ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½

A third-year GSD PhD student recently presented his doctoral research at a prestigious political ecology conference.

Read more.

The School for Cross-faculty Studies at the ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ is proud to be part of a diverse and inclusive community of staff and students. Our community includes many neurodivergent individuals across the spectrum, whose different perspectives, strengths, and ways of thinking enrich our learning environment and strengthen the collaborative work we do. To mark Neurodiversity Celebration Week, we spoke to one of these neurodivergent community members Ruhi - a first year GSD and Life Sciences student - about living with autism, and how the Higher Education sector still has a way to go to support neurodivergent individuals.

Click here to read Ruhi's story

A PhD candidate within our GSD doctoral programme recently presented a paper discussing the ethical and methodological challenges of her research at the Annual Western Society of Criminology Conference, which was held from 5–7 February 2026 in Denver, Colorado.

Click here to read more.

Dr Hita Unnikrishnan, an assistant professor at the Institute for Global Sustainable Development, has been appointed to the Executive Council of the International Association for the Study of the Commons (IASC). The appointment follows the unexpected and tragic loss of previous council member Raul Pacheco-Vega, prompting the organisation to invite new academic perspectives to help steer its mission.

The IASC is a globally recognised professional body dedicated to improving the governance, management, and long‑term sustainability of shared resources — from forests and fisheries to digital commons and urban spaces. It brings together researchers, practitioners, and policymakers from multiple disciplines to advance understanding and develop solutions for commons and common‑pool resource challenges.

Founded in part by Elinor Ostrom - the 2009 Nobel Laureate in Economics whose groundbreaking work reshaped global thinking on collective resource management - the organisation continues to play a central role in shaping policy and research worldwide.

Dr Unnikrishnan’s appointment places her among an international group of experts guiding the strategic direction of the association. The current list of council members can be viewed on the IASC website: .

The annual Warwick Sustainability Forum in its third iteration took place on 2 July, bringing a community of researchers, practitioners and policy-makers together at Warwick. It broke its record again(!) in terms of number :) having attracted nearly 70 participants from across the University and beyond!

For the first time, the WSF connected to the Spotlight's Sustainability Training School (STA), which was held in March 2026: the participants learned about the results of three fantastic group projects - on sustainable heritage; student retention, and green composting in the area led by the ECRs - and the support they received from Coventry City Council (Giuliana Famiglietti and her team in particular). The forum also brought three established thematic networks with their champions - Circular Economy; Sustainable Food/Agritech; RIFT - to hear about their work and plans for the future. There was an opportunity thereafter to hear new voices and submit thematic ideas/champion names for the next year. The Forum concluded with the stakeholder round-table, involving the Provost's keynote, and members of the House of Lords and local council, SOS UK, VUB HOST and experts from EU-US and UK consultancy companies.

IGSD was prominently represented there, building on the opportunities the Spotlight offers, and the expertise it connects.

The IGSD team met up in Scarman to exchange news regarding their research and funding activities; discuss how best to support the School's research environment and thematic clusters building; and to consider CPD opportunities for external partnerships.

IGSD team members have been successful in a series of funding opportunities, including British Academy, EU Horizon, and UKRI (1-stage applications). IGSD team also noted a growing success of their partnerships with the Sustainability Spotlight - a research network of 1000+ across Warwick - and external partners including with China and India HEIs, EUTOPIA HEIs, and more.

Our Liberal Arts programme equips students with the essential skills valued by employers across diverse industries, as demonstrated by the wide range of careers our graduates pursue. Frances joined our first ever cohort of Liberal Arts students in 2016, and her final dissertation on improving sustainability in healthcare helped towards securing her role as a Net Zero Strategy Analyst for NHS England. We caught up with Frances to recount more of her experiences as an undergraduate, and how she believes a 2,000-year-old discipline like Liberal Arts is still relevant for helping students develop skills sought out by modern employers.

Click here to read Frances' story

In our ‘Beyond the Classroom’ interview series, we speak to our Liberal Arts module convenors to reveal the deeper purpose and vision behind their academic modules. In our first entry to the series, we spoke to Dr William Rupp about his module Do you hear the people sing? Revolution and the Modern Musical.

Click here to read more.

Dr Uribe Botta is an environmental historian whose work is deeply interdisciplinary, bridging history, cultural studies, and the material world. He specialises in the role of plants — particularly orchids — as actors in global and colonial history.

Click here to read more.