News
Spotlight on the latest news from across the Institute.
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Workshop on Green energy transitions and global disruption: The (un)just transition to Net Zero
23 Apr 2024
The goal of the workshop is to build conversations among researchers about the political economy of energy transitions, focused on the question of ...
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What does a ‘metal intensive’ future entail?
18 Mar 2024
Critical metals, such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper and manganese, are key to the path towards net zero. The UK Government released their ...
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Why we need connected strategies for net zero and levelling up
7 Feb 2024
The Government’s Net Zero Strategy (2022) calls for more attention to community-based action to meet ambitious targets. Similarly, the ...
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Congratulations to Dr Helen Holmes, the newly appointed Deputy Director of Sustainable Futures from January 2024
5 Jan 2024
Dr Helen Holmes, current Inclusive and Prosperous Challenge Lead for Sustainable Futures and Senior Lecturer in Sociology, has been newly appointed ...
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The big business of sustainable food production and consumption: Exploring the transition to alternative proteins
27 Nov 2023
Animal agriculture is responsible for considerable environmental burden, and a key contributor to climate change. Meat alternatives are increasingly ...
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New Master’s Programme at The University of Manchester Takes a Fresh Approach to Tackling Climate Change
23 Nov 2023
A new postgraduate course addressing the global environmental crisis and the challenges of building sustainable societies has been launched by The ...
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Sustainable consumption by product substitution? An exploration of the appropriation of plant-based ‘mylk’ in everyday life
25 Oct 2023
Many mainstream visions of sustainable societies assume that ‘green’ products will come to replace existing ones, reducing the footprint of ...
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‘Facilitating the transition to net zero’ and institutional change in the Bank of England: Perceptions of the environmental mandate and its policy implications within the British state
25 Oct 2023
The role of central banks in perpetuating and tackling the economic patterns associated with climate change has increasingly been subject to academic...
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The Rise of Anti-Net Zero Populism in the UK: Comparing Rhetorical Strategies for Climate Policy Dismantling
30 Aug 2023
This article explores a backlash against the net zero greenhouse gas emissions target within the UK. It introduces the term “anti-net zero ...
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Towards new ecologies of automation: Robotics and the re-engineering of nature
3 Aug 2023
Written by Andrew Lockhart, Simon Marvin and Aidan While Climate/ecological breakdown and automation are two defining challenges of the current era, ...
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The Materiality of Nothing: Exploring Our Everyday Relationships with Objects Absent and Present
21 Jul 2023
The Materiality of Nothing explores the invisible, intangible and transient materials and objects of everyday life and the relationships we have with...
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The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Environmental Politics: ‘Continuity and change in carbon market politics’
21 Jul 2023
The complexities and scope of environmental issues have not only outpaced the capacities and responsiveness of traditional political actors but also ...
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How platform businesses mobilize their users and allies: Corporate grassroots lobbying and the Airbnb ‘movement’ for deregulation
10 Jul 2023
This article analyses and theorizes the political strategies of businesses in the new digital ‘platform’ economy. Airbnb, Uber and meal delivery ...
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Where are low-carbon places made? Conceptualising and studying infrastructure junctions and the power geometries of low-carbon place-making
9 Jun 2023
Written by Torik Holmes, Carla De Laurentis and Rebecca Windemer. The making of low-carbon places is crucial for achieving decarbonisation, but where...
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The UK’s recycling system is confusing, chaotic and broken – here’s how to fix it
6 Jun 2023
Maybe you have one bin or many boxes. You might even have a compost caddy. Whatever your recycling setup, chances are that at some point you’ve been...
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What would a Net Zero society look like by 2050?
25 May 2023
Dr Maria Sharmina has written a commentary for the Academy of Social Sciences about what a Net Zero society might look like by 2050, based on her ...
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Professor Ruth Lane, Monash University, Seminar, Households and Churn in the Circular Economy
11 May 2023
Product longevity is one of the most vexed issues in emerging Circular Economy initiatives as it is antithetical to prevailing corporate business ...
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Infrastructuring Urban Futures: the Politics of Remaking Cities
28 Apr 2023
Focusing on material and social forms of infrastructure, this edited collection draws on rich empirical details from cities across the global North ...
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One Bin to Rule Them All
5 Apr 2023
Plastic recycling remains a persistent and stubborn challenge. The UK simply does not recycle enough. And while waste reduction and reuse remain ...
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Citizens of Worlds: Open Air Toolkits for Environmental Struggle
4 Apr 2023
The seminar discussed Professor Gabrys’ recent book of the same title. The book is available open access here. Here is a synopsis: Environments ...
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UK recycling system requires 'dramatic overhaul', report finds
31 Mar 2023
The UK’s recycling system requires a dramatic overhaul to effectively tackle the issue of plastic waste, according to a new report published by The ...
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SCI blog post explores themes surrounding climate governance and central banking
8 Mar 2023
In this blog Prof Best and Prof Paterson discuss themes surrounding climate governance and central banking, which emerged during a recent workshop ...
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Research project exploring young people, climate change and migration ends with intergenerational workshops and new creative resources
28 Feb 2023
Young People at a Crossroads (YPAC) explored how migrant-background young people and their families are learning and talking about climate change in ...
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Sustainability transitions: catalysing innovation in the foundational economy for a green and just future
17 Feb 2023
PhD student Usman Aziz, Elvira Uyarra (MIOIR) and Jo Mylan have written an article on how green city regions can deliver policy to meet net zero for ...
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Towards sustainable consumption: reflections on the concepts of social loading, excess, and idle capacity
8 Feb 2023
Dale Southerton and Alan Warde have just published an essay on sustainable consumption in a collection of papers in honour of Hal Wilhite. Hal was a ...
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Between perceptions and practices: The religious and cultural aspects of food wastage in households
25 Jan 2023
SCI Honorary Researcher Tally Katz-Gerro co-published the paper ‘Between perceptions and practices: The religious and cultural aspects of food ...
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Book launch event: Expansion Rebellion
23 Jan 2023
On Tuesday, 31st January, Celeste Hicks’ launch of her book ‘Expansion Rebellion: Using the law to fight a runway and save the planet’ is ...
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New resource to help educators teach young people about climate change
23 Jan 2023
A beautifully-illustrated new resource has been launched which seeks to help teachers to address climate change in their classrooms using real-world ...
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Towards green and just transitions in city regions
18 Jan 2023
The study was completed on behalf of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and was funded by Research England. The objective was to ...
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How do we teach young people about climate change?
6 Jan 2023
The conference kicked off with the first keynote from high school English teacher and activist Matt Carmichael on "Climate change: What's at stake in...
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Video: SCI Seminar on water security, peace, and sustainability
4 Jan 2023
Water-related risks undermine human development and can contribute to migration and displacement, food insecurity, political instability, and ...
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