NEWS
Project Update: Testing the Water – how Cape Town urbanites use, value and impact water-related ecosystem services in Table Mountain National Park
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 [...]
SAPECS Winter School turns up the heat in the Garden Route
Surrounded by the beautiful Outeniqua Mountains and situated within deeply green pine plantations, the NMMU campus at Saasveld provided a perfect retreat from the hustle and bustle of everyday life for 21 students from all over southern Africa. The students had gathered in this tranquil place near George, South Africa, to participate in the very first SAPECS winter school held from the 30th of June to the 4th of July 2014. The main goal of the winter school was to develop the capacity of these new scholars in the field [...]
Introductory reading: Applying Resilience Thinking
A new popular science publication has been produced by the Stockholm Resilience Centre, entitled "Applying resilience thinking - Seven principles for building resilience in social-ecological systems". This is a popular summary of the Cambridge University book "Principles for Building Resilience: Sustaining Ecosystem Services in Social-Ecological Systems" (2014). This book, in turn, expands on the comprehensive review "Towards principles for enhancing the resilience of ecosystem services" by Reinette Biggs et al., published in the journal Annual Reviews of Environment and Resources in 2012. Many SAPECS-affiliated researchers were involved in the process [...]
Ecosystems & Society Winter School: 30 June – 04 July 2014
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University’s (NMMU) Sustainability Research Unit and SAPECS would like to invite relevant Masters and PhD students to an ‘Ecosystems and Society’ Winter School that will be held at NMMU’s George Campus at Saasveld from 30 June to 4 July. Goals The goals of this Winter School are to develop the capacity of new scholars involved in, or planning to do, research on the link between ecosystems and society to plan, execute and interpret their research. The focus is to strengthen the capacity of students starting out on [...]
Project update: It’s less about elephants, and more about space…
To compete for a burgeoning tourist market looking for a great wildlife experience, protected areas (particularly more commercially driven privately-owned ones) often over-stock on charismatic species. But do more charismatic species equate to more visitors, and more revenue? In a paper recently published in the journal Ecological Applications, and featured more popularly in the magazine “Conservation”, Kristi Maciejewski and Graeme Kerley from the SAPECS-affiliated Protected Areas Project find that this is not necessarily the case. In their study, carried out in the Eastern Cape, higher elephant densities did not translate to increased [...]
RELATED NEWS
Call for candidates: SouthSouthNorth’s Internship Programme
SouthSouthNorth is a non-profit company working on projects that promote sustainable development and address climate change. They are looking for self-motivated and enthusiastic young talent to join their team for six months in the next phase of their internship programme. Interns at SouthSouthNorth provide support to the organisation in a number of ways including planning events and logistics, project management and research, knowledge management, and operational support. The internship offers a broad perspective into the inner workings of the organisation, and applicants can expect to encounter a diverse and engaging range of tasks. The [...]
Vacancy: Sustainable Livelihoods Foundation Researcher
The Sustainable Livelihoods Foundation (SLF) is a non-profit company. SLF prides itself in ground-breaking research, policy engagement and the development of appropriate innovation strategies in order to contribute towards the improvement of livelihoods in poor urban communities. SLF works across many cross-cutting themes including Informality, Health Participation, Citizen Action, Ecology and Society and Enabling Youth. To find out more about the variety of SLF projects visit: https://livelihoods.org.za/. SLF is recreating a dynamic researcher to support our research and engagement activities within the theme of informality. The researcher will undertake research (and [...]
Academic Position in Dept of Environmental Science at Rhodes University
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, RHODES UNIVERSITY Senior lecturer/Associate Professor/Professor Rhodes University’s Department of Environmental Science is looking for a senior lecturer/associate professor or professor to join our team. We are a small department dedicated to advancing inter- and trans-disciplinary science and learning aimed at understanding and managing complex human-environmental/social- ecological systems, with a focus on Africa. Our vision is to lead and advance knowledge development, capacity building, and communication for sustainable human-environmental systems. For more information about the position, and to apply, visit https://goo.gl/ndBYw7 Deadline for applications: 23 May 2016
Call for Abstracts: Transformations2017
Call for Abstracts Transformations2017: Transformations in Practice 30th August - 1st September 2017 Abstract submissions are invited for the 3rd Biennial International Conference on Transformations to Sustainability, taking place at the University of Dundee, Scotland. The main theme of the conference is 'Sustainability transformations in practice' The six sub themes are: Conceptualising sustainability transformations Designing transformation and transformative forms of design Conditions and practice for transformation Research for transformation Creativity and innovation for enhancing thinking and practice of transformation Linking practice with policy Submissions are invited for : Presentation [...]
African Doctoral Academy: Winter School, 27 June – 8 July
The African Doctoral Academy runs bi-annual training courses which are aimed at both expanding and adding depth to the knowledge pool and skillset of doctoral and post-doctoral academics across the African continent and beyond. For more information on the 2016 Winter School, please visit the website and register before the 1st of June 2016. Courses are filling up slowly but surely. Here is an outline of the courses on offer: