Postdoctoral fellowship at the CST, Stellenbosch University

Escalating global challenges such as climate change,  food and water security, biodiversity loss, socio‐political conflict and economic volatility, demand new approaches to researching and governing our environment and  societies.  Approaches  that  account  for  the  complex  relationships  between  human  well‐being  and ecological  sustainability,  while  dealing  with  ongoing  change  and  uncertainty,  have  become  critical.  It  is  increasingly  apparent that fundamental reorganization of our societies is necessary to achieve a just society for all, while maintaining  the environmental conditions that underlie  human prosperity. Navigating such a  transformation  will  require a capacity  to deal with changes  that are  fundamentally unknown and unpredictable  ‐ a capacity  that is central to resilient systems. Building resilience of intertwined social and ecological systems is therefore increasingly regarded as essential to enabling sustainable development at local to global scales, and is a rapidly emerging research area worldwide. The  South  African  Research  Chair  in  Social‐Ecological  Systems  and  Resilience,  held  by  Dr  Reinette  (Oonsie)  Biggs, aims to contribute to this area specifically from a southern African perspective. The Chair is hosted by  the  newly  established  Centre  for  Complex  Systems  in  Transition  (CST)  at  Stellenbosch  University.  The  CST  builds  on  a  strong  history  of  transdisciplinary  research  and  complexity  studies,  and  hosts  several  leading  scientists and  [...]

2024-06-19T13:54:37+02:00September 13th, 2017|SAPECS News|

Postdoc position available in the Department of Environmental Science at Rhodes University

The SARChI Chair in Interdisciplinary Science in Land and Natural Resource Use for Sustainable Livelihoods in the Department of Environmental Science at Rhodes University, Grahamstown (South Africa) is currently held by Professor Charlie Shackleton. The broad focus of the Chair’s is interdisciplinary research into understandings of natural resources in rural and urban livelihoods for poverty alleviation. Applications are currently open for a post-doctoral position for social or economic scientists to work primarily on analysis of existing livelihoods panel data collected through a joint project between the departments of Environmental Science at Rhodes University and the School of Resource Economics and [...]

2024-06-19T13:54:37+02:00August 30th, 2017|SAPECS News|

What is a T-lab (Transformation Lab)?

As part of the GRAID research project, the food team at the Centre for Complex Systems in Transition (CST) convened two T-labs (Transformation Labs) designed to interrogate and strengthen an alternative food system in the Western Cape, South Africa. The first was held at Grootbos Nature Reserve from 27-30 November 2016 and the second at Nine Oaks in Paarl 19-21 July 2017. As they are now writing a report and feeding back to the participants who have dedicated a substantial amount of time to this process, it seems a poignant time to offer some reflections on T-labs as a process and, in particular, on the challenges [...]

2024-06-19T13:54:37+02:00August 16th, 2017|SAPECS News|

Masters fellowships in social-ecological regime shifts for 2018

SARChI Research Chair in Social-Ecological Systems and Resilience Centre for Complex Systems in Transitions, Stellenbosch University   Regime shifts, long-lasting shifts or changes in the structure and function of social-ecological systems often occur abruptly and unexpectedly. These changes have substantial impact on ecosystem services such as crop production or food regulation that directly impacts human wellbeing. The South African Research Chair in Social-Ecological Systems and Resilience, held by Prof Reinette (Oonsie) Biggs, aims to contribute to theory, methods and understanding that can improve our capacity to assess risks and build resilience to regime shifts that may jeopardize ecosystem services and [...]

2024-06-19T13:54:37+02:00August 6th, 2017|SAPECS News|

Special issue “Livelihood and Landscape Change in Africa: Future Trajectories for Improved Well-Being under a Changing Climate”

The journal LAND has a special issue on"Livelihood and Landscape Change in Africa: Future Trajectories for Improved Well-Being under a Changing Climate" edited by Sheona Shackleton and several other co-editors. Some of the questions this Special Issue will be focusing on are: What are the changes we are observing in landscapes and livelihoods in rural Africa? What are the multiple, interacting socio-economic, political and environmental drivers of these changes? How are these changes impacting well-being amongst different social groupings within rural communities? What are the responses to these changes and what do they mean for future livelihood trajectories? Where responses are [...]

2024-06-19T13:54:37+02:00July 10th, 2017|SAPECS News|

Creating positive visions for southern Africa

Highlights: 1) There is a need for positive visions of the future to counteract the negative narratives that surround us every day and influence our actions 2) Based on "Seeds of Good Anthropocenes", a diverse mix of scientists, artists and changemakers created hopeful future scenarios for southern Africa at a creative visioning workshop held in Cape Town 3) Participants described the process as deeply transformative, and developed a set of radical scenarios with a strong emphasis on engaged citizenry, decentralized power and local, small-scale production systems   The Anthropocene, or literally the “Age of Man”, is the name [...]

2024-06-19T13:54:37+02:00June 16th, 2017|SAPECS News|

Resilience for Development colloquium

In collaboration with GRAID (Guidance for Resilience in the Anthropocene: Investments for Development, a collaborative project between the Stockholm Resilience Centre in Sweden, the CSIR and Centre for Complex Systems in Transition in Stellenbosch, and other international partners) SAPECS held its second colloquium in Johannesburg on the 8-10th of May 2017, focusing on ‘Resilience for Development’. The event brought together over 150 students, researchers and practitioners from South Africa, Africa, Sweden and elsewhere interested in resilience as an emerging approach towards sustainability. The colloquium was designed to maximize opportunities for dialogue and critical discussions structured around the following research themes: [...]

2024-06-19T13:54:37+02:00May 25th, 2017|SAPECS News|

‘Learning for Landscapes’: Insights on stewardship and collaboration from a recent knowledge co-production workshop

This article by SAPECS Researcher Jessica Cockburn reflects on a recent workshop held with practitioners working on collaborative landscape-scale stewardship initiatives across South Africa. We came from all different corners of South Africa to find common ground: ...all the way from the West Coast: fynbos vegetation, commercial potato farmers and precious estuaries... all the way from the Marico Bosveld: thorny country with precious water resources, fiercely proud locals and the ever-present threat of mining… all the way from the Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal:  hard-working farmers and agricultural landscapes covered in plantation forestry and dairy … all the way from pastoral grasslands: [...]

2024-06-19T13:54:37+02:00March 16th, 2017|SAPECS News|

Colloquium on Resilience for Development, 8-10 May, Johannesburg

Colloquium on  RESILIENCE FOR DEVELOPMENT Assessment Methods and Transformation Practices 08 - 10 May 2017, Johannesburg, South Africa We are thrilled to announce a colloquium on "Resilience for Development", hosted by SAPECS in collaboration with the GRAID (Guidance for Resilience in the Anthropocene: Investments for Development) initiative, and held on 8-10 May 2017 in Johannesburg. The colloquium focuses on methods and practices for integrating resilience as a core strategy of development actions across multiple sectors, scales and regions. Abstract submission is now open! The colloquium is designed to maximize opportunities for dialogue and critical discussions and building collaborations between researchers and [...]

2024-06-19T13:54:37+02:00February 14th, 2017|SAPECS News|

Research on bundles of human well-being in South Africa

Areas with high levels of direct ecosystem service use among households coincides with areas characterized by relatively low levels of human well-being Ecosystem services and human well-being are closely interlinked. After all, ecosystem services are benefits that nature provides to humans, and human well-being is dependent on natural provisions such as clean drinking water. While these two concepts clearly overlap, many questions remain unanswered. For example, do patterns of ecosystem service use in a landscape correspond with particular patterns in human well-being? A study by SAPECS researchers Maike Hamann, Oonsie Biggs and Belinda Reyers, addresses this question. More specifically, the study, recently [...]

2024-06-19T13:54:37+02:00February 2nd, 2017|SAPECS News|
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