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Sand and gravel: Rethinking aggregate consumption and distribution

By Arpita Bisht

Of all natural resources, mineral aggregates (sand and gravel) have been the fastest growing and most extracted material group over the 21st century. This growth has not only been associated with large-scale ecological degradation, but also with violent extractive operations on local levels.

Given that sand and gravel are heavily used in the construction industry, particularly in concrete production, it comes as no surprise that the growth of infrastructure is the main driver for the overall rise in their consumption. What’s more, since 1970, increasing aggregate consumption has largely been observed in the global South—in regions which have witnessed massive economic and infrastructure growth. Continue reading “Sand and gravel: Rethinking aggregate consumption and distribution”

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Development researchers as advocates: eight tips for more engaged scholarship

By Adinda Ceelen | EADI/ISS Blog Series

Research impact has become a strategic priority for many research institutes around the world, with an increasing focus on “bridging the gap” between research and society and positioning research in a way that ensures the knowledge it produces can contribute to bringing about change. Development researchers often find themselves straddling two worlds: the academic sector on the one hand, and the development sector on the other. But is there a moral imperative for development researchers to bridge these two realms by acting as advocates in ‘the real world’? If so, how can they best share knowledge in ways that contribute to solidarity, peace, and social justice? Continue reading “Development researchers as advocates: eight tips for more engaged scholarship”

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Risk dumping in field research: some researchers are safer than others

By Linda Johnson and Rodrigo Mena | EADI/ISS Blog Series

A quick glance at who is out collecting data in ‘the field’, including in remote and sometimes hazardous environments, is enough to make our point clear: the main executors of in-situ research (also known as fieldwork research) are local researchers and research assistants, sometimes together with junior or PhD researchers from research institutions in the Global North. These groups are being systematically and disproportionately exposed to safety and security issues linked to field research. Continue reading “Risk dumping in field research: some researchers are safer than others”

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Sustainable energy supply: the case of health facilities in Ghana

By Jonas Bauhof

Access to electricity is still a major problem

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), 770 million people lacked access to electricity in 2019 – set aside sustainable energy sources. Three-quarters of these people – around 575 million – are living in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). While the numbers declined over the past decade, the Covid-19 pandemic has reversed the trend. SSA has been hit hard economically and for the first time since 2013, the number of people with access to electricity is predicted to have decreased in 2020. Continue reading “Sustainable energy supply: the case of health facilities in Ghana”

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Water Operator Partnerships after 15 years: Re-politicising the debate

By Andrea Beck

Just over 15 years have passed since the UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation (UNSGAB) published a plan that proposed, inter alia, the concept of Water Operator Partnerships (WOPs). In this plan, which was released in March 2006, WOPs were envisioned as “a structured programme of cooperation among water operators, based on mutual support and on a not-for-profit basis.” The idea was to use peer-to-peer learning and knowledge exchange to develop the capacities of water operators, so that they could deliver reliable, good-quality services on the way to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Continue reading “Water Operator Partnerships after 15 years: Re-politicising the debate”