Research

The Sussex Sustainability Research Programme supports the sustainability of our planet through rigorous interdisciplinary research, stimulating action and influencing policy.

Our research projects

Building on our existing strengths across the social and natural sciences, our research is rooted in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our funded research addresses interactions among the goals, and how to minimise trade-offs and maximise synergies.

Our projects were funded through the SSRP Fund, and bring together a combination of disciplines from our core Schools and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS). These projects have been grouped into five new encompassing themes below. 

Discover our most recently funded projects

With the help of SSRP seed-funding and support, our community continues to scale up their projects and drive impactful sustainability research. More recently, SSRP researchers secured a share of a

• $8 million external grant to ramp up successful climate adaptation and resilience solutions across the Greater Horn of Africa;
• DEFRA funding of £12.5 million to work with Kew Science on nature-based solutions for climate change at the landscape level; 
• and a £1.3 million UKRI Fellowship to continue work on increasing pollinator-friendly habitats, biodiversity and urban food production.

SSRP is delighted to be supporting four new cutting-edge research projects, set to receive funding for the 2024/2025 academic year. These projects, selected as part of SSRP’s 9th seed-funding call 'Scaling up Sustainability Research', promise to drive impactful sustainability research forward, focusing on diverse areas such as territorial and indigenous rights and ecosystem protection in South America, innovative sustainability education for young people, combining public health and biodiversity in Oceania, and trade and deforestation regulations. 

Delve deper into the our latest pioneering sustainability intiatives.

Contribution to teaching

SSRP research has contributed to undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in numerous ways. For instance, Dr Perpetua Kirby’s research into sustainability education has informed the second-year ‘Exploring a Forest Food Garden’ module, in which students plan, plant and harvest food on the Sussex campus.

Professor Mika Peck and Professor Fiona Mathews have involved students in their research in Ecuador through field trips and placements. Sussex graduate Sam Nurney is one of numerous students to have worked with Professor Peck’s Ecoforensic organisation in Ecuador, collecting data for his MSc thesis. He wrote an insightful blog for us about his experience.

We also hosted a ‘Wicked Sustainability Challenges’ seminar series from Winter to Spring 2024. SSRP researchers Dr Kirby, Dr Rebecca Webb, Dr Chris Sandom, Dr Pedram Rowhani, Professor Lyla Mehta and SSRP Director Professor Joseph Alcamo led six seminars on distinct sustainability issues, which were attended by over 110 students and staff overall.