Governance, equality and sustainability
Our shared vision rests on the reality that powerful mobilisation is needed to achieve societal transformations to repair the damage wrought by our extractive and destructive global systems, and ensure that the needs of all are met within the means of the Earth.
At a time when planetary boundaries are being exceeded and governments are lagging behind in decarbonisation efforts, we need nothing less than the regeneration of our planet.
Our manifesto
We recognise that our vision cannot be achieved through ambitions and soft targets. We concluded that transformation cannot happen without the creation of more just and equitable societies and the development of more sustainable consumption and production systems. Our manifesto advocates for impactful research which reconnects us with ourselves, our fellow human beings, our communities and the living planet.
Programme priorities
This complex, multifaceted and interconnected programme has three priorities;
To create an inclusive forum for networking and discussion about our research and wider interests in sustainability to learn from each other.
To share and collaborate on funding opportunities and events .
To create a supportive network for all scientific experts and advocate for a more equal and sustainable future in systems .
Ecological regeneration and transformation requires a structural shift towards equity.
We embrace diverse methodologies and approaches and will foster a culture that respects and amplifies these.
Ultimately, we wish to learn from each other, contribute to the challenging sustainability research agenda, and advocate for a more equal and sustainable future in systems, which are regenerative and facilitate the flourishing of humans, biodiversity and ecosystems.
This programme aligns to UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) SDG1, SDG2, SDG4, SDG5, SDG8, SDG10, SDG12, SDG13, SDG16 and SDG17.
We are delighted to be part of the Institute for Sustainability. Although only just established, the Institute has already created many opportunities for us to meet, exchange ideas and be challenged, encouraging working across disciplines and creating new partnerships. We look forward to being part of a community of scientists and other colleagues working together towards a sustainable and fairer future.
Co-leads
Professor Noreen O'Meara
Senior Associate, Centre for Britain and Europe (CBE). Affiliated Researcher, Surrey Centre for International and Environmental Law; Surrey Centre for Law and Philosophy, Surrey Law School.
Biography
Noreen O'Meara is connected to several research centres in Surrey Law School, including Surrey Centre for International and Environmental Law (SCIEL), SCLP, and the Centre for Great Power Competition, and to the Centre for Britain and Europe (CBE). She is a British Academy Mid-Career Fellow advancing her research on national, EU and international dimensions of environmental governance. Since 2025, she has held the Synnott Family Chair in European Union Law at University College Cork (UCC).
She read Law at the University of Cambridge (Corpus Christi College) and UCL (LLM (Public Law) and did her PhD research at Queen Mary, University of London. She has also completed non-degree studies at the European University Institute (EUI), Florence, Université Paris-1 (Panthéon-Sorbonne) and RADA. She previously worked as a research fellow at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL) and in practice at the European Commission's Legal Service and the Court of Justice of the European Union (cabinet, Advocate General Sharpston). Her work focused on infringement actions against Member States and cases in a broad range of areas of EU law, including data protection, taxation, extradition and environmental law.
At the University of Surrey, she focused her research on European law and human rights, developing particular expertise on rights and the environment, environmental pollution and the evolution of human rights protection in Europe. She led and developed courses on EU Law, Law and Climate Change, and European Human Rights Law.
Visiting positions include: Sutherland Fellow (UCD), The Institute of European and Comparative Law (IECL, University of Oxford), iCourts (University of Copenhagen), Trinity College Dublin, during which time she joined the Editorial Board of the Irish Journal of European Law (IJEL). She is also a Visiting Professor at Stockholm University, a Research Affiliate at UCD Earth and an Affiliate researcher at the Exeter Centre for Environmental Law (ExCEL).
Professor Nigel Morgan
Professor of Social Sustainability
Biography
Nigel is an economic and social historian by doctoral training and has spent his career promoting inclusive, creative and responsible tourism research, education and academic community engagement. His research is encapsulated in two entwined strands: place marketing, power and identity; tourism and social sustainability.
He is perhaps best known for co-founding the Critical Tourism Studies Network in 2005 and co-chairing it until 2015. He has led consultancy projects for clients in the UK, Europe, the US and Asia and his research funders include the ESRC, British Academy, Leverhulme Trust, the EU and the Norwegian Research Council.
Dr Lada Timotijevic
Associate Professor; Head of Department of Psychological Sciences; Deputy Director of the Food, Consumer Behaviour and Health Research Centre
Biography
Having completed my PhD in 2000 (University of Surrey) in the area of identity processes in the context of social and cross-cultural mobility, I have subsequently worked within the advertising industry (J. Walter Thompson).
I joined the Food, Consumer Behaviour and Health Research Centre (FCBH) at the University of Surrey (Department of Psychology) in 2002, a multidisciplinary research centre which brings together skills and expertise from across the University in order to address research questions on food related policy, consumer behaviour and public health. Since my arrival, I have played an instrumental role in the success of the Research Centre, working on research projects of substantive theoretical and applied relevance.
I work within the critical public health framework and my empirically-oriented work has focused on understanding the role and nature of public and stakeholder engagement and dialogue in policy and science, risk perception and governance, and science-policy interaction. Policy relevance is a key theme across my research projects, and my work is aimed at both understanding the processes of policy making, and contributing evidence on which to base policies. I am particularly interested in public health nutrition, sustainable diets and illness prevention.