Our Living Laboratories

Engineering & Technology

Learn about river systems, climate, energy, and environmental systems and understand why green technologies often face challenges when applied on the ground

Study coastal and marine infrastructure such as ports and offshore projects, and how they affect ecosystems and local livelihoods

Examine mining and extraction technologies along with safety issues, environmental damage, and social impact

Understand how cities and regions function through systems like water, waste, energy, transport, and data

Economics & Development Studies

Study the economic ideas behind sustainability, climate finance, and green growth, and their real-world trade-offs

Examine coastal economies like fisheries, tourism, ports, and how climate risks affect development

Analyse extraction in terms of revenue, inequality, regional development, and long-term costs

Study how urban economies work, including informal labour, resource use, and limits of circular economy ideas

Management & Public Policy

Engage with climate-related policies, coordination between institutions, and gaps between policy and implementation

Explore coastal planning, disaster risk, infrastructure development, and protection of coastal livelihoods

Study regulation, corporate responsibility, and decision-making in extractive industries

Analyse how cities are managed, how services are delivered, and why systems often fail in practice

Law & Regulatory Studies

Examine environmental laws, indigenous rights, climate-related cases, and challenges in enforcement

Study laws governing coastal zones, marine ecosystems, infrastructure clearances, and community rights

Analyse mining laws, land acquisition, consent processes, and regulatory loopholes

Explore laws related to cities, water & waste management, infrastructure, and emerging regulatory gaps

Environmental Studies & Sustainability

Study ecosystems, biodiversity, peripheral communities, and climate impacts as part of complex human-nature relationships

Examine marine ecosystems, coastal degradation, climate vulnerability, and human dependence on the sea

Analyse environmental damage caused by extraction and the limits of restoration and mitigation

Study resource use, pollution, resilience, and sustainability challenges in everyday systems

Humanities & Social Sciences

Explore how nature, environment, and development are understood through society, history, culture, and ethics

Study coastal communities, fishing livelihoods, displacement, and cultural identity

Examine labour, displacement, trauma, and the social history of extractive regions

Analyse everyday urban life and how people experience invisible systems like water supply, waste, transport, and infrastructure

Journalism & Media Studies

Develop reporting that explains human dependence on forests and climate issues beyond events, focusing on systems and accountability

Produce in-depth reporting on coastal change, marine livelihoods, and governance

Engage in investigative journalism on mining, displacement, and power structures

Report on cities and infrastructure by making invisible systems and failures visible to the public