From river pollution on the South Coast to territorial rights in South America and sustainable agriculture in Syrian conflict zones, the SSRP Symposium 2024 is set to be a stimulating showcase of the vital, wide-ranging research of SSRP Fellows.

Join us on Thursday 14 November, 9.30am to 1pm at the Terrace Room, Bramber House, to learn about urgent sustainability issues around the world.

The event is split into three parts, corresponding to key SSRP themes: Ecosystems, Rights and Justice; Sustainability Frontiers and South Coast Sustainability; and Sustainable Climate and Food Systems.

Here, we preview the presenters and their research ahead of the event. Got your ticket, or considering it? Here’s a glimpse of what you can expect.

After introductions from SSRP Director Professor Joseph Alcamo and Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation Professor Keith Jones, we will enjoy concise five-minute presentations, categorised by the three aforementioned themes.

Please note titles, presenters and order are subject to change.

10.10am. Theme 1: Ecosystems, Rights and Justice

Equitable and sustainable forest restoration in the Ecuadorian Andes

Professor Fiona Mathews (School of Life Sciences)

The first of two consecutive presentations about projects based in Ecuador, Professor Mathews will share insights from her research – undertaken with colleagues from the Schools of Life Sciences, Law, Politics, and Sociology, and Global Studies – into territorial rights and forest biodiversity conservation in the ‘Andean Bear Corridor’. Her work investigates ways that local workers can gain rights over the land, and how that, in turn, might benefit biodiversity in the region (including pumas, critically endangered White-Fronted Capuchin monkeys, and Andean bears – the real life Paddington). As Professor Mathews explained in our recent Spotlight interview with her, the Ecuadorian government requires a formal agreement that the landowner will restore 60% of the land area to forest. In theory, then, territorial rights should have a positive effect on forests and biodiversity.

Practical implementation of ‘Rights of Nature’ for fair and sustainable futures

Professor Mika Peck (School of Life Sciences)

Drawing on his extensive research supporting ‘Rights of Nature’ applications, particularly in Ecuador, Professor Peck will present the latest updates on the work of ‘Ecoforensic CIC’. This is an organisation dedicated to strengthening the capability of indigenous and local communities to build ‘Rights of Nature’ cases and protect their ecosystems. Central to Ecoforensic’s work are ‘paraecologists’ – data collectors who have been trained to monitor the overall health of the rainforest ecosystem. Synthesising his many years of experience in this area, Professor Peck will reflect on past successes – such as the landmark case which saw Ecuador’s Los Cedros Forest granted rights to protect it from mining activity – and share plans for future activity.

Analysing systems architecture and orchestration for effective implementation, compliance and enforcement of trade and deforestation regulations and SDG outcomes

Dr Emanuela Orlando (School of Law, Politics and Sociology)

Dr Orlando will summarise her new research project, a collaboration with SSRP colleague Dr Anthony Alexander (Business School). The project is concerned with new laws around due diligence for deforestation-free supply chains. While this legislation is welcome, questions remain about how its implementation can be effective, particularly in contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on deforestation, economic development and poverty. Addressing this question, Dr Orlando and Dr Alexander have proposed an interdisciplinary research network across institutions, combining expertise from legal and policy studies, and sustainable business studies. In her presentation, Dr Orlando will reveal what she and Dr Alexander hope to achieve by forming this network.

Revisioning territorial rights in Brazil in the face of resource extraction

Dr Alex Shankland and Dr Anabel Marin (Institute of Development Studies)

Reflecting on their project with SSRP Fellow Dr Bonnie Holligan – and partners in Brazil – Dr Shankland and Dr Marin will discuss their progress in campaigning for land rights for traditional communities in the state of Minas Gerais. The lack of rights held by these populations leaves their home state vulnerable to agribusiness and extractive industries. In particular, Minas Gerais has come under pressure in recent years due to the huge demand for lithium for wind and solar energy technology. The research team are trying to push the envelop with the Brazilian government in terms of defending the communities, highlighting how they live with the land and conserve biodiversity, carbon and water resources. As Dr Shankland said in our Spotlight interview, this is ‘a matter of life and death to people on the frontline in these communities’.

Integrating action and policy on health, biodiversity, and climate in Papa New Guinea (PNG), Bougainville, and across Micronesia

Jo Middleton (Brighton and Sussex Medical School)

SSRP Fellows Jo Middleton and Professor Alan Stewart (School of Life Studies), along with colleagues from Sussex, have worked in Papua New Guinea for many years. Previously, they established a clinic for medically neglected Indigenous communities, which had the knock-on effect of being hugely beneficial for conservation in the region. With SSRP funding, they are now planning to scale up this research across conservation areas in five PNG provinces, and work towards Oceania-wide policies to promote action for SDGs on health, biodiversity, and climate. By ensuring the health of Indigenous peoples in the region, the team also support positive outcomes in biodiversity. In his Symposium presentation, Jo Middleton will outline the context of this research and raise future objectives.

Global imaginaries: connecting young people through improvised collaborative storytelling for sustainable futures

Dr Perpetua Kirby (School of Education and Social Work)

Dr Kirby will share her work – conducted with colleagues from the Schools of Education and Social Work and Media, Arts and Humanities – on the role of storytelling and game playing in engaging young people with sustainability issues. More specifically, her current project involves a multi-community game that includes a storytelling activity adaptable for use with diverse groups globally. It asks young people to consider their relationships with, and obligations to, those who came before them and the as-yet-unborn. The game invites secondary school students to model a sustainable future focused on a particular setting, in collaboration with a trained local educator. Dr Kirby will outline her plans for this initiative in her presentation.

11.10am. Theme 2: Sustainability Frontiers and South Coast Sustainability

Ripple Effect: a waterway resilience initiative

Dr Lucila Newell (Global Studies)

Working with SSRP Fellows Dr Ellen Rotheray (School of Life Sciences) and Professor Mika Peck, Dr Newell has carried out a ‘citizen science’ project called ‘Ripple Effect’ in the Upper River Medway. This has entailed training volunteers to monitor biodiversity and pollution levels in the waterway. Ripple Effect also recorded the volunteers’ changing perceptions of, and relationships to, local nature as the project progressed. At the symposium, Dr Newell will share her findings to date and ponder ways that Ripple Effect may proceed, particularly in light of the recent political debate over the health of waterways in the UK. Read more in our Spotlight interview with Dr Newell.

Documenting the recovery of the Sussex inshore ecosystem

Dr Valentina Scarponi (School of Life Sciences)

Staying on the South Coast, this project – led by Dr Scarponi, PhD student Alice Clark (Life Sciences) and Professor Mika Peck – has examined biodiversity recovery along the Sussex coast since the implementation of a trawling byelaw in 2021. The aim of the byelaw was to protect marine life, and it seems to have worked, judging by the Sussex team’s initial data which identified 81 marine species – including endangered animals like the European Eel and Tope Shark. Dr Scarponi and colleagues have used underwater camera equipment to record this biodiversity across 28 sites between Shoreham-by-Sea and Selsey Bill. Read more in our Spotlight interview with Dr Scarponi and Alice, and hear about their latest findings at the Symposium.

Building capacity for sustainable agriculture in Syria

Dr Mirela Barbu (Business School)

Dr Barbu will present work based on years of research in conflict zones in Northwest Syria. Dr Barbu’s ‘Agricultural Voices Syria’ project, conducted in conjunction with Professor Martin Spinelli of the School of Media, Arts and Humanities, entailed producing a series of (audio and visual) podcasts providing expertise to farmers in Syria’s Northwest in the absence of state support during the country’s civil war. This project was made possible by the knowledge of members of the NGO Syrian Academic Expertise (SAE). More recently, Dr Barbu has worked with the SAE to establish an agricultural testing centre in the same region, which will allow the team to carry out plant experiments and deliver more educational resources for farmers. Dr Barbu’s research will be profiled in an upcoming Spotlight blog.

Using WMRE metrics to accelerate waste management and resource efficiency in
Lesotho and South Africa

Dr Qingxiu Bu (School of Law, Politics and Sociology)

Dr Bu works on sustainable supply chains, the circular economy, and waste management. In his Symposium presentation, he will focus on two case studies – Lesotho and South Africa – to explain how data and metrics may be used to improve waste management and resource efficiency systems, thus contributing towards the fulfilment of SDGs around industry and infrastructure and responsible consumption and production. This work has been supported by SSRP funding. Dr Bu is also collaborating with the United Nations Environment Programme to advise on ways that supply chains can be made more sustainable. His research will be profiled in an upcoming Spotlight blog.

Co-creating adolescents’ menstrual health research in Sussex

Dr Chi Eziefula (Brighton and Sussex Medical School)

Dr Eziefula’s research, collaborating with colleagues from BSMS and external partners, aims to strengthen support and community for people who menstruate. Building on a previous SSRP-funded project, Dr Eziefula is considering ways that public-facing participatory research can highlight health priorities and raise awareness, normalise, and reduce stigma around menstruation. This line of work addresses long-standing gender health inequities and SDGs around wellbeing and gender equality. Moreover, the research also investigates the environmental impacts of menstrual products, aiming to move away from single-use items. A spotlight interview with Dr Eziefula will be published soon.

11.55. Theme 3: Sustainable Climate and Food Systems

Place-based sustainability: Understanding place-based knowledge and knowledge
boundaries for the transition to sustainable food systems

Dr Shova Thapa Karki (Business School)

Working in Sussex and Java, Indonesia with colleague Dr Bradley Parrish (Business School), Dr Thapa Karki has sought to understand how place-based knowledge might be integrated into large-scale sustainability transitions – particularly around food production (Sussex) and consumption (Java). In her Symposium presentation, Dr Thapa Karki will share findings that have arisen from focus groups held in both locations, comprised of local chefs, housewives, food activists (Java), and landowners, farmers, and environmental organisations (Sussex). Read more about this project in our Spotlight interview.

Research and Innovation policy for climate change and sustainability in Northern Nigeria

Dr Abdulrafiu Abbas (Business School)

Dr Abbas has a wealth of research experience in energy systems, climate change and industrial decarbonisation. He is currently part of the research team at the UK industrial decarbonisation research and innovation centre (IDRIC). A specialist in low-carbon development with particular expertise in climate change and energy policy in Africa, his Symposium presentation focuses on Northern Nigeria. Dr Abbas will reflect on how research and innovation policy might be used to combat and mitigate climate change and enhance sustainability strategies in the region. Dr Abbas has collaborated on this research with SSRP Fellow Dr Chux Daniels (Business School).

New developments in people-centred early warning of climate events in the Horn of Africa

Dr Pedram Rowhani (School of Global Studies)

Working with SSRP Fellow Professor Martin Todd (Global Studies) and partners in Kenya, Dr Rowhani has sought to implement warning systems to protect the safety and livelihoods of pastoral workers in the Greater Horn of Africa. If these workers can be alerted to extreme drought conditions before they set in, they stand a much better chance of adjusting to these circumstances. This also has a beneficial impact on food security and community health, strengthening climate resilience in a part of the world that is particularly vulnerable to drought and food insecurity. The research team are currently looking at ways that artificial intelligence can enhance these systems. Dr Rowhani will give an update on the status of this work at the Symposium.

Challenges to the sustainability of agriculture during protracted conflict in NW Syria

Dr Natalia Slutskaya and Dr Mirela Barbu (Business School)

Expanding upon Dr Barbu’s talk in the second panel, this joint presentation will focus on the general context of agriculture during conflict in Northwest Syria, and the problems posed by prolonged turmoil to efforts towards sustainable land use.

Transformation labs in complex, adaptive, socio-hydrological systems

Dr John Thompson (Institute of Development Studies)

Dr Thompson, Deputy Director of SSRP, will present work on the function and potential of ‘transformation labs’ – collaborative spaces where people take an active role in developing sustainable, equitable pathways – in Niger-Nigeria and Tanzania. These labs, which span a range of dryland settings in these countries, aim to include a multitude of voices in engaging with the complex challenges of rural and urban water resilience under rapid development. Dr Thompson is working with Dr Imogen Bellwood-Howard (Institute of Development Studies) and a range of external partners on this project, under the banner of the ‘CLARITY’ consortium.  

We can’t wait to find out more about this innovative and impactful research, which is making real, positive change in the world. We would love for you to join us. Everyone is welcome – please register here.