Southern African Program on Ecosystem Change and Society (SAPECS)

Southern African Program on Ecosystem Change and Society (SAPECS)

Theme(s): Social-Ecological Resilience
Project Leader(s):

The Southern African Program on Ecosystem Change and Society (SAPECS) is a transdisciplinary, international research program that aims to advance stewardship of social-ecological systems and ecosystem services in southern Africa. It is linked to the international Program on Ecosystem Change and Society (www.pecs-science.org), a 10-year research initiative within the ICSU global change programs.

SAPECS consists of a network of researchers, both from within the region and abroad, actively engaged in researching social-ecological systems in a range of case studies at various scales in the southern African region. This research is conducted within a shared conceptual framework and focuses on a common set of core themes. The core objectives of SAPECS are to:Produce

1. Produce empirical evidence and developinnovative, practical theory and tools to improve understanding of social-ecological systems and ecosystem services in the region and developing country contexts.
2. Mainstream knowledge into policy and practice, and incorporate experiences from policy and practice into scientific understanding, in order to have a tangible impact and effect change in the governance and management of social-ecological systems in the region.
3. Grow the community of practice, including researchers, students and practitioners engaged in research and management of social-ecological systems and ecosystem services in the southern African region.

Collaborating Institutes

Associated student led projects

• Exploring connections in social-ecological systems: The links between biodiversity, ecosystem services, and human wellbeing in South Africa (Maike Hamann) ()
• Assessing resilience to regime shifts: the case of bush encroachment (Dr Linda Luvuno)

Related Publications

• Applied Research for Enhancing Human Well-Being and Environmental Stewardship: Using Complexity Thinking in Southern Africa.
• Social-Ecological Resilience and Biosphere-Based Sustainability Science
• An exploration of human well-being bundles as identifiers of ecosystem service use patterns
• Strategies for managing complex social-ecological systems in the face of uncertainty: Examples from South Africa and beyond
• Applied research for enhancing human well-being and environmental stewardship: using complexity thinking in Southern Africa
• Advancing sustainability through mainstreaming a social-ecological systems perspective
• Mapping social-ecological systems: Identifying ‘green-loop’ and ‘red-loop’ dynamics based on characteristic bundles of ecosystem service use
• Towards integrated social-ecological sustainability indicators: exploring the contribution and gaps in existing global data
• Exploring connections in social-ecological systems: The links between biodiversity, ecosystem services, and human wellbeing in South Africa