IGSD News

Professor Elena Korosteleva joined the 18th Pan-European EISA conference on International Relations 'International Relations/Politics for a Broken World', at the University of Bologna on 27-30/08/25. She presented two papers there as part of her ongoing two projects and joined a roundtable:

- SHAPEDEM-EU project: The panel was titled 'Rethinking EU Democracy Support in the EU's Neighbourhood: a dialogic encounter between practice- and learning- theoretical perspectives'. On behalf of her co-authors, Drs Anastassiia Kudlenko and Aijan Sharshenova, Professor Korosteleva presented their paper 'From the Communities of Practices to the Community of Relations in Democracy Nurturance: What can we learn from Ukraine and Belarus?'. The panel also had papers from Prof. Daniela Huber (Roma Tre University) and Prof. Nora Fisher-Onar (University of San Francisco), chaired and discussed by Prof. Federica Bicchi, LSE.

- AGMOW project: Prof. Korosteleva acted both as chair and paper presenter at the panel 'Narratives of Orders: Resilience and Governance in the Multi-Order World', with the following participants: Prof. Chiara De Franco (SDU), Li Xing, Trine Flockhart (EUI) and Liv Nielsen (SDU/EUI). She also joined a well attended roundtable on the last day of the conference, with Ole Waever (Copenhagen), Simon Rushton (Sheffield), Liv Nielson (SDU/EUI), Ingvild Bode (SDU), and Li Xing, masterfully chaired by Prof. Trine Flockhart.

On 27 August 2025, Dr Feng Mao participated as a discussant in the panel discussion Geographies of Comparative Hydrology: Tools for Understanding River Basin Space-Time Patterns and Processes in a Changing World at the Royal Geographical Society Annual Conference.

Chaired by Professor David Hannah, Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Sustainability) at the University of Birmingham, the session brought together leading scholars to explore the opportunities and challenges of comparative hydrology. This emerging field examines river basins across regions and scales, comparing hydrological processes such as floods, droughts, water quality, and regimes. By situating these processes in their geographical contexts, comparative hydrology helps researchers identify patterns, develop predictive tools, and inform sustainable water management strategies.

Dr Mao contributed insights on how comparative hydrological approaches can enhance understanding of water security and resilience under climate change, particularly through comparative studies, innovative data approaches, and the integration of global datasets with hyper-local contexts.

The discussion highlighted the vital role of comparative hydrology in shaping adaptive, location-specific responses to water-related challenges in a rapidly changing world.

In its second iteration, the Warwick Sustainability Forum (WSF) brought together a passionate community of researchers with a focus on sustainability across and beyond Warwick, to collectively plan our actions towards addressing global planetary challenges in 2025/26, and to discuss the next BIG ISSUES for the sustainability agenda, regionally, nationally and internationally. The WSF was attended by nearly 60 researchers from across all Faculties representing many disciplines, to:

• To report on the Sustainability Spotlight KPIs for 2024/25 premised on Sustainability Spotlight Report 2024: Time to Talk.
• To take stock of new ideas and priorities for the Sustainability Spotlight 2025/26, and identify champions to lead them
• To collectively discuss the NEXT BIG ISSUES for sustainability for the UK and globally, in conversation with a higher-level roundtable.
• To develop an Action Plan for 2025/26 – for finalisation in September 2025

The Sustainability Spotlights leads reported about the year's activities, challenges and achievements. Their presentations were continued with reflection and action sessions, planning 2025/26. The WSF also involved external stakeholders, including from partner universities in Uzbekistan (Akram Umarov UWED), Azerbaijan (Nargiz Ismayilova, ADA University) and India (Seema Mundoli, Azim Premji University), to shape the next year's agenda together. It concluded with a high-level roundtable, masterfully chaired by Stuart Coles (WMG), to discuss the next BIG Issues of the sustainability agenda, locally and globally. The speakers included Lord Teverson, Dr Kathryn Magnay (EPSRC), Fajli BIB (GSI), Julie Walden (E.ON), Margot James (Coventry Climate Change Board), and Muneeba Amjad (Warwick SU). Thereafter people continued their conversations and networking on a FAB terrace, enjoying beautiful weather and wine reception!

The WSF will produce a ‘From reflection to action’ report 2024/25, outline ideas for the 2025/26 Action Plan and identify champions for 2025/26 (to become new members of the Steering Group). We conclude this year's forum on a positive note, with a high appraisal from the University Review Board, and a lot of achievements to celebrate. We look forward to the next year, and thank all those who got involved with us this year - especially Sustainability Steering Group members! - Sustainability Professional Support Team - Cher Zou and Tanya Liguori - and our Facilitation team - Christine Bell and Amelia Wakeford.

For more information please visit the WSF page here.

IGSD and the Sustainability Spotlight Steering Group hosted meetings of international partners from Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and India. Ms Nargiz Ismayilova from, Head of Partnerships from Ada University, Dr Akram Umarov, Vice-Rector of UWED and Director of the Institute of Advanced International Studies, and Dr Seema Mundoli from the Climate Change Centre and Sustainability at Azim Premji University, presented their research to the Steering Group, and discussed research projects and suitable funding opportunities with IGSD. In the afternoon they also interacted with EUTOPIA partners at lunch, and met to discuss MOUs with Prof. Michael Scott, PVC International.

Dr. Vangelis Pitidis attended the European Urban Resilience Forum (EURESFO) 2025, in Rotterdam from 25–27 June. As a leading expert in urban resilience and territorial governance, with experience in leading project in Latin America, Africa and particularly Europe, Dr Pitidis had a chance to meet city representatives, academics and other urban practitioners and discuss teh progress of urban resilience as well as the that need to be addressed in order to consolidate and promote it aross Europe. Hi attendance provided a strategic opportunity to strengthen IGSD’s presence within key European policy networks, such as the ones represented in EURESFO 2025, jointly organised by ICLEI Europe and the European Environment Agency. The event has been truly informative, including keynote speeches, mobile workshops and knowledge exchange events and has been a a great success!