Themes
Our three research themes explore how sustainability is shaped by social, economic, political and technological change.
The current period of transformation provides unique opportunities to make changes towards more sustainable modes of provision.
Mat Paterson / Director, SCI
In a period marked by climate change, political polarisation, digital transformation and shifting patterns of everyday life, we examine how these developments affect the prospects for fairer and more sustainable futures.
The SCI's research agenda asks how sustainability can be understood and advanced in changing social conditions. Bringing together expertise from sociology, politics, geography and innovation studies, we investigate the relationships between governance, systems of provision, and everyday life.
Read the SCI Research Agenda 2025–2029.
Addressing sustainability challenges requires effective governance and collective action.
Yet sustainability is increasingly being pursued in a world shaped by political polarisation, economic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions, climate impacts and widening inequalities.
These pressures create new challenges for governments, businesses, communities and social movements seeking to respond to sustainability problems.
Understanding how sustainability can be governed in periods of rapid social and environmental change is therefore more important than ever.
Aims
Our research examines how societies respond to sustainability challenges in conditions of uncertainty. We consider the roles played by governments, businesses, communities and civil society organisations, and explore how different forms of decision-making and coordination shape sustainability outcomes.
Particular areas of interest include climate governance, global value chains, social justice, political participation and the governance implications of new technologies.
Everyday life depends on systems that provide essential goods and services such as food, energy, water, transport and housing.
These systems are undergoing significant change as societies respond to environmental pressures, digitalisation, shifting economic relationships and technological innovation.
New approaches, including circular economy initiatives, digital platforms and community-led alternatives, are reshaping how goods and services are produced, distributed and consumed.
A key question is whether these developments can help deliver forms of provision that are both environmentally responsible and socially equitable.
Aims
We investigate how systems of provision are organised and transformed, and whether they can meet human needs in ways that are environmentally sustainable and socially equitable.
Our work spans food, energy, resource and urban systems, exploring issues such as circularity, digitalisation, supply chains and alternative economic models. Through this research, we assess how essential goods and services can be organised to meet human needs within environmental limits.
The pursuit of sustainability is closely connected to the organisation of everyday life.
How people travel, eat, work, use technology and meet their daily needs is shaped by wider systems of governance, infrastructure and provision.
At the same time, everyday practices are not fixed. They evolve through social and technological change, community innovation, cultural shifts and collective action.
Understanding how people experience and respond to instability is essential for identifying forms of change that are practical, inclusive and rooted in daily life.
Aims
Our research explores how sustainability is lived, experienced and negotiated in everyday life.
We examine the relationships between everyday practices, social inequalities, technologies, infrastructures and community action. By focusing on how people adapt to changing social and environmental conditions, we identify pathways towards more sustainable ways of living grounded in everyday realities.