Blog archive
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StACCS funds new project on volcanism, climate, and agriculture in the Mediterranean
StACCS has awarded a project grant to support new research into the relationship between volcanic eruptions, climate change, agriculture, and societal resilience in the ancient and medieval Mediterranean. The project, ‘Volcanism, climate, and agriculture in the Mediterranean (1000 BCE–1500 CE)’, is led by Dr Ruben Post (School of Classics) in collaboration with Prof. John Haldon (Princeton/St…
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StACCS ‘Creatively’ Theme Teams up with Local Printmakers at a Global Conference
In July, the international History of Science Society (HSS) and the European Society for the History of Science (ESHS) hosted their joint annual meeting, “Shifting Perspectives: Plural Worlds, Contested Sciences,” in Edinburgh. As part of a wider outreach effort, the conference’s local organising committee solicited tie-in programmes from nearby Scottish universities and cultural institutions. The ‘Creatively’ lead…
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Mining the Landscape, Then and Now
Thomas Harrison Hair, ‘Jarrow Colliery,’ in A Series of Views of the Collieries in the Counties of Northumberland and Durham (London, 1844). Along the southern banks of the River Tyne, historical mining infrastructure from substantial nineteenth-century collieries at Jarrow, Gateshead, and Hebburn has been repurposed to generate low-carbon heating by harnessing the latent heat in river water, underground mine…
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StACCS to host Sámi guests, Johannes Vang and Elle Rávdná Näkkäläjärvi
In 2020, the Fosen Vind windfarm in Norway began operation as one of the largest onshore wind energy developments in Europe. However, little after a year later, the Norwegian Supreme Court ruled that this development, which was built on sensitive reindeer herding lands, violated Sámi rights. Despite this verdict from Norway’s highest court, the wind…
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StACCS welcomes new ‘Carefully’ theme lead
StACCS is delighted to announce Dr Jessica Hope, Senior Lecturer in the School of Geography and Sustainable Development, as the new lead for our ‘Carefully’ theme. This theme will start with activities that respond to long-running critiques that academic research has too often been extractive for Indigenous participants. Ultimately, the ‘Careful’ theme will develop institutional resources…
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Palaeoecology of a Pleistocene Land-Bridge: 40,000 years of human-landscape interaction in Australia
Thursday 14 May 2026 10:00am to 12:00pm Kennedy Hall, 104 – Lawson Lecture Room Join us for a seminar by Prof. Simon Haberle, Professor of Paleoecology and Natural History at the Australian National University, who will be visiting the University in May 2026 as a Senior Global Fellow. Hosted by the St Andrews Centre for Critical…
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Decolonising Research at the University of St Andrews: A Roundtable Discussion
27 May, 10:00am to 12:00pm Irvine Building: 208 – Lapworth Laboratory Book your free ticket here This roundtable discussion brings together colleagues from across the University of St Andrews whose scholarship engages with Indigenous communities on several continents, to share experiences and reflect collectively on what it means to decolonise research in practice. We aim to address how ways of thinking…
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Funding Opportunity – StACCS Project Grant, 2nd Round
Following the success of our first funding round, the St Andrews Centre for Critical Sustainabilities (StACCS) is pleased to announce a second call for Project Grants supporting innovative sustainability research, to be led by members of academic staff at St Andrews. Through this call, we aim to support top‑quality research, foster new collaborations within and beyond…
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StACCS Welcomes New ‘Capital’ Cluster Lead
Dr Kat Hunfeld is a political theorist and an Associate Lecturer at the School of International Relations. Under Dr Hunfeld’s leadership, the ‘Capital’ cluster will strengthen the network of researchers who are interested in the intersection between capitalism and ecological degradation; in questions of land, infrastructure, wealth and heritage; as well as in future economic and social systems…
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StACCS Welcomes New ‘Creatively’ Theme Lead
StACCS is delighted to announce Dr Ruth Ezra, Lecturer in the School of Art History as the lead for our ‘Creatively’ theme. This theme will consider new, imaginative approaches to understanding sustainability. Our members explore and harness the power of art, performance, and imagination as communicative tools for scientific research. The aim is to tell new…
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How Sustainable Finance Translates into Meaningful Change
The Finance Department at the University of St Andrews Business School and the Centre for Responsible Banking and Finance (CRBF), in collaboration with Scotland Beyond Net Zero and with support from the St Andrews Centre for Critical Sustainabilities, hosted its Sustainable Finance Symposium on 18 March 2026 as part of the University’s Sustainability Week. Following…
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StACCS Welcomes New ‘Chronologically’ Theme Lead
StACCS is delighted to announce Dr Katy Roucoux, Senior Lecturer in the School of Geography and Sustainable Development, as the new lead for our ‘Chronologically’ theme. This theme will bring together researchers who study long‑term environmental and societal change, asking how deep‑time perspectives can inform decisions that are conventionally shaped by short‑term political, economic, and…
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Inclusive and sustainable futures for Scotland, Pre-election community panel discussion
Thursday 26 March 2026 6:00pm to 7:30pm St Mary’s College, T201 – Lecture Room 1. Scotland has a track record of global impact on matters of sustainability, being one of the first countries to implement legally binding targets (Climate Change Act 2009) and develop a Loss and Damage Fund to support countries experiencing the effects…
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Sustainable Finance Symposium
The Finance Department at the University of St Andrews Business School and Centre for Responsible Banking and Finance (CRBF), in collaboration with Scotland Beyond Net Zero and with support from the St Andrews Centre for Critical Sustainabilities, hosted its Sustainable Finance Symposium on 18 March 2026 as part of the University’s Sustainability Week. The symposium…
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Sustainability Showcase
Discover the diversity of sustainability research taking place across the University of St Andrews. Chaired by Prof. Tom Brown, Vice Principal (Research, Collections and Innovation), the event brings together research centres and groups across the university, each offering a short lightning talk that highlights their distinctive approach to sustainability. Organised by the St Andrews Centre for Critical…
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Wardlaw Museum exhibition features in Museums Journal this month
Our exhibition ‘Rewrite the Future’ last summer has featured as a case study in Museums Journal, the house journal of the Museums Association. The article, co-written by the Wardlaw Museum’s Head of Experience and Engagement, Matt Sheard, and by Lyndsey Bowditch at the project’s designers Studioarc, focuses on their experimental approach to reducing waste. Usually…
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Storytelling as a Method for Sustainability Research
The St Andrews Centre for Critical Sustainabilities (StACCS) invites you to join us for a workshop exploring the value of storytelling as a method for sustainability research. StACCS addresses the challenges of sustainability through interdisciplinary collaboration around the themes of carbon, capital, and community, drawing on methodological principles that reflect on how we do this work:…
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Wrapped 2025
As we head toward the end of 2025 and StACCS collaborators are preparing for a well-deserved break, take a look at StACCS Wrapped to learn more about what the StACCS community has achieved this year.
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Rethinking Sustainability: Challenges, Approaches, and Practice
Following the success of last year’s inaugural edition at St Andrews, StACCS is delighted to announce that we will be co-hosting our second summer school from 22–26 June at the University of Bonn. Our longstanding collaboration with Bonn’s Center for Development Research reflects our shared commitment to exploring alternative approaches to sustainability through interdisciplinary dialogue…
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Roots and Shoots: A StACCS-funded community collaborative pilot project begins
What do sea grass planting, Victorian botanical recipes, fabric dying, the Celtic tree calendar, dulce soup, vernacular plant names and flood alleviation have in common? They are all themes being considered by three community heritage organisations as part of a new UK-wide exploratory project funded by StACCS called “Roots and Shoots: Growing climate resilience and…