Prosperity & Resilience
The last century has seen unprecedented economic growth. There has been a proliferation of national and international institutions seeking to promote cooperation, reduce violence and conflict; others are designed to address the global issues of greenhouse emissions, corruption, and organised crime. At the same time, however, the global economic crisis has highlighted the fragility of the international economic system, while global terrorism – and the war on terror – challenge not only the stability of many countries but also institutions such as those defending international human rights. Creating and sustaining prosperity while also enabling resilience is key to individual and social wellbeing. Both are complex challenges: understanding and developing responses transcends the boundaries of individual academic disciplines.
Many of the most important challenges that our societies face – such as urbanisation, climate change, armed conflict, inequality, unemployment, and migration – are problems that cannot be understood through the lens of a single discipline, and so need us to work together in new ways. Building on our strong research base, and combining it with our experience of working with a range of organisations on policy and practice, enables us to can be responsive to many of the challenges faced by prosperity and resilience.
Our research in Prosperity & Resilience directly links with our research in Environment, Food, Health and Heritage & Creativity.