Environment and Sustainable Livelihoods

Rural village with one person walking in distance next to a red and blue fence between houses at sunset Lalibela Ethiopia Horn of Africa.Research into environment and sustainable livelihoods in the International Development Department takes a politics lens to understanding why environmental challenges occur and who is affected by them.  

IDD hosts the broader Environment and Sustainable Livelihoods Research Group which encompasses members from across the School of Government, taking a critical lens to conservation, pollution control and food safety. Our research addresses governance, politics and policy concerns associated with protecting the environment whilst supporting the pursuit of sustainable livelihoods. We conduct research into how governments interact with other actors, including local communities, in the management of biodiversity and natural resources, on issues of food security and food sovereignty, and climate change.

Group leads: Fiona Nunan and Brock Bersaglio

Key Staff

Postgraduate Researchers

Research Projects

Building adaptive fisheries governance capacity, Fiona Nunan, Global Centre on Biodiversity for Climate, December 2023 – 2026

Sustainable wildlife management, Brock Bersaglio, Centre for International Forestry Research, October 2023 - July 2024

Recent publications and outputs

Atkins, M., P. Cohen and C. McDougall (2021) COVID-19 impacts on women fish processors and traders in sub-Saharan Africa: Insights and recommendations for building forward better, Penang: WorldFish.

Bersaglio, B., C. Enns, M. Goldman, L. Lunstrum and N. Millner (2023) Grounding drones in political ecology: understanding the complexities and power relations of drone use in conservation, Global Social Challenges, 2(1): 47–67.

Beseng, M. (2021) The Nature and Scope of Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing and Fisheries Crime in Cameroon: Implications for Maritime Security, African Security, 14(3): 262-285.

Croome, H. and C. Wilkinson (2020) “How African Is the African Elephant? Reflections on elephant poaching and conservation in newspapers”. In: Freedman, E., S. Shipley Hiles and D. Sachsman (eds.) Communicating Endangered Species: Extinction, News and Public Policy, Michigan: Routledge.

Dasandi, N., W. Cai, P. Friberg, S. Jankin, J. Kuylenstierna and M. Nilsson (2022) The inclusion of health in major global reports on climate change and biodiversity, BMJ Global Health, 7(6): e008731.

Gilson, J. (2023) Sustainable Development and the Environment in EU and Japanese Free Trade Agreements: Embedding Anthropocentric Narratives, Environmental Politics, online first.

Gilson, J. (2023) From Kyoto to Glasgow: is Japan a climate leader?, Pacific Review, 36(4): 723-754.

Hjort, M. (2021) Locating the subject of REDD+: between “improving” and safeguarding forest inhabitants’ conduct, The Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law, 53(1): 60-77.

Kalatzi Pantera, D., T. Böhmelt and Z. Bakaki (2023) The Transnational Influence of Natural Disasters on Environmental Attitudes, European Journal of Political Research, 62(3): 761–780.

Kairu, A., K. Kotut, R. Mbeche and J. Kairo (2021) Participatory Forestry Improves Mangrove Forest Management in Kenya, International Forestry Review, 23(1): 41-54.

Nunan, F., Barnes, C. and Krishnamurthy, S. (eds.) (2022) The Routledge Handbook on Livelihoods in the Global South, London: Routledge.

Nunan, F. (2020) The political economy of fisheries co-management: challenging the potential for success on Lake Victoria, Global Environmental Change, 63: 102101.

Thompson, M. (2023) Alternative visions of “ethical” dairying: changing entanglements with calves, cows and care, Agriculture and Human Values, 40: 693-707.