- STEPS Centre
The STEPS Centre (Social, Technological and Environmental Pathways to Sustainability) is an interdisciplinary global research and policy engagement hub, funded by the
Economic and Social Research Council . The Centre brings togetherdevelopment studies withscience and technology studies and was launched atPortcullis House in London on 25 June 2007 [ [http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,,2111237,00.html STEPS towards better development by Mark Tran, The Guardian] ]By acknowledging the interactions between social, technological and environmental factors in diverse local settings the STEPS Centre seeks to help create more sustainable and socially just conditions for poorer people. Based at the
Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and SPRU Science and Technology Policy Research (formerly calledScience Policy Research Unit ) at theUniversity of Sussex in the UK. The Centre works with partners in Africa, Asia and Latin America.Professor Melissa Leach [ [http://education.guardian.co.uk/academicexperts/story/0,,2127736,00.html Melissa Leach: Village voice. To know what's happening around the world, you must ask the locals by Jessica Shepherd, The Guardian] ] [ [http://www.steps-centre.org/PDFs/ML_%20Lunch%20with%20the%20Lancet_%20Vol%20371%20June%2021,%202008.pdf Perspectives by Priya Shetty, The Lancet, Jun 2008] ] is the director of the STEPS Centre while Professor
Andy Stirling [ [http://www.theengineer.co.uk/Articles/300596/Path-finder.htm Path-finder by Andrew Lee, The Engineer, 2007] ] and Professor Ian Scoones [ [http://www.ids.ac.uk/go/people/a-z-list-of-ids-people/scoones-ian IDS Profile for Ian Scoones] ] are co-directors.Advisory Board
The STEPS Centre Advisory Board is chaired by Professor Judi Wakhungu, Executive Director, African Centre for Technology Studies, Kenya with members including Professor Mohammed Hassan, President,
African Academy of Sciences (AAS), Professor Sheila Jasanoff, Pforzheimer Professor of Science and Technology Studies,University of Harvard , Dr Tony Marjoram Programme Specialist responsible for Engineering,UNESCO , Professor Shiv Visvanathan Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, India and Dr Joachim Voss Director General,International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Columbia.Areas of work
The STEPS Centre brings together
social scientists andnatural scientists to work together to try and achieve a breakthrough in thinking and action for development. The Centre's unique ‘pathways’ approach interweaves social, technological and environmental conditions with dynamic change [ [http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/about/CI/CP/the_edge/issue27/pathways.aspx?ComponentId=26077&SourcePageId=26118 Building genuine pathways to a more secure future, ESRC Today] ] across three domains - food and agriculture; health and disease; water and sanitation - and three themes - dynamics; governance; designs.Through linking across domains and themes in its projects, the STEPS Centre connects new theory with practical approaches in a bid to help provide sustainable opportunities for poor and marginalised people.
Pathways approach
The STEPS Centre's pathways approach aims to understand the complex, non-linear interactions between social, technological and environmental systems. Some pathways may threaten poor peoples’ livelihoods and health while others create opportunities for sustainability.
The Centre aims to link social scientists, natural scientists and users to develop new tools and methods linking theory with practical solutions. It also offers teaching, in conjunction with IDS and SPRU, to help train a new generation of researchers on MA and PhD courses.
A paper published in 2007 entitled Pathways to Sustainability: an Overview of the STEPS Centre Approach [ [http://www.steps-centre.org/PDFs/final_steps_overview.pdf Pathways to Sustainability: An overview of the STEPS Centre's Approach] ] outlined the STEPS Centre approach to understanding dynamic systems and their governance. The paper laid out the ingredients of the STEPS Centre's work, including linking diverse social and natural science perspectives, connecting theory, policy and practice and an engaged, interactive approach to communications. Promoting pathways to Sustainability that meet the perspectives and priorities of poor and marginalised groups is at the heart of the pathways approach.
Policy engagement
The STEPS Centre seeks to ensure that environmental sustainability and making science and technology work for the poor become principal concerns for the people that make policy. It aims to advance policy debate through collaborative work with local, national and international government, and governmental agencies that generates debate and enhances citizen engagement.
Projects
Among the STEPS Centre's projects are:
•"Innovation, Sustainability, Development: A New Manifesto" (40 years on from the
Sussex Manifesto )
* [http://www.steps-centre.org/manifesto/index.html A New Manifesto]• "Crop, disease and innovation in Kenya - Maize and farming system dynamics in areas affected by climate change"
* [http://www.steps-centre.org/ourresearch/crops,%20kenya.html Maize and climate change in Kenya]• "Urbanisation in Asia - urbanisation and sustainability on the expanding peri-urban fringe of Delhi, India"
* [http://www.steps-centre.org/ourresearch/urbanisation,%20asia.html Urbanisation in Asia]• "Rethinking regulation - assumptions and realities of drug and seed regulation in China and Argentina"
* [http://www.steps-centre.org/ourresearch/regulation.html Rethinking Regulation]• "Risk, uncertainty and technology - framing and responses to risks and uncertainties in areas of rapid scientific and technological advance"
* [http://www.steps-centre.org/ourresearch/ukieri.html Risk, uncertainty and technology]• "Epidemics, livelihoods and politics" - HIV-AIDS, SARS, ‘avian flu, BSE - procedures for addressing epidemics that support rather than compromise poor people
* [http://www.steps-centre.org/ourresearch/epidemics.html Epidemics, livelihoods and politics]Further reading
* "Pathways to Sustainability: an overview of the STEPS Centre approach" By Leach. M., Scoones, I. and Stirling, A. (2007) ISBN – 13: 978 185864 656 1
* "Dynamics: Dynamic Systems and the Challenge of Sustainability" By Scoones, I., Leach, M., Smith, A., Stagl, S., Stirling, A. and Thompson, J. (2007) ISBN – 13: 978 185864 650 2"
* "Understanding Governance: pathways to sustainability" By Leach, M., Bloom, G., Ely, A., Nightingale, P., Scoones, I., Shah, E. and Smith, A. (2007) – ISBN 13: 978 185864 651 0
*"Empowering Designs: towards more progressive appraisal of sustainability" By Stirling, A., Leach, M., Mehta, L., Scoones, I., Smith, A., Stagl, S. and Thompson, J. (2007) ISBN – 13: 978 185864 652 9
*"Agri-food System Dynamics: pathways to sustainability in an era of uncertainty By Thompson, J., Millstone, E., Scoones, I., Ely, A., Marshall, F., Shah, E.and Stagl, S. (2007) ISBN – 13: 978 185864 653 7
*"Health in a Dynamic World" By Bloom, G., Edström, J., Leach, M., Lucas, H., MacGregor, H., Standing, H. and Waldman, L. (2007) ISBN – 13: 978 185864 654 5
*"Liquid Dynamics: challenges for sustainability in water and sanitation" By Mehta, L., Marshall, F., Movik, S., Stirling, A., Shah, E., Smith, A. and Thompson, J. (2007) ISBN – 13: 978 185864 655 3
*"Time to outbreed animal science? A cattle-breeding system exploiting structural unpredictability: the WoDaaBe herders in Niger" By Krätli, S. (2008) ISBN-13 978 1 85864 699 5
*"The Slow Race: Making technology work for the poor" By Melissa Leach, Ian Scoones (2006) Demos pamphlet ISBN 1 84180 1623
* [http://www.steps-centre.org/publications/index.html More STEPS Centre publications]References
External links
* [http://www.steps-centre.org/index.html "The STEPS Centre"]
* [http://stepscentre-thecrossing.blogspot.com/ "The Crossing - the STEPS Centre blog"]
* [http://uk.youtube.com/STEPSCentre "The STEPS Centre's YouTube channel]
* [http://www.flickr.com/photos/23190361@N08/ " The STEPS Centre's photostream on Flickr]
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