Global Sustainable Development News

Assistant Professor Marco J Haenssgen has been awarded two new grants to support his interdisciplinary public engagement and research activities. The Humanities Research Fund awarded Dr Haenssgen £1920 for an upcoming photo exhibition. “Tales of Treatment” will not only narrate stories of traditional healing as a dying craft among ethnic minority groups in northern Thailand; it also points spectators to subtle contradictions and tensions in global health policy and research. Warwick’s Global Research Priority on International Development awarded Dr Haenssgen a further £1,500 to support the development of an interdisciplinary research project. Under the working title “What if hardship causes drug resistance?”, Dr Haenssgen and 15 colleagues from disciplines as diverse as politics, tropical medicine, and network science will explore how contextual factors like precarity drive people into problematic health behaviours that could contribute to antimicrobial resistance. The researchers hope that the project can spark unconventional and innovative new approaches to health policy that target structural drivers rather than individuals when trying to change population behaviours. Dr Haenssgen comments: “Warwick’s support and responsiveness enable us to embark on ambitious projects. The Humanities Research Fund, the Global Research Priorities, but also the entrepreneurial and inspiring interdisciplinary environment at Global Sustainable Development are spectacular drivers of innovation in research, engagement, and – ultimately – policy and practice.”

Photo credit: Patthanan Thavethanutthanawin.