Month: July 2026


CSS-based Evidence to UK Committee Inquiry

Dr Gillian McKay (Leeds Beckett University) submitted evidence to an inquiry by the UK Parliament’s International Development Committee into “FCDO’s approach to higher education and research partnerships”, which she drew from insights of her impact tracing study into the Creating Safer Space research network.

The following is the summery section of the submitted evidence. The full submission can be accessed HERE.

Summary

This submission responds to the Committee’s questions: What have been the benefits of investment in higher education and research partnerships for the UK and international partners? What further benefits can be harnessed? It draws on emergent findings from an ongoing impact evaluation of a UKRI-funded international research collaboration, Creating Safer Space (CSS). CSS brings together researchers and practitioners across 13 countries, seeking to advance understanding and operationalisation of unarmed civilian protection (UCP) and community self-protection (CSP) in 11 low- and middle- income countries affected by conflict. Using CSS as a case study, the submission highlights the benefits of higher education and research partnerships for five actor groups, namely: academic, community, practice, institutional, and public. The findings are presented for each actor group in turn.

First, CSS has enriched the academic evidence base, enhanced methodological capacities, and improved coherence of UCP/CSP as a field of research and practice. Second, it has enabled communities to recognise, validate, and strengthen existing protection practices, and to apply them more intentionally, collectively, and confidently. Third, it has supported the translation of community knowledge into actionable frameworks, developed practitioner capacity and legitimacy, and enabled the integration and diffusion of UCP/CSP approaches across organisations and initiatives. Fourth, it has facilitated incremental incorporation of UCP/CSP principles into policy discussions, training systems, and advisory processes. Finally, CSS has enhanced the visibility and legitimacy of nonviolent approaches to protection and created an enabling environment for their uptake. Three considerations emerge for His Majesty’s Government (HMG): (i) invest in long-term, equitable research partnerships, (ii) strengthen impact pathways from research to policy and practice, and (iii) recognise and resource the full value of research partnerships.

Access the full submission HERE.


New publication on hydroelectric licensing, territorial functionality and social violations in Colombia

Researchers Mateo Valderrama Arboleda and Hernán Darío Pineda Gómez of the CSS project “Water conflicts, violations and forms of self-protection” have published a new book chapter (in Spanish) entitled “Hydroelectric licensing, territorial functionality and social violations”, based on a case study in eastern Antioquia, Colombia. The book that contains the chapter can be accessed online HERE.

The chapter provides insights into the purpose of territorial reorganisation and the type of ‘major programme’ or ‘model’ of society that these transition processes are embedded in. It also explores how they may lead to other types of conflict, such as socio-environmental conflict, in the long term.

In their analysis of hydroelectric extractivism from the perspective of territorial functionality and its violations, the authors reflect on how these types of interventions affect the spatialities historically produced by rural communities in the countryside. They observe that the construction of this type of project is based on an approach in which the locations where hydroelectric infrastructure is installed are conceived as empty or adaptable spaces.

This perspective is present in both the regulatory framework authorising environmental licensing and the political action driving construction. It results in the negation of rural communities’ life projects and territorial ties as implementation focuses on ‘the monetisation of rivers as resources to be exploited’, leading to various types of violations — physical, social, economic, environmental and legal.

In the face of hydroelectric extractivism that threatens the aspirations of local communities, social movements are emerging to defend their autonomy and promote alternative uses of the territory, such as agriculture or community-based tourism.

Reference

Valderrama Arboleda, Mateo, and Hernán Darío Pineda Gómez, Licenciamientos hidroeléctricos, funcionalidad territorial y vulneraciones sociales: Estudio multicaso en el Oriente antioqueño (Colombia), in: Anhelos y derivas de los procesos de paz en Nicaragua, El Salvador y Colombia, ed. by Hélène Roux and Luis Antonio Ramírez Zuluaga, pp. 211-246  (Buenos Aires: CLACSO, 2026).