Great write up by Heiner Janus and Michael Roll of the GDI conference and the questions it raised 👇

Antonio Savoia and Martin Andersson are editing a special issue of 'Economic History of Developing Regions', focusing on economic shrinking in the Global South. Submit your abstracts now for consideration - Deadline 01/09/26 think.taylorandfrancis.com/special_issu...

Tune in online this Friday for a lecture on "Reapproaching Extended Urbanisation in the Brazilian Amazonia" - delivered by Roberto Monte-Mór, with GDI's Tom Goodfellow also sharing his ideas. Time: 15:30 BST Place: Online only - lnkd.in/eT-MbvKi

Find out more about the winning project: youtu.be/JbTzMnpcnzg

Our emerging impact winner goes to a project empowering young people in informal settlements in Nairobi and Harare through co-produced research and community action. Congratulations to Daniela Cocco Beltrame, the SDI Zimbabwe Alliance and the SDI Kenya Alliance @globaldevinst.bsky.social

Research from @globaldevinst.bsky.social links global consumer demand to rising deforestation in Brazil’s rainforest, often through complex, hard-to-regulate supply chains. It explains why efforts to curb deforestation lag behind demand. 👇 Let's dive into the research 🧵1/6 @manchester.ac.uk

We're immensely saddened to hear of the passing of Hamid Khalafallah, a 3rd year PhD colleague at @globaldevinst.bsky.social. Our thoughts are with his friends and family at this time. Hamid’s peers have organised a vigil today, Fri 1 May 5:30-6:30pm, outside the Arthur Lewis Building. All welcome.

Has globalisation failed? A new ARTE episode featuring GDI's Pritish Behuria has been released asking 'is globalisation on the way out? Or can it reinvent itself?' Watch here: www.arte.tv/en/videos/12...

Kicking off day 2 of the GDI conference with our third plenary! Ken Opalo speaking now about international development ‘after aid’ and the politics of navigating aid cuts

The GDI conference is getting underway this morning with a first plenary delivered by Lee Jones and Yuen Yuen Ang on the new geopolitics of development…

"It’s great to be recognised as 5th in the world for Development Studies in the new QS subject rankings. GDI is where critical thinking meets social justice - and we’re very pleased our contemporary approach to complex issues is held in such high regard." - Sam Hickey, Head of GDI bit.ly/4bNHQLN

GDI's Antonio Savoia chatting to students at the UoM (@manchester.ac.uk) Master's Expo today! Come say hi to us at our stand if you are on campus...

📑 NEW | Worlding Mogadishu: “New cities” and material modes of urban speculation Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, has undergone rapid transformation over the past 15 years. Following the state’s collapse in the 1990s, and subsequent rebuilding, it has become a site of diaspora return and investment.

We are very excited to share that Development Studies at @manchester.ac.uk has been ranked no. 5 globally by the latest QS World University Rankings!

A new paper by Caroline Cornier argues that Colombia’s collective land rights have struggled to support new, sustainable livelihoods because they overlook how Afro‑Colombian communities remain economically tied to extractive industries, making real change harder to achieve. Read: bit.ly/4byR3J2

Pritish Behuria will be delivering a talk for Seoul National University's Africa Seminar series on economic security in the era of planetary crisis. Join online on Weds 25 March 2026, 16:00 – 17:30 Meeting link: snu-ac-kr.zoom.us/my/baraka880... Find out more: snuac.snu.ac.kr/eng/index.ph...

We are so excited to welcome people to Manchester next month for the GDI Conference! We have a fantastic line-up of speakers and look forward to two full days of discussions. We're fully booked, so please release your ticket if you can no longer attend / join the waiting list here: bit.ly/4cB39SV

Can indigenous political representation improve forest conservation? Prof Bina Agarwal will deliver a talk on 18 March at @lseid.bsky.social to talk about India’s experience. Register here: www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminst...

‘There cannot be a corridor without Türkiye!’ Read the new open-access paper by GDI's @sethschindler.bsky.social and co-authors Sırma Altun and Mustafa Kemal Bayırbağ concerning the spatial component of Türkiye’s foreign policy: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

"The expansion of surveillance in Central Asia has unfolded not as a neutral process of digital modernization but as a politically charged response to regime insecurity, mobility, and shifting geopolitical alignments." Read the new open-access paper by Arash Beidollahkhani here: bit.ly/4qWNErU

On Feb 10, UNU-WIDER, OECD Development Centre & Univ of Manchester @globaldevinst.bsky.social brought researchers & policymakers together in Paris to discuss domestic resource mobilization (DRM)—what we know & what remains unresolved.

The Tigray crisis remains largely invisible to the world. "Factors such as race and the peripherality of the region made the Tigray conflict a blind spot in global geopolitics. But these explanations are not sufficient." In @uk.theconversation.com by @tekgw.bsky.social: bit.ly/4qvJzux

🎙️ Uma Kothari from @globaldevinst.bsky.social explores the role of stories and storytelling in research and research impact in this quick soundbite. 🎧 Listen here: buff.ly/bY94Id0

You are warmly invited to join us on Wed 18 March for inaugural lectures from Prof Johan Oldekop of @globaldevinst.bsky.social and Prof Michael Wigelsworth of @educationuom.bsky.social 👉 www.tickettailor.com/events/schoo...

💥New | Reform coalitions can bridge the gap between community and academia ✍️ Diana Mitlin #AcademicSky #UrbanStudies #Universities @africancities.bsky.social @globaldevinst.bsky.social

An upcoming online workshop invites paper submissions that advance empirical, theoretical, and policy‑relevant research on the developmental implications of servicisation in the Global South. 'Services and the Global South: Structural Transformation, Inequality and Development': bit.ly/3LU1LQv

New chapter ahead! Joining @globaldevinst.bsky.social @manchester.ac.uk as Lecturer (Assistant Professor) of Development Economics. Deeply grateful for an amazing 3.5 years at @ifpri.org - bittersweet goodbye, exciting times ahead.

blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/call-for-pap... Really interesting workshop being organised by Debolina Majumder and Michaela Collord @globaldevinst.bsky.social in April 2026 on labour-led urban development. Deadline of 31 Jan for bio and abstract!

🔎 In our latest blog, @globaldevinst.bsky.social's Jiayi Wang and Mengjie Xu argue that the just transition in the South envisioned by COP30 is jeopardised "if the new green economy is governed in the same top-down way as the old one" www.developmentresearch.eu?p=2499

📢 Registration is now open for the GDI conference on the future of global development. Join us in Manchester 13-14 April 2026 for two days of discussions around the conference's themes, which you can learn more about in this video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9Ly... Register for free: bit.ly/4pVymmK

📢 Call for papers: Envisioning Labour-Led Urban Development by @globaldevinst.bsky.social 📍 @manchester.ac.uk / hybrid 📆 23-24th April 2026 ⏰ Abstracts by 31st January Find out more: buff.ly/r3tlxKt

We are excited to bring you a new mini-pod series from our Research for Transformation Lab 🎧 In this episode, GDI's Uma Kothari explores the role of stories and storytelling in research and research impact. Listen here: www.buzzsprout.com/2017560/epis...

Why Iran's crisis is Russia's problem - a new piece by Arash Beidollahkhani in IPS: www.ips-journal.eu/topics/forei...

Friends not Foes? Why Development Economics and Development Studies still need each other By Professor @andypsumner.bsky.social, @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social via @globaldevinst.bsky.social buff.ly/HjYdqdJ

Join @globaldevinst.bsky.social for the final Community of Practice session on personal, community & organisational resilience. This session looks at how different forms of resilience connect — and why that matters. 📅 27 Jan | Open to all ⏰ 8am BST: buff.ly/smXKosx ⏰ 2pm BST: buff.ly/4SYmkfJ

In a new open-access paper, Bina Agarwal traces progress in reducing gender inequality from the mid-1970s onwards, arguing that tackling hidden barriers will require shifts from individual to group approaches. Read here: bit.ly/49Kx0Fp

GDI research fellow Arash Beidollahkhani talked to ABC's Isabella Higgins on this morning's broadcast about the ongoing protests in Iran: www.abc.net.au/listen/progr... Arash discusses what is different about this moment, and what it means for the regime's grip on power.

On Weds 11th Feb join the @hcrinstitute.bsky.social for a film screening and talk on the subject of 'The 2019 Sudanese Revolution till Now' Screening: Documentary ‘Sudan, Remember Us’ Speaker: GDI's Hamid Khalafallah will discuss Sudan's evolution to date Register here: bit.ly/4pI3W7r

A new publication by GDI fellow Arash Beidollahkhani considers how authoritarian regimes leverage innovation as a strategic tool for policy adaptation and sustainable development while preserving political control. Read here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

📣 Welcome Professor @goodfellowtom.bsky.social to @manchester.ac.uk to take up a dual role as Professor of Urban Development at the @globaldevinst.bsky.social and CEO of the @africancities.bsky.social ✨ buff.ly/TVWec0L

We're delighted to welcome @goodfellowtom.bsky.social to @manchester.ac.uk to take up a dual role as Prof of Urban Development @globaldevinst.bsky.social & CEO of @africancities.bsky.social – a position he will take over from Diana Mitlin in August this year 👉 www.african-cities.org/welcoming-pr...

"The demonstrations signal a deep challenge to a political order that many Iranians see as incapable of delivering stability, dignity or a viable future" A new article in @uk.theconversation.com by GDI research fellow Arash Beidollahkhani examines the growing unrest in Iran: bit.ly/3L5Q3BX

In a new essay, Seth Schindler (@sethschindler.bsky.social) and Jack Taggart argue that today’s tech billionaires are no longer operating above politics as part of a unified global elite, but are increasingly tied to state power in the US, exerting considerable influence... Read: bit.ly/4qGB8Nr

📢 Call for papers: Envisioning Labour-Led Urban Development by @globaldevinst.bsky.social 📍 @manchester.ac.uk / hybrid 📆 23-24th April 2026 ⏰ Abstracts by 31st January Find out more: buff.ly/r3tlxKt

Don't forget to join us next Tuesday 16 December for our last Community of Practice of the semester! Over the past months we've explored many dimensions of resilience. In this final session, we'll discuss how they intersect and interact. All welcome! Sign up here: bit.ly/4rNZRRg

A new book by Seth Schindler (@sethschindler.bsky.social) and Steve Rolf argues that global capitalism is being reshaped by two major and mutually reinforcing trends. How are these trends informing the spiralling rivalry between the US and China? You can read open-access here: bit.ly/4a8pExm

Known as COP30, this year’s UNFCCC climate summit took place a decade after the milestone Paris Agreement at COP21. To make sense of COP30’s negotiations and outcomes, we spoke to Jose A. Puppim de Oliveira, who spent time in Belém attending workshops and following negotiations: bit.ly/4pqxFlU

The Horn of Africa has been going through one of the most acute episodes of political and humanitarian crisis in its modern history. @tekgw.bsky.social and Hussein Sulieman write about the devastating wars in Ethiopia and Sudan, and how these have reshaped regional dynamics. 🔗 bit.ly/4oxE5OQ

Organised by Debolina Majumder and Michaela Collord, a workshop taking place 23-24 April 2026 will collectively envision the key features of what we call “labour-led urban development” in the Global South. Accepting abstracts until 15 Jan 2026: bit.ly/4ppGcph

📚 @globaldevinst.bsky.social’s Whitney Banyai-Becker co-authored a chapter on ‘Engaging with knowledge co-production: critical reflections from global doctoral researchers’ in Co-production of Knowledge in Action: Emancipatory strategies for urban equality. buff.ly/e7x8jBS