Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA)

Smallholder farmers are key to food security in sub-Saharan Africa where two thirds of the population depend on small-scale, rain-fed farming as their main source of food and income. The Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture approach couples local climate, crop, livestock and livelihood information with participatory planning and decision making tools that farmers can use to decide the best farming and livelihood options for them.  PICSA is implemented by development organisations working with farmers. It has to date been implemented in 8 countries across sub Saharan Africa and there is demand for PICSA from global organisations such as the United Nations World Food Programme and the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research. PICSA involves Reading researchers from the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development and from the Walker Institute, and is funded by CGIAR research programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Low Carbon Rural Development

People living in rural areas of developing countries are often trapped in poverty. They face a number of challenges to escape this trap, including exposure to unpredictable weather patterns, the absence of institutional insurance and credit facilities, health shocks, and many more. This large-scale research project addresses several of these constraints collecting panel data to provide an integrated view on development. The research is being conducted as part of the Risk and Development Unit, and is being undertaken in partnership with The Environmental Defense Fund and The Fair Climate Network. The Low Carbon Rural Development project involves Reading researchers from the School of Politics, Economics and International Relations, and is funded by the German Research Foundation. 

BRAVE Project

Secure access by the rural poor to water in Africa is central to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. With more than 500 million Africans dependent on groundwater, and with the potential for expanding its use, the resilience of aquifers in the face of climate, population growth, and land-use change is key to ensuring secure access to water in these areas. Bringing together communities, practitioners and policy makers, the application of a planning tool is being piloted in a series of case studies within 8 communities in Ghana and Burkina Faso. A set of meaningful groundwater management tools is being developed with local communities that specifically address the information they want and need, and which are embedded within the existing local, district, national and regional governance structures. BRAVE involves Reading researchers from the Walker Institute, the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, the Meteorology Department, and the School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Sciences.

Working Better With Whitley

Recommendations from the 2015 'Working Better with Whitley' have changed local service provision in Reading, including a new Scarlet 9 bus service, primary schools programme, and a partnership with Reading Borough Council to help shape their poverty strategy. Supporting the Whitley community in becoming ‘more mobile and connected' is key to tackling the deprivation and social exclusion associated with the area, according to University of Reading research. Reading researchers from the School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Sciences are working with the Local Trust to set up similar community programmes and to disseminate the research to 150 Big Local communities through the new University of Reading Participation Lab. Working Better with Whitley is funded by the University of Reading and the Whitley Big Local, an initiative supported by a £1m Big Lottery grant.

Homo UNicus: The United Nations and the Gender Question

The United Nations Charter clearly envisages a central role for women and requires gender parity across the UN. Those aims are crucial for the UN to have credibility in its work on gender across the world, and for its work, decisions, and activities to have legitimacy. Despite repeated acknowledgement of its gender problems and attempts to address the situation, little has changed at the UN over recent decades. Reading researchers from the School of Law and the School of Politics, Economics and International Relations are undertaking research into why gender parity remains an elusive goal, the effects of the UN remaining dominated by men in senior leadership roles, and how this can and should be addressed. The project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and is supported by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the United Nations.

• Dr Andrew Ainslie, Lecturer in International Rural Development
• Dr Alex Arnall, Lecturer in Agriculture and Development
• Marie Aronsson-Storrier, Lecturer in Disaster Law
• Dr Sarah von Billerbeck, Lecturer in Politics and International Relations
• Professor Susan Breau, Head of School of Law
• Professor Rosalind Cornforth, Director of the Walker Institute
• Dr Joanne Davies, Teaching Fellow in International Development
• Dr Peter Dorward, Associate Professor (Agriculture, Policy and Development)
• Dr Ruth Evans, Associate Professor (Human Geography)
• Dr Giuseppe Feola, Lecturer in Environment and Development
• Dr Eleanor Fisher, Associate Professor (Agriculture, Policy and Development)
• Professor Rosa Freedman, Director of the Global Development Division
• Dr Hilary Geoghegan, Associate Professor (Human Geography)
• Professor Michael Goodman, Professor of Environment and Development
• Professor Chris Hilson, Professor of Law
• Professor Uma Kambhampati, Head of School of Politics, Economics, and International Relations  
• Dr Sally Lloyd-Evans, Associate Professor (Human Geography)
• Dr Steve Musson, Head of Department of Geography and Environmental Science
• Professor Chukwumerije Okereke, Professor of Law and Environmental Science
• Dr Henny Osbahr, Associate Professor (Agriculture, Policy and Development)
• Dr Samantha Rawlings, Lecturer in Economics
• Dr Katja Samuel, Associate Professor in Disaster Law
• Dr Zahra Siddique, Lecturer of Economics
• Professor Ferdinand Vieider, Professor of Economics
• Dr Ruvi Ziegler, Lecturer in Law