Sustainability
We develop interdisciplinary research in social science for ecologically sustainable and socially just futures
About us
We lead and facilitate research seeking ways to ensure human wellbeing and equity in harmony with other species and within the Earth's limits. Taking a strong ecological perspective, we explore sustainability in a range of systems and across a range of scales in space and time, from the local to the global. We also work to ensure research is sustainable as a practice in the sense that it is non-exploitative of the human and non-human communities that it enrols.
Latest News
Browse our latest events, project highlights and blog posts below. If you would like to feature your work on our page, please email sustainability-irt@glasgow.ac.uk.
EVENT I ICAI Learning Event: Aid to Agriculture in a Time of Climate Change
Thursday 28th September, 2023 (hybrid)
Join ICAI, the University of Glasgow and Farm Africa for this hybrid learning event on aid to agriculture in a time of climate change....(read more)
EVENT I Evidence for Change - Building partnerships between academia & third sector
Tuesday 10th October, 2023 (hybrid)
Join researchers, practitioners and advocates to discuss building partnerships between academia and the third sector in the Global South...(read more)
EVENT I Book Launch: Diversity and Inclusion in Environmentalism
This book launch event at the University of Glasgow discussed how to develop green transitions which benefit, include and respect marginalised social groups...(read more)
EVENT I Exhibition Launch: Future Archaeologies of Marine Litter
How will future generations interpret the present from the waste we leave behind? This exhibiton held in June 2023 reimagined our trash as archaeological treasure...[read more]
EVENT I Developing and democratising climate change policy
We welcomed Professor Carballo from the University of Havana in May 2023 for sessions on developing and democratising climate change policy ... (read more)
EVENT I Participatory fiction with the Waste Stories project
Join us for an interactive workshop exploring speculative fiction methods and waste...(read more)
WEBINAR | Scotland's Water Future
Join us for an online discussion about water in Scotland: Scottish Water plans to be carbon neutral, what are the Scottish Government’s future water plans, and our future water research needs... [read more]
EVENT | Natural Hazard Resilience: Cross Sector Workshop
Join colleagues from across the University and the National Centre for Resilience to discuss natural hazard risks in Scotland, including potential impacts on inequalities and access to services... [read more]
PODCAST | About Sus: Episodes 1 and 2
AboutSUS is a new podcast approaching sustainability from a range of disciplinary, experiences, locations and themes... [read more].
What Sustainability Means To Me
Our aim is to lead and facilitate social science research around key sustainability challenges. In 2023, our activities will focus on the following areas:
- Ecologies - Environmental sustainability under climate change and human activities
- Just transitions - What kind of societal transformations do we need to achieve eco-social sustainability?
- Governance - Reforming governance and management systems of natural resources, including sustainable water and land use.
- Methodologies - Exploring interdisciplinary or cross-disciplinary methodological approaches to research on sustainability
Anna Wilson
Anna Wilson is a Reader in Interdisciplinary Research in the School of Education. She approaches Sustainability from a complex ecological perspective on learning and knowledge generation. She is interested in how we (individuals, groups and organisations) learn both about and from our environments, and how we can unlearn unsustainable habits and practices.
Sustainability to me...
Karen Bell, Just Transition Lead
Karen is a Senior Lecturer in Urban Sustainable Development in the Department of Urban Studies. Her concerns are inequities in environmental burdens, inclusion in environmental decision-making and eco-social policy making. She researches environmental justice, Just Transition and military impacts on the environment or the ‘Treadmill of Destruction’.
Sustainability to me...
Cecilia Tortajada
Cecilia is a Professor in Practice in the School of Social & Environmental Sustainability. She has over 30 years of experience working on water, environment and natural resources management in the overall context of development. Cecilia is currently working on impacts of global changes on water resources, environment, food, and societies, and their inter-linkages.
Find out more about Cecilia's research >>
Sustainability to me...
Jill Robbie, Governance Lead
Jill is a Senior Lecturer in Private Law at the University of Glasgow. Jill's research interest lies within the field of property law and natural resources. She is currently investigating the tensions between social justice, economic development and environmental protection in the context of the law regulating land use. She is particularly interested in analysing these tensions in relation to water.
Sustainability to me...
Marcela Ramos, Research Fellow
Marcela is a Research Fellow that specialises in interdisciplinary research, environmental sustainability, working with communities and the effects of marketisation and privatisation in education. Marcela’s research interests lie in exploring and understanding how education can help us think and problematise the exercise of sustainable practices within challenging (post-conflict, unequal) contexts.
