Policy and Practice Briefs

Research partnerships between institutions in the global North and global South are widely seen as critical in supporting evidence-based action to address the global issues of sustainable development. Academia is grappling with the challenge of ensuring that partnerships are non-hierarchical, are built on mutual understanding and trust, and reflect the different partners’ values and priorities.

Academic research is increasingly called upon to provide actionable evidence for sustainable development. As the demands for ‘impact’ grow, the limits of single-discipline investigation become apparent. Most funders see interdisciplinary research as an avenue to tackle complex global challenges.Yet this emphasis clashes with an academic culture that remains, to a large extent, within the boundaries of individual disciplines.

A sophisticated model now being trialled in coastal Bangladesh can help decisionmakers in some of the world’s most challenging regions meet development and environmental policy targets, benefiting the many millions of poor people whose livelihoods are threatened by climate change.

The Delta Dynamic Integrated Emulator Model (ΔDIEM) incorporates biophysical, socioeconomic and governance processes and data, and tracks change over time to consider a range of plausible futures.

Featured image courtesy of Worldfish

The Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) programme is a global, interdisciplinary research programme that aims to give decision-makers and natural resource users the evidence they need for more sustainable ecosystem management and effective poverty reduction. Ecosystem services support human society: covering everything from freshwater flows and soil quality to fisheries productivity and climate regulation – and including cultural and spiritual values.

Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) approaches will be necessary to secure food production across Africa as the effects of climate change are increasingly felt.

Can these approaches also help lift the poorest farmers out of poverty?

Key messages of this policy brief include:

There are knowledge gaps on the flows of ecosystem goods and services in the seas and oceans – and these gaps hamper equitable and sustainable fisheries management. Methods for measuring and monitoring ecosystem services can help conserve biodiversity in the fisheries sector as a way to alleviate poverty and support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The key messages of this policy brief from the ESPA programme and Strathclyde University are:

The governance of natural resources – such as fisheries, forests and grazing land – often fails to deliver adequately on sustainable use, justice and improved livelihoods. Decision-making structures and processes determine the management of resources and who benefits from them. How can governance approaches become more effective and fair to enable improved sustainability and livelihoods over time? ​

This policy brief explores these questions through a review of the ESPA programme's and broader literature, and concludes:

Improving effectiveness

Environment-related policies and programmes are often assumed to generate ‘win-wins’ for communities and the environment. In reality, they can work against people who are already disadvantaged.

Protected areas remain a cornerstone of efforts to conserve biodiversity and ecosystems globally. They are rapidly increasing in size and number. Aichi biodiversity target 11 of the Convention on Biological Diversity calls for 17% of terrestrial and inland water areas and 10% of coastal and marine areas to be protected by 2020.

​Key messages of this policy brief are: