My name is Irene Ndobo and I am currently an Honours student in the Department of Environmental Science at Rhodes University. I am working on a project titled Interest Group and Citizen Attitudes towards the Economic Valuation and Commodification of Nature and Ecosystem Services under the supervision of Prof Sheona Shackleton. The aim of this study is to gain insights on the views and opinions of various actors (NGO workers, consultants, academics and students) with a working knowledge of natural resource management, conservation or the economic valuation of nature. Differing perspectives are sought because as the literature suggests people view [...]

We would like to invite you to attend a workshop and dialogue session on “Seeds of Good Anthropocenes”, focussing on the urban environment. Please see this note for details. We can also confirm that our two keynote speakers will be Prof Mark Swilling from the Sustainability Institute at the University of Stellenbosch and Mr Rashiq Fataar from the Future Cape Town initiative.   Venue: Fire & Ice Protea Hotel, New Church Street, Cape Town Date: 12 August 2015 RSVP: Please RSVP online by Monday 20th July Enquiries: Rika@sun.ac.za   In order to register for the event, we ask that you [...]

A new paper has just been published in Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability on "Advancing sustainability through mainstreaming a social–ecological systems perspective", co-authored by a number of SAPECS-affiliated researchers including Reinette Biggs and Marja Spierenburg. In the paper, the authors discuss the ways in which the concept of social–ecological systems has facilitated a number of advancements, like the increased recognition of the dependence of humanity on ecosystems and the improved collaboration across disciplines, and between science and society. However, they also identify a number of areas in which the potential of a social–ecological systems perspective to improve sustainability outcomes has not yet been fully realized, such [...]

SAPECS-affiliated researchers Georgina Cundill and Dirk Roux have recently published a paper on "Nurturing communities of practice for transdisciplinary research" in the the journal Ecology & Society. Together with John Parker from Arizona State University, they explore the concept of a “transdisciplinary community of practice", which is defined as a cross-sectoral group of people with different backgrounds that share a common interest in finding solutions to a complex social-ecological problem. The authors share key lessons learned from engaging in such groups, and suggest ways in which these groups may be nurtured. For more detail, please refer to the abstract: "Transdisciplinary research practice has become a [...]

Spier Estate | Stellenbosch | South Africa 3 - 5 November 2015 www.pecs2015.org  CALL FOR SESSIONSDeadline extended to 25 May 2015 PECS 2015 will gather scientists from various disciplines, from within and beyond the PECS network, to share cutting-edge research insights on social-ecological dynamics in the Anthropocene. In a move to make the conference program as vibrant as possible, and to allow for innovative ideas and new collaborations to emerge we are welcoming submissions for different session types. Each session submission will be organised and managed by its own convener or committee, who are also responsible for working with presenters [...]