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Assessing the outcomes of implementing natural open space plans in a Global South cityWessels, N., Sitas, N., O'Farrell, P., and Esler, K.J.Publication: Landscape and Urban Planning 2021 - Journal Articles We present a practical approach to assess the outcomes of implementing natural open space plans in urban areas, especially for the local (municipal) level where resource challenges may hinder assessment. |
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Grounding global environmental assessments through bottom-up futures based on local practices and perspectivesPereira, L., Asrar, G., Bhargava, R., Fisher, L., Hsu, A., Jabbour, J., Nel, J., Selomane, O., Sitas, N., Trisos, C., Ward, J., van den Ende, M., Vervoort, J. & Weinfurter, A.Publication: Sustainability Science 2021 - Journal Articles The rapid pace and scale of societal and environmental changes in the anthropocene necessitate important changes in how integrated scientific assessments are carried out to account for such changes from local to regional and global levels. Contemporary global environmental assessments are shifting focus from only synthesizing the current state of knowledge towards understanding transformations and interventions needed to mitigate and manage environmental risks |
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Engaging with complexity in resilience practiceM.M. Sellberg, A. Quinlan, R. Preiser, K. Malmborg and G. D. PetersonPublication: Ecology and Society 2021 - Journal Articles This study synthesizes lessons from how twelve cases of social-ecological resilience practice are engaging with complexity. We assessed how each case engaged with complexity, according to a framework of six features of complex adaptive systems. The cases are situated in a diversity of contexts. |
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The influence of biophysical and socio-economic factors on the effectiveness of private land conservation areas in preventing natural land cover loss across South AfricaAlta De VosPublication: Global Ecology and Conservation 2021 - Journal Articles There is growing recognition of the potential for private land to contribute to global conservation efforts. Private land conservation areas (PLCAs) complement state-owned protected areas by increasing the total area available for biodiversity conservation, protecting species and habitats in threatened landscapes that are under-represented in state-owned protected areas and increasing the diversity of tenure types and conservation models that protect and manage biodiversity. Protected areas with different conservation models are likely to respond differently to social-ecological stressors. |
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Patchwork Earth: navigating pathways to just, thriving, and sustainable futuresElena M. Bennett, Reinette Biggs, Garry D. Peterson, and Line J. GordonPublication: One Earth 2021 - Journal Articles Different regions, with different contexts and values, will follow different sustainability transformation pathways, giving rise to tensions and opportunities as the outcomes of regional pathways interact. To navigate these changes, we need a better understanding of how regional pathways interact to produce outcomes for people and nature. |
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Advancing a toolkit of diverse futures approaches for global environmental assessmentsLaura Pereira, Jan J. Kuiper, Odirilwe Selomane, Ana Paula D. Aguiar, Ghassem R. Asrar, Elena M. Bennett, Reinette Biggs, Katherine Calvin, Steve Hedden, Angel Hsu, Jason Jabbour, Nicholas King, Alexandre C. Köberle, Paul Lucas, Jeanne Nel, Albert V. NorsPublication: Ecosystems and People 2021 - Journal Articles Can enough healthy food for all be provided while sustaining the biosphere? What role do different technologies and actors play in achieving this goal? Can globalisation enhance inclusion and respect for bio-cultural diversity? How do abrupt events affect sustainable trajectories of development, and how do we anticipate their adverse impacts? These and other sustainability questions are complex and interconnected, and answering them requires bridging diverse sources of experience and knowledge. |
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Looking across diverse food system futures: Implications for climate change and the environmentZurek, M., Hebinck, A. and Selomane, O.Publication: QOpen 2020 - Journal Articles Agriculture and food systems are in urgent need of transformation. They currently do not provide the needed food and nutrition security outcomes while having far-reaching environmental and social impacts. Many interrelated challenges obscure how to transform the agri-food system towards environmental, economic, and social sustainability. |
Quantifying the effectiveness of private land conservation areas in preventing losses of natural land cover and biodiversity intactness across South AfricaTafadzwa ShumbaPublication: Stellenbosch University 2019 - Theses In South Africa, a long history of conservation on private land conservation areas and the diverse private land conservation areas models provide an interesting case study to address this knowledge gap. The effectiveness of private land conservation areas across South Africa, and factors influencing their effectiveness, were thus quantified using losses in natural land cover and the biodiversity intactness index as proxies. |
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Consequences of recreational hunting for biodiversity conservation and livelihoodsE.D. Minin, H.S. Clements, R.A. Correia, G. Cortes-Capano, C. Fink, A. Haukka, A. Hausmann, R. Kulkarni, and C.J.A. BradshawPublication: One Earth 2021 - Journal Articles We provide an overview of the peer-reviewed literature on recreational hunting of terrestrial birds and mammals between 1953 and 2020. |
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Culturally diverse expert teams have yet to bring comprehensive linguistic diversity to intergovernmental ecosystem assessmentsLynch, A.J., Fernández-Llamazares, A., Palomo, I., Jaureguiberry, P., Amano, T., Basher, Z., Lim, M., Mwampamba, T.H., Samakov, A. and Selomane, O.Publication: One Earth 2021 - Journal Articles To incorporate more linguistic diversity into global ecosystem assessment processes, we present actionable steps for global science teams to recognize and incorporate non-English-language literature and contributions from non-Anglophones. |
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Russia’s Resurgence in Africa: Zimbabwe and MozambiqueDzvinka KachurPublication: South African Institute of International Affairs 2020 - While Russia’s relationship with Africa goes back decades, to the continent’s anti-colonial struggles, the past few years have seen a resurgence in relations. |
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Supporting transformative climate adaptation: community-level capacity building and knowledge co-creation in South AfricaGina Ziervogel, Johan Enqvist, Luke Metelerkamp & John van BredaPublication: Climate Policy 2021 - Journal Articles Given that marginalized communities are highly vulnerable to climate risk, it is important to build their capacity to adapt locally and to integrate their perspectives into higher level adaptation measures. Current adaptation policy does not pay sufficient attention to this. Using a Cape Town-based project on water governance in low income urban settlements, this paper explores how a transdisciplinary research project supported capacity building. |
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Informality and water justice: community perspectives on water issues in Cape Town’s low income neighbourhoodsJohan Enqvist, Gina Ziervogel, Luke Metelerkamp, John van Breda, Ntombikayise Dondi, Thabo Lusithi, Apiwe Mdunyelwa , Zinzi Mgwigwi, Mpumelelo Mhlalisi, Siya Myeza, Gciniwe Nomela, Ann October, Welekazi Rangana & Maggie YalabiPublication: International Journal of Water Resources Development 2020 - Journal Articles Water justice requires attention be paid to the range of everyday realities that exist in the spectrum from formal to informal settlements. |
The GRIN Meeting: A ‘third place’ for managers and scholars of social-ecological systemsRoux, D. Clements, H., Currie, B., Fritz, H., Gordon, P., Kruger, N. & Freitag-Ronaldson, S.Publication: South African Journal of Science 2020 - Journal Articles The Garden Route Interface and Networking (GRIN) Meeting was initiated in 2017 with the aim of creating a third place for dialogue on, and advancement of, research and practice dealing with the interactions between natural and social systems, and with how those interactions affect the challenge of sustainability. Held in the Garden Route over 3 days during September–October of each year |
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Exploring resilience capacities with food innovators: a narrative approachLindow, M, Preiser, R, and Biggs R.Publication: Global Sustainability 2020 - Journal Articles We interviewed grassroots food innovators in South Africa to explore the diverse ways in which their narratives expressed different capacities for resilience, such as dealing with surprise and shaping desirable change. We drew on key resilience themes of rootedness, resourcefulness and resistance (the 3Rs) as lenses through which to view their personal stories and efforts to build resilience and reshape the future. We used narrative and interpretative methods to connect the personal and context-specific experiences of food innovators to the 3Rs, exploring a new approach to uncovering resilience capacities. We suggest that this approach could be usefully employed to understand potential resilience capacities that could help address diverse sustainability challenges around the world. |