Sustainability Research at Newcastle University
We provide coordination and support for the wide range of research in sustainability undertaken by the University and our collaborating partners, including global organisations, national government, local government (especially Newcastle and Gateshead Councils) and a diverse range of companies and non-governmental organisations.
Sustainability is a broad concept that requires inputs from many traditional disciplines. We are structured to reflect that breadth, with ten overlapping thematic clusters:
- Energy
- Water
- Transport
- Marine
- Food
- Terrestrial
- Urban and Rural Economy
- Products and Processes
- Health and Environment
- Justice and Governance
The last thematic cluster, 'Justice and Governance', under-pins all the others, providing the ethical and organisational principles from which specific interventions can be developed.
The Institute is served by a small support team, which draws together the thematic inputs and provides opportunities for collaborative research and engagement between thematic areas.
The pursuit of a ‘knowledge economy’ is much talked about in academia and government. We aim to transcend this, pursuing a ‘wisdom economy’, in which knowledge is tempered by a principled commitment to ensuring that all beings – human and non-human – have access to sufficient resources in perpetuity.