The book "Principles for Building Resilience: Sustaining Ecosystem Services in Social-Ecological Systems" was co-edited by SAPECS-affiliated researcher Reinette (Oonsie) Biggs, and provides an in-depth review of current knowledge around how resilience can be applied in the management of social-ecological systems and the ecosystem services they provide. A number of SAPECS-affiliated researchers contributed to the book, including Georgina Cundill, Karen Kotschy, and Christo Fabricius. A matter of principle With contributions from scholars around the world and across disciplines, the chapters are structured around seven key principles for building resilience: maintain diversity and redundancy; manage connectivity; manage slow variables and feedbacks; foster complex adaptive [...]

PECS 2015 CONFERENCE Social-ecological dynamics in the Anthropocene Stellenbosch, South Africa, 3 - 5 November 2015 www.pecs2015.org 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. The conference will engage and involve multiple stakeholders concerned with sustainable development and who are interested in developing new solutions and strategies. The conference is intended to highlight PECS achievements and ambitions, and to synthesize and integrate PECS-related research to provide a basis for a future social-ecological research agenda, especially in light of Future Earth. PECS 2015 [...]

We are delighted to announce the first call for abstracts to the international conference PECS 2015: Social-ecological dynamics in the Anthropocene  held in Stellenbosch, November 3-5 2015. Deadline for session proposal submission is May 11th, and the deadline for talk submission is June 15th. For more details visit the conference website - www.pecs2015.org   About the conference: 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. The conference will engage and involve multiple stakeholders concerned with sustainable development and who are interested in developing new solutions and strategies. [...]

Experts from across the South African food industry recently released a report exploring potential future scenarios for the country’s food industry. The report, entitled Transformative Scenarios Report: The future of food 2015-2030 highlights some dire current realities, while also noting that the system could be recast with political courage, private sector initiative and strong advocacy and support from civil society. “There are a number of critical concerns regarding production of food in South Africa in the coming years,” says Scott Drimie, Director of the Southern Africa Food Lab (SAFL). “Hunger and malnutrition remain serious problems in South Africa but the [...]

One Year Fixed Term internship: Supporting an integrated systemic resilience approach to natural resource management in the Olifants River Basin AWARD, Hoedspruit Limpopo This internship opportunity is offered through the Association for Water & Rural Development (AWARD; www.award.org.za) under the 5-year RESILIM programme. AWARD is a research-based NGO that has had a 15 year focus on water resources policy, management and livelihoods. More recently we have an increased focus on biodiversity. We work on systemic and social learning approaches to water issues at local and catchment-scales at both national and international levels (mainly water-sharing between South Africa and Mozambique). Some examples of key areas [...]

Scientists from the Faculty of Science at Stellenbosch University (SU) are responsible for a brand new addition to the Woordfees programme this year, namely the Science Café Stellenbosch. The aim of a Science Café is to bridge the gap between science and the general public by entering into a conversation in a non-academic environment, like a restaurant or café. There are already hundreds of Science Cafés all over the world. Prof Louise Warnich, dean of the Faculty of Science at SU, says a Science Café is the ideal opportunity to involve the public in conversations about science: "Scientists have a responsibility to communicate [...]

This is a preliminary conference call for the 2015 Programme on Ecosystem Change and Society (PECS) conference, held in South Africa on 2-5 November. The conference will be held in Stellenbosch, at the Spier Wine Farm and Conference Centre, 2-5 November 2015. Call for abstracts to be announced soon. 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. The conference will engage and involve multiple stakeholders concerned with sustainable development and who are interested in developing new solutions and strategies. The conference is intended [...]

An international team of researchers, including SAPECS-affiliated scientists Reinette (Oonsie) Biggs and Belinda Reyers, have updated the planetary boundaries that define a "safe operating space" for humanity on Earth. This work builds on research published in 2009, which identified nine processes and systems that regulate the stability and resilience of the entire Earth System, thus providing the favourable conditions upon which our societies depend. However, these nine planetary processes have thresholds or tipping points ("boundaries") relating to human-induced changes to the environment. Crossing these thresholds can have dire consequences for human development, which means that we should aim to stay within the [...]

Last week, on the 3rd and 4th of November, more than 60 academics, practitioners, and students from around South Africa gathered at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Studies (STIAS) for an open science dialogue on the “Seeds of a Good Anthropocene: A Southern African Perspective”, organized by SAPECS and the Centre for Studies in Complexity. The Anthropocene is a new planetary era in which the extent of human impact on the Earth and its systems has come to rival the great forces of nature. There is growing recognition that dramatic socio‐cultural, political and technological changes are required to achieve a [...]

For the past year and a half, PhD student Gregg Brill has been interviewing Cape Town residents who visit Table Mountain National Park, in order to understand user behaviour, environmental perceptions, as well as the values individuals assign to an urban protected area. More specifically, Gregg looks at how visitors use, value and impact water-related ecosystem services in the park over space and time. User groups interviewed in this study included sporting groups, religious assemblies, scientific organisations, conservation volunteers, hiking clubs, environmental agencies, researchers and various other clusters. Surveys distributed to user groups document the length of park access and [...]