Research Output – Page 3 – Debating Development Research

09/12/2025

Against all Odds: How Local Communities Achieve Forest Conservation in Colombia

By Sara Vélez Zapata and Gonzalo A. Vargas

In early November, Indigenous communities in the Brazilian Amazon raised their voices, reminding us that without forests there is no future: “sem floresta, não há futuro”. During the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 30), global leaders discussed how to protect tropical forests as a collective effort. However, it ended without a binding agreement to stop deforestation. Given that tropical forests are often found in countries with fragile institutional contexts, what can we learn from communities’ achievements over the last few years?

01/04/202502/12/2025

Analyzing Community Representation in the Kenyan Aid Chain

By Maaike Matelski and Lise Woensdregt

Within the field of development research and practice, there is a growing awareness that interventions aimed at supporting emancipation struggles in the Global South should prioritize local actors and agendas. Consequently, community-based organizations (CBOs) are increasingly considered vehicles of change. But who are the communities that constitute these CBOs? To complement existing literature on CBOs that focuses primarily on Northern case studies, we decided to analyse this question in relation to two types of CBOs engaged in advocacy work in Kenya. Our findings testify to the diversity of identities, forms and goals of organizations that come under the banner ‘community-based’.

03/12/202402/12/2025

Trading with the ‘Jungle’: The European Union’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences

By Jan Orbie, Antonio Salvador Alcazar III and Tinus Sioen

The notions of ‘developing countries’ and ‘development cooperation’ have been waning in discourses by scholars, policymakers and civil society actors. At least rhetorically, the colonial and patronising nature of these notions has been recognised at the European Union (EU) level. For instance, the Development Commissioner has been rechristened as the ‘Commissioner of International Partnerships’ since 2019. In recent years, the EU has pursued plenty of ‘partnerships’ in areas such as climate, energy, trade and deforestation.

15/10/2024

Colonialism’s Blind Spot in Climate Change Solutions: Why Feminist Approaches Are Falling Short

By Bernadette P. Resurrección

Efforts to integrate gender equality into climate change solutions have gained momentum in recent years. However, despite this progress, many of these initiatives are missing a crucial element—colonialism. This glaring oversight leaves today’s climate policies struggling to deliver truly feminist, just, and transformative results.

06/06/2024

Unravelling the Geographies of the Green Transition: Understanding the Finance-Extraction-Transitions Nexus

By Tobias Franz and Angus McNelly

The transition from fossil fuels to green energy in the 21st century – driven by the urgent need to address anthropogenic climate change – represents a monumental shift in not just global energy systems but generally within global capitalism. This transition mirrors historical transformations in energy systems, such as the emergence of fossil capital in northern England or the shift from coal to oil in the 20th century, which have had profound impacts on the world economy. The ongoing green transition presents similar unique challenges and opportunities, requiring a fundamental reconfiguration of energy production and consumption patterns to avoid catastrophic climate collapse.