NEWS
SAPECS Working Groups Workshop held in Grahamstown
A very hot and humid Grahamstown welcomed more than twenty researchers and PhD students to the 4th meeting of the SAPECS Working Groups between 27th and 30th January 2014, held at Rhodes University. Existing working groups met to further discussions and collaborations that were initiated last year, and new working groups were formed to respond to emerging research gaps identified by the wider SAPECS community. Three full days of workshopping were complemented with a fieldtrip to Grahamstown’s commonages, which represent fascinating examples of social-ecological systems that provide a variety of [...]
Project update: Governance of Ecosystem Services under Scenarios of Change
For two years, PhD students Vanessa Masterson and Maike Hamann have explored the links between ecosystem services, human well-being and sense of place in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. At the local scale, Vanessa has spent five months in the Centane district on the Wild Coast, conducting interviews and focus group discussions with villagers and migrant workers about their connection to the landscape, small-scale farming and the use of natural resources. She has also used participatory methods including photovoice and community mapping to characterize the sense of place [...]
Multi-scale adaptations to climate change in coastal areas in France, South Africa and the United Kingdom
A team from Arizona State University, CIRAD, IRSTEA and CEFE (France), Exeter University and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, lead by SAPECS member Christo Fabricius, have recently received funding from the Belmont Forum for a three-year study to assess adaptations and perceptions of risk and vulnerability in coastal areas. Called MAGIC (Multi-scale Adaptations to Global change In Coastlines), the project addresses a classical wicked problem: how to respond appropriately to risk and vulnerability in coastal zones. Team members include Resilience Alliance members Marty Anderies, Olivier Barreteau, Katrina Brown, Francois Bousquet, Raphael [...]
Positions in “Interdisciplinary Science in Land and Natural Resource Use for Sustainable Livelihoods”
Applications are invited for one post-doctoral, two PhD and two Masters positions with the DST/NRF Chair in "Interdisciplinary Science in Land and Natural Resource Use for Sustainable Livelihoods" in the Department of Environmental Science at Rhodes University, Grahamstown. Applications are invited from social, economic and natural scientists interested in research on the use, trade and management of biological natural resources in local livelihoods. Standard NRF level bursaries are available. Commencing date is February 2014. Closing date: 25th November 2013. For more details, please visit www.ru.ac.za/static/departments/environsci/documents/Masters&phd/Advert%20for%202014%20cohort.pdf
MSc or MA bursary: Bio-Cultural Values and Sense of Place
MSc or MA bursary available 2014 - 2015: One Masters level bursary (R80 000 pa with additional funding for field costs) is available for an exciting interdisciplinary project in the Eastern Cape and Cape Town, and based at Rhodes University in Grahamstown. Title: Bio-Cultural values and sense of place: implications for personal well-being of urban migrants We seek a motivated and enthusiastic student to conduct Masters research as part of an interdisciplinary team exploring the cultural and spiritual significance of nature in the context of labour migration and its implications [...]
RELATED NEWS
Call for Applications: Postdocs at the Department of Environmental Science at Rhodes University, Grahamstown
Call for Applications: Postdocs (2) 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 two post-doctoral positions from ecological, social or economic scientists. Interested applicants must be able to demonstrate their prior work and expertise in, or application [...]
ALTER-Net summer school 2016: “Biodiversity, ecosystem services and sustainable management of socio-ecosystems”
11th ALTER-Net Summer School "Biodiversity, ecosystem services and sustainable management of socio-ecosystems" 7-17 September 2016 Peyresq, Haute-de-Provence, France Fee: €800 Open to young graduate and post-graduate scientists from both within and outside the network partners, the ALTER-Net Summer School provides an innovative atmosphere for thinking about and resolving the sustainability challenges that society is currently facing. The Summer School aims at contributing to the durable integration and spread of excellence within and beyond the network, with a view to promoting interdisciplinary approaches. ALTER-Net Summer Schools have been running since 2006 and [...]
Summer School on Modelling Environmental Resilience,19-25 June 2016, Paris (France)
Summer School on Modelling Environmental Resilience *Climate, (Agro)-Ecology, Ocean, Society* 19-25 June 2016, Paris (France) The summer school takes place at the Ecole Normale Supérieure, 19-26 June 2016 in the heart of Paris, France, and is supported by PSL Research University Paris. This summer school aims to bring together a group of 25 participants with a strong interest in environmental science and with backgrounds in quantitative sciences from across a range of disciplines (ecology, geosciences, physics, agronomy, economics, geography, etc). The objective is to expose the group to a [...]
Calls for postdoctoral fellowships under the initiative “Knowledge for Tomorrow – Cooperative Research Projects in Sub-Saharan Africa”
Volkswagen Foundation's has announced Calls for postdoctoral fellowships under the Initiative “Knowledge for Tomorrow – Cooperative Research Projects in Sub-Saharan Africa”. The funding initiative aims at extending and strengthening research in the regions of Sub-Saharan Africa. Objective The funding initiative is open to all disciplines and aims at the development and sustainable reinforcement of research in Sub-Saharan Africa. Research projects, developed and carried out by African scholars and scientists in close cooperation with their German partners, shall provide junior researchers in Africa with an opportunity to enhance their skills [...]
6th International Conference on Sustainability Science: 02-03 March in Stellenbosch
How can Sustainability Science help tackle some of the pressing sustainability challenges that Africa is facing? This is the main question that ICSS2016 will aim to answer, treating topics as diverse as agriculture, food security, biodiversity conservation, mining resources, urban sustainability, green economic transitions and transdisciplinary research in the African context. ICSS2016 will bring together a group of leading international experts from academia and practice representing a rich diversity of disciplinary perspectives. The conference will take place 2-3 March, and is hosted by the Stellenbosch Institute of Advanced Studies (STIAS), University of [...]