By Gaya Raddadi

Calls for decolonisation are appearing all over the globe, in different forms. But what does ‘decolonisation’ mean? Each definition is rooted in the specificity of the contexts it is applied to, and in the aims it wishes to achieve. In my research on decolonising universities I propose  to consider it as the recognition of the historicity of processes of knowledge creation and reproduction.

In this briefing paper Dr Joost Mönks, secretary of the IAC, summarises the purpose, history and objectives of the IAC and gives an overview of criteria and steps of the accreditation process. To establish criteria tailored to academic Development Studies programmes, a common understanding of the field of Development Studies was needed. Read the paper

By Basile Boulay

Can we set ourselves an agenda for a sustainable future without questioning the fundamental nature of capitalism? Researchers from the university of Leeds working on Greenhouse Gas Removal (GGR) recently published an article asking for the ‘Permission to Say “Capitalism’ in environmental research, correctly stressing that the structural features of capitalism have a direct impact on climatic issues. Other scholarly work, such as Raphael Kaplinsky’s new book Sustainable Futures – An Agenda for Action, prefers to avoid this frontal question by focusing on the nature of technological change and how some of its effects can mitigate the disastrous economic and environmental consequences of the global economic system, and eventually lead the way towards a sustainable world for all.