Publications

Climate change and the urgency to transform food systems

Climate change poses one of the greatest threats to human societies, demanding immediate and coordinated actions across all sectors. Food systems are one of the most important contributors to climate change and could compromise efforts to achieve the 2015 Paris Agreement targets. At the same time, food systems themselves will also need to further adapt to climate change impacts.

Using Synergic Methods for Being Methodologically Agile (SM4BMA)

The main goal in this paper is to further develop the notion
of methodological agility at the methodical level.
The need for being methodologically agile is rooted in the
global challenges we are facing today in the context of the
Anthropocene – which has been described as a
new human-induced geological epoch introduced / caused by
the net effect of multiple socio-technical human
actions since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th
Century in the global north.

Towards an understanding of corporate (dis)engagement with social justice advocacy

There is increasing focus worldwide on the role of business in society today. Globally, sustainability concerns and shifting value systems are re-shaping expectations of socially responsible business, as seen with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), global corporate initiatives such as the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), and leading standards such as the King IV Report on Corporate Governance

Methodological Agility for Doing Transformative Transdisciplinary Research on Sustainability Transitions in the Context of the Anthropocene

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) call for mobilization across global and local levels, and involves
academic actors and societal agents in an emergency response to the planetary challenges facing us in the context of the Anthropocene. Never before in human history have we been required to mobilize ourselves globally around a common set of goals, whilst facing the consequences of our own human actions on a truly planetary scale.

South Africa’s contested transition to energy democracy

Centre for Complex Systems in Transition: 2015 – 2020

A 5 year review of the history and work of the CST.

The complex challenge of governing food systems: The case of South African food policy

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) reflect a growing global consensus on the need to address sustainability challenges. SDG 2 aims to end hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition, and promote
sustainable agriculture. This outcome requires change across multiple domains, including health, development, and agriculture. Achieving this goal requires transformative change across the food system and the political will to effect such changes to recognize the integrated nature of food systems. In essence, food governance has to underpin the
ability of present and future generations to meet their food and nutrition needs under extraordinary environmental pressures.

Youth Nature Futures for Southern Africa

To capture visions of nature-futures as imagined by youth from the Global South, the CST facilitated a series of online events in 2021 with youth organizations and networks operating in southern Africa.

Towards Equitable Urban Resilience in the Global South Within a Context of Planning and Management

The future of the world is an urban one. This will be especially evident in cities and
urban spaces in the Global South which are predicted to account formore than half of
theworld’s population by 2050.

Rethinking Agency – the 2022 agenda for the systems community

Putting the systems community more prominently on the map of correspondents to the current global problematique is the guiding strategy of the International Federation for Systems Research. 

The journey to monitoring ecosystem services: Are we there yet?

The protection and sustainable use of ecosystem services (ES) are at the heart of human prosperity. This is the focus of national and international initiatives, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, and post-2020 action on the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Exploring the transformative potential of urban food

Urban food is regarded as a promising lever for transformative change towards sustainability. There are two main reasons for this. First, cities are considered hotbeds for alternative practices and experimentation, which are vital to address the urgent sustainability challenges cities face. Second, food links to diverse domains such as ecological, political, social, health and economic systems. Acknowledging this potential, a shift towards considering urban food practice (UFP) for the design of sustainable cities is visible in both research and policy.

When the whole is less than the sum of all parts – Tracking global-level impacts of national sustainability initiatives

In this study, we investigate effects of reforestation programs in China on countries supplying forest and agricultural commodities to China. Using case studies of rubber and palm oil production in Southeast Asian countries, soy production in Brazil and logging in South Pacific Island states, we investigate cross-sector effects of production for and trade to China in these exporting countries.

Russia’s Resurgent Interest in Africa: The Cases of Zambia and Tanzania

This special report looks at Russia’s political, military and economic cooperation with Zambia and Tanzania. It also analyses the Soviet Union’s legacy, from which the Russian government and businesses can benefit in current relationships with African countries.

Co-exploring relational heuristics for sustainability transitions towards more resilient and just Anthropocene futures

In this paper, four relational heuristic responses for re-imagining modes of engagement or patterns of activity that could enliven efforts of fostering systemic thinking and action to inform sustainability transitions towards more resilient and just Anthropocene futures are offered.