMT

We have now completed our first international CENSE NOVA (Portugal)-�� (UK) Sustainability Training Academy (STA), which brought together 25 participants from 16 countries. The STA was held in ARRABIDA National Park of Portugal and the focus was on human-nature connectedness.
My own takeaway was the community that has emerged as a result of our many learnings, outings and discussions: we all tuned in to each other and the Park around us.
In all this endeavour I'm exceptionally grateful to our hosts at CENSE & NOVA University - Fransisco, Nuno, Yorgos and Sofia- and to the �� team - Dr Harriet Richmond , Dr Jane Webb, Dr Adela Glyn-Davies, Dr Lory Barile, Dr Mélina Delmas and EUTOPIA Connected Communities for contributions and financial support! We are also indebted to Prof. Harini Nagendra, and Prof. Chris Ives from Nottingham University for your keynotes which enticed our participants for more in-depth thinking, and, of course, to all the participants who made the community so easy-going and possible!
Have a great summer, and connect with Nature!!

IGSD professor joins Executive Council of leading global commons organisation

Sat, 25 Jul 2026 09:05:00 GMT

Dr Hita Unnikrishnan, an assistant professor at the Institute for Global Sustainable Development, has been appointed to the Executive Council of the International Association for the Study of the Commons (IASC). The appointment follows the unexpected and tragic loss of previous council member Raul Pacheco-Vega, prompting the organisation to invite new academic perspectives to help steer its mission.

The IASC is a globally recognised professional body dedicated to improving the governance, management, and long‑term sustainability of shared resources — from forests and fisheries to digital commons and urban spaces. It brings together researchers, practitioners, and policymakers from multiple disciplines to advance understanding and develop solutions for commons and common‑pool resource challenges.

Founded in part by Elinor Ostrom - the 2009 Nobel Laureate in Economics whose groundbreaking work reshaped global thinking on collective resource management - the organisation continues to play a central role in shaping policy and research worldwide.

Dr Unnikrishnan’s appointment places her among an international group of experts guiding the strategic direction of the association. The current list of council members can be viewed on the IASC website: IASC Council.

�� Sustainability Forum: 2 July 2026

Thu, 09 Jul 2026 12:05:00 GMT

The annual �� Sustainability Forum in its third iteration took place on 2 July, bringing a community of researchers, practitioners and policy-makers together at ��. It broke its record again(!) in terms of number :) having attracted nearly 70 participants from across the University and beyond!

For the first time, the WSF connected to the Spotlight's Sustainability Training School (STA), which was held in March 2026: the participants learned about the results of three fantastic group projects - on sustainable heritage; student retention, and green composting in the area led by the ECRs - and the support they received from Coventry City Council (Giuliana Famiglietti and her team in particular). The forum also brought three established thematic networks with their champions - Circular Economy; Sustainable Food/Agritech; RIFT - to hear about their work and plans for the future. There was an opportunity thereafter to hear new voices and submit thematic ideas/champion names for the next year. The Forum concluded with the stakeholder round-table, involving the Provost's keynote, and members of the House of Lords and local council, SOS UK, VUB HOST and experts from EU-US and UK consultancy companies.

IGSD was prominently represented there, building on the opportunities the Spotlight offers, and the expertise it connects.

IGSD away day: 1 July 2026

Thu, 09 Jul 2026 11:47:00 GMT

The IGSD team met up in Scarman to exchange news regarding their research and funding activities; discuss how best to support the School's research environment and thematic clusters building; and to consider CPD opportunities for external partnerships.

IGSD team members have been successful in a series of funding opportunities, including British Academy, EU Horizon, and UKRI (1-stage applications). IGSD team also noted a growing success of their partnerships with the Sustainability Spotlight - a research network of 1000+ across �� - and external partners including with China and India HEIs, EUTOPIA HEIs, and more.

Joint Conference: Disastrous pasts and Sustainable Futures, 29-30 June 2026

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 15:59:23 GMT

The conference 'Disastrous Pasts and Sustainable Futures' organised by the Global History and Culture Centre (GHCC) with the support from IGSD and the Sustainability Spotlight, brought together a truly interdisciplinary cohort of scholars and practitioners, ranging from historians, architects, political and social scientists to life sciences and disaster studies.

Led by Dr Pierre Purseigle (GHCC) and IGSD/SCFS colleagues (Vangelis Pitidis, Camila Audia, and Marta Guerriero) the conference focused on the experience of devastated communities, and the process of urban recovery and on the manifold legacies of disaster, with a view for more sustainable futures. Speakers came from a range of UK HEIs (Loghbourgh; Oxford and Kings College London), Europe (Copenhagen, Torino, Fribourg, Tartu, Athens )and beyond (Columbia; Ghana, KwaZulu-Natal and Dakar).

We hope this important thematic initiative will continue to grow and result in relevant publications, and funding initiatives!

Parliamentary Round-table on Supporting Ukrainian refugees: disability, welfare, employment and settlement

Mon, 29 Jun 2026 13:06:14 GMT

Delighted to have been invited by Professor Robin Goodwin to be part of the parliamentary roundtable: Supporting disabled Ukrainians in the UK. The panel is sponsored by Matt Western MP and focuses on the key challenges that the Ukrainians face in times of war, including disability, housing, welfare & employment, mental health, and settlement. Both Robin and Olena Orlova reported on the results of their project (policy brief) and discussed future plans.

While being closely involved in research and support of Ukrainians and Belarusians, my heart always bleeds every time when I hear about the pain and problems these courageous and tenacious peoples face. At the same time, I know that justice will prevail, although pain and trauma will linger for decades on, and that's why we need to be ready to offer even more help and support as Prof Robin Goodwin reports.

#Ukrainians #war #trauma #Disability #militaryveterans #community #Support

'Is Putin's Eurasian order resilience?' - the question my newly published article in Contemporary Security Policy Journal (online first) addresses

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 11:55:00 GMT

This article builds on the introduction to this Special Forum and Trine Flockhart’s original argument about the arrival of the multi-order world. It discusses the foundations of Putin’s claimed vision for a different kind of “polarity”, allegedly “non-hierarchical”, “equal”, and “self-regulatory”, but in reality deeply hegemonic and internally conformist. In this article, I argue that not only is Putin’s vision seriously misguided, but it also fails to recognise the increasing diversity within Central Eurasia. It is furthermore “propagated” by unsustainable means, including force, coercion, disinformation, and fear. I will first explore principles of order-making, focusing on its “softer aspects’—social memory, shared history/culture, and imaginaries of the good life—and relate them to “sameness’ and “diversity” principles of the multi-order world, as more nuanced anticipatory governance. I apply this framework to Putin’s Eurasian order-building efforts to determine this order's resilience. Guess what my answer is?

Exceptionally grateful to Trine Flockhart and Liv Nelsen, and to the journal editors and reviewers for their helpful comments and support! To University of �� - for Open Access :), and to my fellow contributors for insightful discussions we all had as part of the #AGMOW project - Anticipating Governance in a Multi-Order World :).

Radical Imaginaries - Radical Transformations: Sustainability Spotlight workshop, 30 April 2026

Tue, 12 May 2026 08:48:43 GMT

The Radical Imaginaries-Radical Transformations (RIRT) thematic initiative, under the Sustainability Spotlight, organised the second network-building event, led by Dr Marit Hammond (PAIS), Prof. Graeme Macdonald (ECLS) and Prof. Elena Korosteleva (IGSD). It involved two panels - a 'politics'- and 'arts'-focused involving external speakers - Prof. Albena Azmanova (City), Dr Carl Death (Manchester), Dr Natalie Pollard (Exeter) and Dr Orion Maxted (VUB) - and internal speakers - Dr Nick Lawrence (ECLS), Dr Jonathan Skinner (ECLS) and Carla Washbourne (CIM). The workshop focused on the key questions around future climate and power imaginaries, to see if just and sustainable transitions are possible, and under what conditions. The workshop's aims included building a network of like-minded scholars - it was attended by over 60(!) participants - capture ideas/ways of thinking (Thank you NiftyFox!) and produce a position paper, based on roundtable discussions at the workshop (working on it!). Thank you to all who attended, and to Cher Zou, Jason Snow and Tanya Liguori for supporting this event!