Sustainability
We lead research into sustainability in the UK as part of a global endeavour
About us
We take up sustainability in the context of the Anthropocene, a time when human behaviours are critically altering the ecologies of the planet. Our social science-led, transdisciplinary approach to sustainability includes socio-political as well as ecological issues and we work with partners in government, NGOs and directly with communities in the UK and elsewhere in the world.
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 | Speculative fiction and waste stories
Join us for an in person, interactive workshop using participatory speculative fiction to explore rubbish and wasted materials [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].
PROJECT HIGHLIGHT | Sustainable Screens Scotland
Sustainable Screens Scotland is a new project aiming to support the decarbonisation of the film and television industries in Scotland... [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.
Watch these short videos to find out more.
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...
Jill Robbie, Governance Lead
Jill is a 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...
John Shi, Ecologies Lead
John is a senior lecturer in hydrology and climate change in the School of Interdisciplinary Studies. John is an expert on water and climate research, with interests on modelling and predicting the role of water resources in the climate system and understanding the nature of hydrologic variability and change under changing climate at local, regional, and global scales.
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.
