NEWS
Call for applications: Postdoctoral fellowship on Social-Ecological Regime Shifts
Deadline for applications: 30 July 2016 We live in a new planetary era – the Anthropocene - where human activities have become a major driver of ecosystem dynamics at local to global scales. There is growing evidence that anthropogenic impacts are increasing the risk of transgressing tipping points that could trigger catastrophic environmental regime shifts, such as the collapse of an important fishery or the Greenland ice sheet. Such regime shifts threaten the supply of essential ecosystem services on which human societies depend - including provisioning (e.g. crops), regulating (e.g. [...]
New paper on transdisciplinary research to bridge the science-action gap in local land-use planning
SAPECS-affiliated researchers Jessica Cockburn and Mathieu Rouget, together with a team of researchers and practitioners working in the eThekwini Municipal Area (Durban, South Africa), recently published a paper on bridging the science-action gap in the journal Ecology and Society. Through presenting empirical insights and lessons learnt from a local collaboration between a university (University of KwaZulu-Natal) and a municipality (eThekwini Municipality), the paper contributes to a growing body of research on the role of transdisciplinary research in bridging the gap between science and society. The paper uses the Durban Research [...]
Internship: Social-Ecological Systems Research at the CSIR in Stellenbosch
Internship: Social-Ecological Systems Research 1 Year Contract Position The CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) is a leading scientific and technology research organisation, implementing projects throughout Africa and making a difference in people’s lives. Stellenbosch University is amongst South Africa's leading tertiary institutions, and is recognised internationally as an academic institution of excellence. About the job: This position forms part of a newly established collaboration between Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Research Group at the CSIR and the Centre for Complex Systems in Transition (CST) at Stellenbosch University. The Biodiversity [...]
SAPECS teams up with Nat Cap and WLE for ecosystem service modelling workshop
Recently, SAPECS teamed up with CGIAR’s programme on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) and the Natural Capital Project (NatCap) to run a workshop on the NatCap’s approach and tools for modelling ecosystem services. In recent years, NatCap’s modelling platforms, particularly INVEST and RIOS, have become indispensable communication, scoping and scenario development tools for social-ecological projects globally. Although anyone can download and use their software, NatCap pride themselves on iteratively developing tools through a deep engagement with on-the-ground projects. The main objective of our training was to foster such an engagement [...]
New review on participatory scenario planning in social-ecological research
"Scenarios" are descriptions and visualizations of the potential future of a social-ecological system. In participatory scenario planning different groups of people use their local and scientific knowledge to develop sets of scenarios that provide multiple perspectives on real-world problems. A recent study by SAPECS researchers and a diverse group of international colleagues compares and contrasts 23 examples of participatory scenario planning. The study, published in Ecology and Society, aims to improve the rigor, inclusiveness and effectiveness of scenario planning exercises in place-based research. This is increasingly important as global initiatives such as [...]
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Louis Bacon Environmental Leadership Fellowship at Harvard Kennedy School
The Center for Public Leadership (CPL) at Harvard Kennedy School seeks to recruit its third cohort of Louis Bacon Environmental Leadership Fellows for the 2018-2019 academic year. The Bacon Fellowship brings together emerging leaders from the government, business, and the NGO communities eager to take up the mantle of environmental leadership by bringing new ideas and innovation to the policies and programs that preserve and enhance our shared environment. The Louis Bacon Environmental Fellows come to Harvard and connect with highly accomplished national and international leaders, who provide them with both knowledge [...]
Call for Applicants for SASAC Doctoral Scholarships for Research using a Systems Analysis Methodology – 2018
The Southern African Systems Analysis Centre (SASAC), launched in November 2011 is a multi-year initiative coordinated by the University of the Western Cape, in partnership with the Universities’ of Limpopo and the Witwatersrand, and Stellenbosch. This initiative takes cognisance of additional and multi-level systems analysis capacity interventions, and a comprehensive approach to policy related activities in South- and Southern Africa. SASAC has dedicated three-year bursaries for South African and Africa PhD students based at a South African university to complete their studies with a supervisor from South Africa, experienced in systems analysis, possibly in collaboration with a co-supervisor [...]
Postdoc position in hydrologic modeling for ecosystem services at the Natural Capital Project
Natural Capital Project Postdoctoral Associate Advancing hydrologic modeling for ecosystem services The Natural Capital Project at Stanford seeks a creative and application-oriented hydrologist to support the assessment of hydrologic ecosystem services and targeting of land management and development choices. The focal hydrological services are water regulation (flood mitigation, baseflow regulation) and sedimentation. The postdoc will support development of a parsimonious flood risk model and application of existing watershed hydrology models in innovative ways to support two studies on the valuation and prioritization of land management activities to support ecosystem services. [...]
Research coordinator for the Durban Research Action Partnership
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE, ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE RESEARCH COORDINATOR FOR THE DURBAN RESEARCH ACTION PARTNERSHIP (PEROMNES GRADE 8) THREE YEAR FIXED TERM APPOINTMENT SCHOOL OF LIFE SCIENCES PIETERMARITZBURG CAMPUS REF NO. LS03/2017 The School seeks a Research Coordinator to assist the NRF Chair in the successful implementation of the eThekwini-UKZN research partnership by coordinating all research activities related to the Durban Research Action Partnership (D’RAP). The Durban Research Action Partnership (D’RAP) is a research partnership of the eThekwini Municipality’s Environmental Planning and Climate Protection Department (EPCPD) and the University of KwaZulu-Natal [...]
PhD Autumn School in Portugal on Transformations to Sustainability
A PhD Autumn School that will take part in Aveiro, Portugal in October. This Autumn School is part of the Marie Curie project SUSPLACE (Sustainable Place Shaping). See the flyer attached to this email for more info and links to websites. This autumn school is directed at PhDs and Early Stage Researchers interested in transformations to sustainability, with a particular focus on place-based development, grassroots innovations, and adaptive governance. Besides SRC’s own Maria Tengö, other lecturers will be Katherine Gibson (Western Sydney University), Adrian Smith (SPRU/STEPS Centre), Celeste Coelho (University [...]