STEPS Centre research: our approach to impact

The ‘impact’ of research has seen a dramatic rise up the UK’s policy agenda in recent years. But what does ‘impact’ really mean? How do researchers and others respond to the new ‘impact agenda’ and how might we best plan, monitor and report on impact? This working paper attempts to provide answers to some of these questions by reviewing various understandings of ‘impact’ and describing the approach used by the ESRC STEPS Centre in its second five-year phase of funding. In particular, we draw on our experience of adapting and employing a down-scaled version of ‘participatory impact pathways analysis’ (PIPA) and reflect on its utility and potential as a tool for planning relatively small-scale social science/ interdisciplinary research projects conducted with partners in developing countries. In using PIPA, the STEPS Centre has adapted the idea of ‘impact pathways’ in line with its broader ‘pathways approach’, which focusses on complex and dynamic interactions between knowledge, politics and ‘social, technological and environmental pathways to sustainability’. In this way, PIPA has been useful in articulating and exploring the potential impact of STEPS Centre projects: it has helped to map out the networks known to the researchers, appreciate different perspectives held by the team members and generate an understanding of the narratives, networks and policy processes under study. Although the possibility for detailed ex ante prediction of impact pathways is limited, using PIPA has helped teams to be ready to maximise communication and engagement opportunities, and to link research across different STEPS Centre projects and beyond. The working paper also describes how PIPA may be used iteratively in a way that enables reflexive learning amongst research teams. Lastly, we speculate on the ways in which PIPA may be further developed and used in ex post impact monitoring and evaluation into the future

Health Biotechnology Innovation for Social Sustainability -A Perspective from China

China is not only becoming a significant player in the production of high-tech products, but also an increasingly important contributor of ideas and influence in the global knowledge economy. This paper identifies the promises and the pathologies of the biotech innovation system from the perspective of social sustainability in China, looking at the governance of the system and beyond. Based on The STEPS Centre’s ‘Innovation, Sustainability, Development: A New Manifesto’, a ‘3D’ approach has been adopted, bringing together social, technological and policy dynamics, and focusing on the directions of biotechnological innovation, the distribution of its benefits, costs and risks and the diversity of innovations evolving within it and alongside it

Experiential learning in “Innovation for Sustainability”: an evaluation of teaching and learning activities (TLAs) in an international masters course

Purpose – The urgent challenges of sustainability require novel teaching methods facilitating different types of learning. The purpose of the paper is to examine the important role of experiential learning in higher education programmes relating to sustainability, and to evaluate a number of teaching and learning activities that can be used to leverage this approach. Design/ Methodology/ Approach - Based on questionnaire surveys carried out over seven years with students from a highly international Masters-level course, this paper describes the utility of experiential learning theory in teaching around ‘innovation for sustainability’. Drawing on Kolb’s theories and subsequent modifications, the paper reviews and evaluates the teaching and learning activities (TLAs) used in the course that have fostered experiential learning in the classroom, including role-play seminars, case study-based seminars and sessions centred around sharing and reflecting on personal professional histories. Findings - The qualitative data and discussion illustrate the utility of experiential learning approaches in post-graduate education for sustainable development, especially in generating empathy and understanding for different sustainability perspectives and priorities from around the world. In particular, the paper offers novel insights into the strengths and limitations of the TLAs. Originality/ value – These insights are valuable to ESD practitioners dealing with international student intakes displaying variable levels of professional experience who are looking to foster experiential learning, reflection and inter-cultural empathy. They can inform the design of classroom-based TLAs that are capable of equipping students with not only the analytical skills for career success, but also the inter-cultural sensibility required for international leadership in the sustainable development domain

New Models of Technology Assessment for Development

This report explores the role that ‘new models’ of technology assessment can play in improving the lives of poor and vulnerable populations in the developing world. The ‘new models’ addressed here combine citizen and decision-maker participation with technical expertise. They are virtual and networked rather than being based in a single office of technology assessment (as was the case in the United States in the 1970s-90s). They are flexible enough to address issues across disciplines and are increasingly transnational or global in their reach and scope. The report argues that these new models of technology assessment can make a vital contribution to informing policies and strategies around innovation, particularly in developing regions. They are most beneficial if they enable the broadening out of inputs to technology assessment, and the opening up of political debate around possible directions of technological change and their interactions with social and environmental systems. Beyond the process of technology assessment itself, the report argues that governance systems within which these processes are embedded play an important role in determining the impact and effectiveness of technology assessment. Finally, the report argues for training and capacity-building in technology assessment methodologies in developing countries, and support for internationally co-ordinated technology assessment efforts to address global and regional development challenges

Narratives and pathways towards an ecological civilisation in contemporary China

Since the United States committed to withdraw from the UN Paris Agreement on climate change, international observers have increasingly asked if China can take the lead instead to raise global ambition in the context of a world leadership vacuum. Given the country's increasing economic and strategic focus on sustainable and low-carbon innovation, China might seem well placed to do so. However, much depends on the direction of governance and reform within China regarding the environment. To better understand how the government is seeking to make progress in these areas, this article explores key political narratives that have underpinned China's policies around sustainable development (kechixu fazhan) and innovation (chuangxin) within the context of broader narratives of reform. Drawing on theoretical insights from work that investigates the role of power in shaping narratives, knowledge and action around specific pathways to sustainability, this article explores the ways in which dominant policy narratives in China might drive particular forms of innovation for sustainability and potentially occlude or constrain others. In particular, we look at ecological civilization (shengtai wenming) as a slogan that has gradually evolved to become an official narrative and is likely to influence pathways to sustainability over the coming years

Learning about ‘engaged excellence’ across a transformative knowledge network

The ‘Pathways’ transformative knowledge network is an international group of research organisations, collaborating to explore processes of social transformation and to share insights across disciplines, cultures and contexts. Working across the domains of food, energy and water, the network is experimenting with new methods of research and engagement that both help to understand – and contribute to – transformations to sustainability. This article outlines some of the early experiences of two hubs in the network (UK and Argentina) and reflects on the lessons learned for ‘engaged excellence’. It also describes how approaches to transdisciplinary research (building on a diversity of academic and non-academic traditions) vary across different contexts, and how wider lessons in this regard will be shared across the consortium into the future

The ‘Pathways’ transformative knowledge network

Transformations to sustainability are increasingly the focus of research and policydiscussions around the Sustainable Development Goals. However, the differentroles played by transdisciplinary research in contributing to social transformations across diverse settings have been neglected in the literature. TransformativePathways to Sustainability responds to this gap by presenting a set of coherent, theoretically informed and methodologically innovative experiments from aroundthe world that offer important insights for this growing field.The book draws on content and cases from across the ‘Pathways’ Transformative Knowledge Network, an international group of six regional hubs workingon sustainability challenges in their own local or national contexts. Each of thesehubs reports on their experiences of ‘transformation laboratory’ processes in thefollowing areas: sustainable agricultural and food systems for healthy livelihoods,with a focus on sustainable agri-food systems in the UK and open-source seedsin Argentina; low carbon energy and industrial transformations, focussing onmobile-enabled solar home systems in Kenya and social aspects of the greentransformation in China; and water and waste for sustainable cities, looking atXochimilco wetland in Mexico and Gurgaon in India. The book combines newempirical data from these processes with a novel analysis that represents boththeoretical and methodological contributions. It is especially international in itsscope, drawing inputs from North and South, mirroring the universality of theSustainable Development Goals.The book is of vital interest to academics, action researchers and funders, policymakers and civil-society organisations working on transformations to sustainability.Fil: Ely, Adrian. University of Sussex; Reino UnidoFil: Marin, Anabel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Martin. Escuela de Economia y Negocios. Centro de Investigaciones Para la Transformacion.; Argentin

[Editorial] Low carbon China: emerging phenomena and implications for innovation governance - introduction to the special section of environmental innovation and societal transitions

This special section of ‘Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions’ investigates emerging phenomena associated with low carbon transitions in contemporary China. It looks at supply and demand side dynamics, the changing role of citizens and a range of policy approaches characteristic of the Chinese context. The papers draw on diverse methods and frameworks, considering various sectors – such as energy, mobility, food and agriculture – to understand and explain these phenomena and to derive implications for innovation and transition governance