Person

Steve Metcalfe

Steve Metcalfe

Head of Communications & Engagement

Steve Metcalfe is Head of Communications & Engagement and oversees the institute’s external communications to support its mission of delivering world-class research, learning and teaching that transforms the knowledge, action and leadership needed for more equitable and sustainable development globally.

He has experience of a wide range of communications work in the international development sector, including media, events, campaigning, and digital.

Steve joined the Institute of Development Studies in 2022; prior to this he was head of Partnerships & Communications at Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP), an award-winning non-profit operating in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia. He started off his career as a business and finance journalist and holds a degree in English from Leicester University.

Opinions

Opinion

Are we in the age of the polycrisis?

Last week, as part of the Global Challenges Research Fund Islands of Innovation in Protracted Crises project, a workshop organised by Professor Jeremy Allouche, Dr. Shilpi Srivastava and Dr. Megan Schmidt-Sane brought together philosophers, sociologists, political scientists, political...

31 October 2023

Publications

Report

Pathways to Equitable Food Systems

IDS Report

Globally, our food systems are highly inequitable. In a world with enough food, hunger is becoming normalised for large numbers of people, while diets are worsening and obesity is rising. Racialised minorities are more at risk from obesity than other groups; indigenous communities have...

Lídia Cabral
Lídia Cabral & 4 others

26 June 2023

Steve Metcalfe’s recent work

News

The global land grab is still taking place, landmark conference finds

Major land sales organised by states and businesses continue to cause problems for rural communities and indigenous groups, a landmark conference in Colombia has found. Over the past 20 years, more than 30 million hectares of agricultural land has been sold off around the world according...

10 May 2024

News

Five themes crucial for recasting development in 2024

Humanitarian systems under strain; the increasing need for rapid – but equitable – climate action; and democracy under threat. These are just a few of the many challenges currently facing the development sector. In its Recasting Development in 2024 event on 31 January, experts from IDS...

1 February 2024

Past Event

Recasting Development in 2024

As we start off the year, how can we shift gears in the struggle against injustice, inequity and oppression? Watch now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QYJa7FWI9Y&t=94s In 2024, we look as far away as ever from achieving a world which is genuinely equitable, sustainable and...

30 January 2024