IFG IV « Resources & Sustainability »
The focus of the IFG “Resources & Sustainability” is to examine the origins and potential effects of a range of economic and social strategies that are currently being explored to create an alternative model of sustainable economic development in the region. This IFG investigates how such strategies might lead to positive economic development and help address environmental challenges.
Research Agenda and Work Program:
The fourth Interdisciplinary Fellow Group (IFG IV) “Resources and Sustainability” focuses on the origins and potential effects of a range of economic and social strategies that are being explored to create an alternative model of sustainable economic development in North Africa. The IFG examines how these strategies can lead to positive socio-economic development and help address environmental challenges. It addresses the following key questions:
- How do societies deal with emerging socio-economic disparities and growing environmental problems?
- What economic models could ensure a socially and environmentally sustainable future?
Five fellows at different stages of their research career and from different social science disciplines – namely political science, peace and conflict studies, agricultural science, economics and management – work together at MECAM in Tunis between March and June 2022.
After the first few meetings, the IFG will identify some common threads linking the fellows’ research. These will guide the group’s work under the general umbrella of ”Imagining the Future / Confronting Disparities.”
The IFG work program is roughly divided into three phases:
- Phase 1 (March/April 2022): Orientation phase to find common ground (internal project presentations and text discussions joint activity planning) ;
- Phase 2 (May/June): Joint research and writing (external project presentations; conducting joint events and activities) ;
Phase 3 (after the end of the grant phase): Individual and joint publications.
IFG IV “Resources and Sustainability” activities:
In parallel with the individual research and publication projects that each fellow pursues during their four-month stay, IFG will develop a scientific program of joint activities and events (to be published in due course), including the MECAM Spectrum series that will allow IFG IV fellows to present their research at a variety of institutions, in a variety of contexts, and to a variety of audiences while in Tunisia.