NEWS

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 [...]

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 [...]

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, [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]