Welcome

A sustainable future remains within our reach. The need for change is agreed: we no longer ask ‘is action needed?’ Instead, the key questions are ‘what action is needed?’, ‘where is it needed?’, and ‘who needs to act?’. Addressing these issues requires thinking critically about sustainability: we need to interrogate where ideas about climate action come from, how these manifest in the world, and with what impact(s). It also necessitates collaboration across and beyond academia, through local to global partnerships with civil society, private sector, and governments. We must embrace diverse understandings of what sustainability is, how it is experienced, envisioned, and achieved. The St Andrews Centre for Critical Sustainabilities (StACCS) generates new understandings of sustainability through collaborative and transdisciplinary research.

Never has this work been more important: providing the necessary leadership to bring about a more sustainable future is one of the key missions for universities today. Our three research clusters (Carbon, Capital and Community) and four cross-cutting methodological themes (Creatively, Civically, Carefully, and Chronologically) enable the cross-fertilisation of ideas, skills, and projects.