Global Sustainable Development News

You are all invited to the following seminar:

In places with highly developed electrical infrastructure (grids) the integration of renewable means of making electricity has been surprisingly fraught. Even supporters of renewable power struggle as variably made electricity (when the wind blows, for example, but not when it doesn’t) and distributed generation (solar scattered all over the place) confound the logics of contemporary grids. Infrastructure in this transition is materially incalcitrant, while its resistance to change is often read as political or ideological. In this talk, Prof. Bakke details the infrastructural, cultural and business (structures and cultures) that make a thoroughgoing renewables revolution difficult to accomplish. She points to likely scenarios for strong, resilient, and smart electrified futures and then welcomes the elephant into the room, as energy transition 2.0—the total elimination of fossil fuels from energy systems—overwhelms and complicates the many successes of transition 1.0 (all those renewables) that has already come so far.

Tales of Treatment: FREE Photo Exhibition, 7 March, 4-7pm, Warwick Arts Centre (Helen Martin Studio)

Quick Facts!

- One-day photo exhibition

- Stories of medicine and traditional healing in Northern Thailand

- Helen Martin Studio, Warwick Arts Centre, 7 March 2019, 4-7pm.

- Guided tours through photo stories every 30 minutes

- Refreshments, wine, and speeches at 6pm

- Admission FREE

- Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/242063043408311/

The GSD Year 12 Competition is now open!

Global Sustainable Development hosts an annual competition for Year 12 students across the country, encouraging students to think creatively and gain valuable research skills as they learn more about global sustainable development.

This is an exciting opportunity for students to express their creativity on this cutting edge and vitally important topic. Entrants must respond to set Global Sustainable Development questions in their own way. They can write essays, take photos, create podcasts or videos. Shortlisted entrants will be invited to a Campus Day at Warwick where the winner will be announced.

Please find more information and how to enter here.

Also, find out more about last year's winning entries to the GSD Essay Competition.

A new study led by Assistant Prof Marco J Haenssgen demonstrated that contextual factors like local health policies influence the results of clinical trials of medical interventions. Involving biomarker test trials in Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, the landmark study calls for the routine collection of social data alongside clinical trials to improve the local appropriateness of medical interventions and help researchers interpret their findings.

You are all invited to the following seminar:

Social enterprises are catching as a new business model in African countries, and many of these businesses align their goals, mission and vision to at least one Sustainable Development Goal (SDG). 5 out of the 17 SDGs relate to sanitation and environmental sustainability directly, another 7 cover interrelated issues and targets. In developing countries ravaged by poverty and its related vices, environmental sustainability appear secondary and fail to get adequate government attention. Yet, poor sanitary conditions, environmental degradation and unregulated industrial activities affect the most vulnerable through the spread of diseases and environmental pollution. The research pilot examines 3 social enterprises in Abuja, Nigeria set up to achieve SDGs on the environment primarily through waste management, environmental education and advocacy. Interviews provide insight on the nature and impact of their activities, including how they are funded and what challenges they encounter. This presentation focuses on the way these social entrepreneurs measure [social] impact (a) of their businesses and (b) in relation to SDGs; then why, if at all, it is important to measure social impact.

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.

Our students continue their successful Social Enterprise activities through Warwick Enactus, this time by hosting Food Intercept -- a charity food sale hosted in the School for Cross-Faculty Studies on Mondays 12:00-15:00 in R3.35. More detail on the School's Events page

The Global Sustainable Development community was shocked and appalled at the abhorrent messages that came out last year, and as a department we wanted to engage meaningfully with the anger and concern expressed by so many staff and students over the past few weeks. We were particularly mindful that these conversations take a toll on all community-members, but especially on the survivors of harassment and assault. Our first commitment was to develop a response that acknowledged and supported the pain of these community-members.

Prof. Cathia Jenainati—in her capacity as Head of School—called a full meeting of staff and students on Monday, 4 February to discuss what the community response should be. We had a productive meeting and really appreciate the insightful comments made by our students.

On the suggestion of our school’s students to craft a considered process, over the next week we will provide an anonymous online portal for all members of our community to share their thoughts in order to help us make a meaningful public statement and propose ideas for longer term institutional reflection and development. We will enact any department-level changes agreed with the student body, and we will bring any wider suggestions or needs to the University. Of course, we also want to look after our students here and now: please do get in touch with your personal tutor if there’s any support you might need.

Looking ahead, we want to play a central role in reshaping the regulations, policies, and culture of our institution. As the Head of Council has indicated, there will be a full review of University disciplinary procedure and we want our students to speak loudly and clearly as part of that process. But change comes through organization, and we want to have clear goals around which we can take collective action.

The behavior expressed in those group chats is antithetical to the values we hold as a department and will not—ever—be permitted. Not as a joke, not as “banter”, not at all. We look forward to working together to making sure that our values are not compromised by process or convenience.

[Message sent on behalf of the staff and students of the Global Sustainable Development Division of the School for Cross-faculty Studies]

At the beginning of January, three first year GSD students, Kasia Jaworska, Luke Netherclift and Lucy Izquierdo, along with Jacob Corry (Accounting and Finance) took part in the Enactus Warwick's Innovation Hub Challenge, under the name Team Recharge.

Following a generous invitation, Dr. Alastair Smith, delivered a talk for the Stratford-Upon-Avon Rotary Club on Monday 28^th: Food security in the Context of Climate Change. Linking global to local issues, Dr Smith outlined a range of practical opportunities for members to contribute towards positive change: including supporting the appropriate dissemination of technologies in the developing world and taking concrete steps to reduce the amount of meat we consume in wealthier economies.

The following summary of the talk was written for the Stratford Herald, by club member David Haugh, BEM, BA.