The Sussex Manifesto was a report on science and technology for development written at the request of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

and published in 1970.

History

In the late 1960s the United Nations asked for recommendations on science and technology for development from a team of academics at the

Institute of Development Studies The Institute of Development Studies (IDS) is a think tank affiliated with the University of Sussex in Brighton, England, and based on its campus in Falmer, East Sussex. It delivers research and teaching in the area of development studies, an ...

(IDS) and the

Science Policy Research Unit Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) is a research centre based at University of Sussex in Falmer, near Brighton, UK. It focuses on long term transformative change, science policy and innovation across different sectors, societies and structures. I ...

(SPRU) at the

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

, UK. This team became known as the Sussex Group and their report, ''Science and Technology to Developing Countries during the Second Development Decade'', became known as the ''Sussex Manifesto''. The ''Sussex Manifesto'' was intended as the introductory chapter to the ''UN World Plan of Action on Science and Technology for Development''. But the solutions presented in the Manifesto were deemed too radical to be used for that purpose. It was instead published in 1970 as an annex in ''Science and Technology for Development: Proposals for the Second United Nations Development Decade'', a UN report by the Advisory Committee on the Application of Science and Technology to Development (ACAST). The ''Sussex Manifesto'' helped raise awareness of science and technology for development in UN circles influenced the design of development institutions and was used for teaching courses in both North and South universities. The Sussex Group were

Hans Singer Sir Hans Wolfgang Singer (1910–2006) was a German-born British development economist best known for the Singer–Prebisch thesis, which states that the terms of trade move against producers of primary products. He is one of the primary figures ...

(Chairman), Charles Cooper (Secretary), R.C. Desai,

Christopher Freeman Christopher Freeman (11 September 1921 – 16 August 2010) a British economist, recognised as one of the founders of the post-war school of Innovation Studies. He played a lead role in the development of the neo-Schumpeterian tradition focusin ...

, Oscar Gish, Stephen Hill and Geoffrey Oldham. The Sussex Manifesto was originally published as the ‘Draft Introductory Statement for the World Plan of Action for the Application of Science and Technology to Development’, prepared by the ‘Sussex Group’, Annex II in 'Science and Technology for Development: Proposals for the Second Development Decade', United Nations, Dept of Economic and Social Affairs, New York, 1970, Document ST/ECA/133, and reprinted as 'The Sussex Manifesto: Science and Technology to Developing Countries during the Second Development Decade', IDS Reprints 101.

Today

In 2008 one of the authors of the original report Professo
Geoff Oldham
gave a seminar at the

STEPS Centre The STEPS Centre (Social, Technological and Environmental Pathways to Sustainability) was an interdisciplinary research centre hosted at the University of Sussex, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. The Centre's research brought t ...

– a research centre and policy engagement based at IDS and SPRU. Following this event, the STEPS Centre decided to create a new manifesto in association with its partners around the world and Professor Oldham. The new publication, ''Innovation, Sustainability, Development: A New Manifesto'', was launched in 2010, forty years after the original. The New Manifesto has also been translated into Chinese, French, Portuguese and Spanish.New Manifesto: translated versions
/ref> The STEPS Centre is funded by the

Economic and Social Research Council The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), formerly the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). UKRI is a non-departmental public body (NDPB) funded by the UK government. ESRC provides fundi ...

(ESRC).

References

{{Reflist

External links

The STEPS Centre

Hans Singer obituary

Innovation, Sustainability, Development: A New Manifesto

STEPS Centre: About the New Manifesto
University of Sussex Development studies Science and technology studies