• The Russia-Ukrainian conflict: What does it mean for Africa? | Dzvinka Kachur, Prof Irina Filatova & Steven Gruzd

    2022

    In 2019, the Russia-Africa Summit heralded Russia’s renewed strategic interest in the continent, inviting African countries to rethink the global power dynamic. This discussion looks at: the key factors that define the R [...]

  • 100 days of the Russian War in Ukraine: Disruptions of global food security and food exports to the African region | Prof. Vitalii Dankevych

    2022

    Ukraine is among the top 5 world food exporters, with exports from Ukraine to African countries in 2021 amounting to USD 2 327 million – 13% of total exports of agricultural products. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has [...]

  • 100 days of the Russian War in Ukraine: Potential Implications of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Global governance and financial systems

    2022

    The prospects of a third world war, the potential use of nuclear weapons, the humanitarian crisis, and the unprecedented sanctions introduced by different governments raise significant challenges and opportunities to tra [...]

  • Dr Odirilwe Selomane | Senior Researcher at CST, Director: Program on Ecosystem Change and Society (PECS)

    2022

    In this video, Dr Selomane discusses his co-authoring of a special issue in Science. Without rapid changes to agriculture and food systems, the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change will not be met. Food sy [...]

  • IPBES Values Assessment – Decisions Based on Narrow Set of Market Values of Nature Underpin the Global Biodiversity Crisis

    2022

    The IPBES values assessment provides guidance to navigate pathways for reconciling a good quality of life with that of life on Earth and advancing the intertwined economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustaina [...]

  • The Future of Energy: Can the war support the transition towards fossil fuel alternatives?

    2022

    On the 3rd of June it was 100 days since Russia invaded Ukraine. In response the CST and SAIIA are launching a series of webinars focusing on the implications of the invasion for the African continent. “The Future of Ene [...]

  • It’s a jungle out there: Navigating the Research Ethics application process at CST | Departmental Ethics Screening Committee

    2022

    This session was presented by the coordinators of the Departmental Ethics Screening Committee (DESC) for the Centre for Sustainability Transitions (CST) and is dedicated to an overview of the ethics applications (why is [...]

  • WRC opportunities for promoting international collaboration in water and sanitation research, development and innovation | Dr Mamohloding Tlhagale

    2021

    In this webinar, Dr Mamohloding Tlhagale presents what new opportunities there are for promoting international collaboration in water and sanitation research, development and innovation. One of these is the newly establi [...]

  • Business model innovation for an exponential world | Walter Baets

    2021

    In the exponential world in which we live, highly interconnected and impacted by many exponentialities (technological, societal, climat, geopolitical), we need to create our future, rather than try to control or manage i [...]

  • Developing a community-level water-food-energy nexus project in Mozambique post Cyclone Idai | Zachary Lager

    2021

    Despite recognising the fluid, negotiated and complex nature of reality, there is still a propensity to overly rely on rigid and reductionist theories for sustainable development planning and practice. Although there is [...]

  • Building systems practitioners one conversation at a time | Samuel Njenga

    2021

    In this session, we reflect on more than fifteen years of Samual Njenga’s journey as a student of systems thinking. A key part of that journey has been a quest to build a body of systems thinking practitioners by raising [...]

  • Applying Systems Thinking to managing projects | Prof Shankar Sankaran, Prof Nathalie Drouin & Prof Ralf Müller

    2021

    Recent evidence shows that better governance practices are helping to improve the overall performance of megaprojects. Despite the United Nations setting 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) to be achieved by 2030, th [...]

  • ‘Slowly Slowly The Egg Begins to Walk’ — Reflections on the Ethiopian conflict | Nava Derakhshani

    2021

    Forty years after the mass famines of Ethiopia, conflict in the region has reemerged in the news. On November 4th 2020, the national government stationed its military in the northern province of Tigray. The internet has [...]

  • Recognising Complexity: Practical implications for sustainability research and practice| Rika Preiser

    2021

    Acknowledging the complex and adaptive nature of living systems, sustainability research calls for a more integrated approach for studying and engaging with the intertwined nature of human–environment relations. Complex [...]

  • Rethinking Public Governance for Systems Change | Rushka Ely

    2021

    This webinar focuses on lessons learnt from EDP practice, drawing on the example of the Western Cape Government Whole of Society Approach Project, to unpack the opportunities for, and challenges of, implementing innovati [...]

  • Cyclone Idai and community resilience in the Buzi, Pungwe and Save river basins of Mozambique and Zimbabwe | Jaap Arntzen

    2021

    The presentation is based on the findings of the USAID funded Resilient Waters Program project assessing the impacts of Cyclone Idai  in Mozambique and Zimbabwe and possibilities to strengthen community resilience. [...]

  • (Re)imagining youth visions of nature-futures in the Global South | Youth Nature Futures

    2021

    In this webinar, the coordinating team from CST and Brazil share reflections on the Youth Nature Futures project, as well as showcasing the wonderful and inspiring artworks that embody youth visions for the future. [...]

  • Why Amazon’s River Club Development is not Sustainable | Make the Liesbeek Matter

    2021

    Make the Liebeek Matter is a campaign pitted against Amazon setting up headquarters on a unique heritage and ecologically sensitive riverine area along the Liesbeek River. Tauriq and Leslie are leaders of the campaign an [...]

  • Anticipatory Governance: Using a systems approach and strategic foresight to navigate complexity and uncertainty in Southern Africa | Tanja Hichert & Dr Geci Karuri-Sebina

    2021

    Anticipatory governance is built on the understanding that complexity and uncertainty cannot be managed but can be better navigated through a systems approach that combines capacities for forecasting and foresighting, vi [...]

  • Book launch: The Age of Sustainability | Prof Mark Swi

    2021

    The Age of Sustainability: Just Transitions in a Complex World provides an interpretation of the global economic and ecological crisis from a distinct African perspective. Drawing on a relational epistemology and ontolog [...]

  • Book launch: The Age of Sustainability – Chapter 2: Ukama: emerging metatheories for the twenty-first century |Prof Mark Swilling

    2021

    The Age of Sustainability: Just Transitions in a Complex World provides an interpretation of the global economic and ecological crisis from a distinct African perspective. Mark Swilling shares on Chapter 2: Ukama: emergi [...]

  • Exploring complex interdependencies in global healthcare systems — Re-thinking resilience during COVID-19 | Joachim Sturmberg & Bruno Kissling

    2020

    This series brings together scientists, practitioners and societal actors who use the frameworks of complexity and resilience thinking in their daily work to make sense of the complex dynamics of change and transformativ [...]

  • African Post-Covid-19 crisis pathways Choices towards a more resilient economic recovery | Nina Callaghan and Prof Mark Swilling

    2020

    Callaghan and Swilling share their insights on the potential to build back better as we explore post-Covid economic realities.    [...]

  • Exploring the resilience of southern Africa: Wildlife economies during a global pandemic | Dr Hayley Clements and Steve Collins

    2020

    What are the impacts of Covid-19 and the resultant restrictions on tourism on the SA’s wildlife economy? [...]

  • Building a more resilient future for navigating systemic risks | Prof Oonsie Biggs, Kule Chitepo and Dr Deon Nel

    2020

    How can the COVID-19 crisis be used as an opportunity for building more resilient futures? An exploration of what we understand by resilience, how systemic resilience can be built, and practical actions being taken on th [...]

  • Exploring artful body mind practices for re-enlivening resilient nature culture relationships | Dr Miche Fabre Lewin and Dr Flora Gathorne-Hardy

    2020

    How can we revive the relationships that mark our nature-culture-interactions? What methods and practices can be used to manifest that awareness? [...]

  • Exploring place-based approaches as response to local contexts for recalibrating resilient food systems | Nonhlanhla Joye, Kenneth Carden and Kevin O’Brien

    2020

    This discussion focused on how the impacts of the Covid-19 public health crisis has revealed the deep fragility of the South African food system. There has clearly been a disruption, presenting a period of deep uncertain [...]

  • Resilience across borders: Transfrontier collaboration for integrating conservation and livelihoods | Piet Theron, Lola López and Dr Kristi Maciejewski

    2020

    A discussion on trans-boundary governance responses to the impacts of the Covid-19 crisis. The discussants are experts in a diversity of capacities that relate to governing conservation, livelihood and human rights issue [...]

  • Nature in Cities in times of Crisis | Dr Sumetee Gajjar and Jessica Kavonic

    2020

    An exploration of the role of urban nature-based solutions in enhancing human well-being and resilience to climate change and other stressors in cities of the Global South. We reflect on lessons learned from COVID-19 for [...]

  • A roadmap to redefine humanity’s relationship with the ocean | Prof Mark Swilling, Tanya Brodie Rudolph and Dr Philile Mbatha

    2020

    Mark Swilling and Tanya Brodie Rudolph from the CST and Philile Mbatha from UCT worked in collaboration with researchers from the Natural Capital Project, Stanford University, the Stockholm Resilience Centre, the Univers [...]

  • Imagining transformative biodiversity futures: A new action agenda for biodiversity conservation | Dr Laura Pereira, Dr Federico Davila and Dr Michelle Lin

    2020

    Biodiversity research is replete with scientific studies depicting future trajectories of decline that have failed to mobilize transformative change. Imagination and creativity can foster new ways to address longstanding [...]

  • Financing South Africa energy’s transition (1994 to 2019) | Dr Chantal Naidoo and Dr Nthabi Mohlakoana

    2020

    In this webinar the discussants present work on the sustainability and climate breakdown that highlights an ‘interregnum’ – the tense, uncertain period where old systems are dying but hold firmly to power, while new syst [...]

  • Developmental Entrepreneurship: Sensemaking systems change for entrepreneurship-led development | Phumlani Nkontwana, Dr John van Breda, Prof Johan Burger

    2020

    While the dominant discourse on African entrepreneurship is about achieving momentum (sustained traction) and maturity (local intensity and density), there are emerging views that locals have a poor sense of control (hum [...]

  • Games for the Sustainable Development Goals | Reinhold Mangundu and Hans Hangue

    2020

    Namibia faces very complex challenges hindering sustainable development. Poverty and income inequality  is rising coupled with other systematic issues such as water scarcity worsening with persistent droughts, land degra [...]

  • Inaugural Lecture: Tackling the Anthropocene Challenge | Prof Oonsie Biggs

    2020

    We live in the Anthropocene, a new geological era where the increasing scale, speed and connectivity of human activities are profoundly changing the functioning of the Earth. The economic, political and cultural processe [...]

  • Futures Literacy | Roberto Poli

    2020

    Roberto Poli (PhD Utrecht) is Associate Professor of Philosophy of Science at the University of Trento (Italy) where he is Director of the master in “Previsione sociale” (Social Foresight) of the Department of Sociology [...]

  • An African search for a relational theory of radical change | Mark Swilling

    2020

    Mark Swilling is Distinguished Professor of Sustainable Development in the School of Public Leadership, Stellenbosch University where he is also Academic Director of the Sustainability Institute and Co-Director of CST. H [...]

  • Complexity, Process, and the Shift in Modern Science | Brian Arthur

    2020

    Brian Arthur is an economist and complexity thinker.He is best known for his work on network effects locking markets in to the domination of a single player. He is also one of the pioneers of the science of complexity—th [...]

  • Impredicative Relationality – The Heart of Complexity | Jannie Hoymeyr

    2020

    Jannie Hofmeyr is co-founder of the CST and emeritus professor of biochemistry and biocomplexity at Stellenbosch University. Over the past 35 years, he has conducted his research in the field of Computational System Biol [...]

  • Complexity Science as Relationship, Patterning and Process | Jean Boulton

    2020

    Jean Boulton is author of the best-selling book “Embracing Complexity: strategic perspectives for an age of turbulence” (2015). She is affiliated to both Bath and Cranfield universities. Her background in theoretical phy [...]

  • Systemic change, complexity and development | Jean Boulton

    2020

    In this dialogue, Dr Jean Boulton (Department of Social and Policy Sciences at the University of Bath), lead author of Embracing Complexity, is in conversation with Prof Belinda Reyers (GRAID, Stockholm Resilience Centre [...]

  • Scenario Planning and Complexity | Dr Rika Preiser

    2019

    On why scenario planning is a powerful tool to study complexity [...]

  • How to connect to the future in the changing world? | Prof. Markku Wilenius

    2019

    On 4 November 2019 the Centre for Complex Systems in Transition http://www0.sun.ac.za/cst/, together with the Association of Professional Futurists https://www.apf.org/?, hosted an APF Africa regional gathering / Anthrop [...]

  • Returning the stories: A case study

    2019

    After a two year long process of transdisciplinary research design, data collection and sense making, the researchers, academics and community change makers gathered to return the stories they had collected. [...]

  • RAD II: Resilience thinking as a way to understand complex systems

    2019

    The second Resilience Action Dialogue (RADII) provided an opportunity for various actors- from research, policy and practice- to share how they have used resilience thinking to understand complex challenges in the system [...]

  • RAD II: Understanding the problems & solutions

    2019

    During our second Resilience Action Dialogue we explored ways to get a deeper understanding of some of the root causes of the challenges that we are facing in order to co-develop responses that are grounded in local real [...]

  • Resilience Community of Practice – Resource Channel

    2019

    During the second Resilience Action Dialogue we shared perspectives on how to measure and monitor multiple dimensions of resilience through various resilience building activities that are being implemented across Africa. [...]

  • Introduction to RAD II: Resilience questions & perceptions

    2019

    Over the years the Centre for Complex Systems in Transition (CST) has brought together a range of actors from research, policy and practice to explore how using a resilience lens can help us understand and co-develop inn [...]

  • Resilience Think Tank 2019: Interrogating resilience in different contexts

    2019

    The concept of resilience has recently become much more central to many donor calls and several government policies and strategies. [...]

  • Resilience Think Tank: Tackling the Anthropocene challenge through social-ecological resilience thinking | Oonsie Biggs

    2019

    The Resilience Think Tank provided an opportunity to share and appreciate varying understandings (both positive and negative) of this concept from both a theoretical/academic and more practical perspective. In this talk, [...]

  • Resilience Think Tank: Innovations in the theory and practice of psychological resilience | Linda Theron

    2019

    While there have been shifts in the understanding of resilience over the past decade, there is still much debate, contestation and lack of clarity on what the term means, for whom, how can it be measured, how it relates [...]

  • Towards a new commons-based economy – Concepts, applications and potential | Prof Gael Giraud

    2019

    Professor Gael Giraud is the Chief Economist of Agency Française de Développement (French Development Bank), a Professor at Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (ENPC)/LISIS, Senior Researcher at CNRS, Professor of Ene [...]

  • Transforming social narratives into learning transitions | Luke Metelerkamp

    2019

    In South and Southern African, more than half of the young people are ensnared in a complex and intractable unemployment crisis that is being driven, in part, by a transition toward a highly industrialised food system. L [...]

  • Reflections on Systemic Change | Louis Klein

    2019

    Contemporary definitions of the notion of resilience highlights the fact that resilience is the capacity of a system, be it an individual, a forest, a city or an economy, to deal with change and transformation. Understan [...]

  • Good anthropocenes Southern Africa

    2018

    At an ‘Anthropocene Visioning Workshop’ hosted by the CST in November 2016, a diverse group of key thinkers in southern Africa − including artists, social entrepreneurs, researchers, and policy-makers, was convened to en [...]

  • CST Visioning Workshop Experience

    2018

    At an ‘Anthropocene Visioning Workshop’ hosted by the CST in November 2016, a diverse group of key thinkers in southern Africa − including artists, social entrepreneurs, researchers, and policy-makers, was convened to en [...]

  • Sensemaking and Transdisciplinary Research Methodology | John van Breda

    2018

    Trans-disciplinary Research Methodology using the Sensemaker tool. [...]

  • Resilience Action Dialogue: Learning Journey

    2018

    The Learning Journey undertaken along the Stellenbosch River with the Stellenbosch River Collaborative. This was a key methodology used to connect the conceptual work with practice. [...]

  • Resilience Action Dialogue – Introduction

    2018

    The resilience Action Dialogue was convened by the Centre for Complex Systems in Transition (CST) as a way to deepen understanding about the concept of resilience and its application in development work in southern Afric [...]

  • Humanitarian Trends in Southern Africa: Challenges and Opportunities | Ailsa Holloway

    2018

    In order to help us understand what it is to build resilience, Ailsa Holloway from the Research Alliance for Disaster and Risk Reduction or RADAR (http://www.radar.org.za) identifies regional and global factors that may [...]

  • Resilience Action Dialogue – From Theory into Action | Dr Belinda Reyers

    2018

    Dr Belinda Reyers from the Guidance for Resilience in the Anthropocene (GRAID) reflects on the challenges of working with the concept of resilience and bringing it from theory into practice. [...]

  • Resilience Action Dialogue – the World Café: sharing experiences in working with resilience

    2018

    Using the method of a World Café, a number of experiences of working with resilience were shared from practitioners from across southern and East Africa. [...]

  • Resilience Action Dialogue The Concept of Resilience | Prof Oonsie Biggs

    2018

    Professor Oonsie Biggs cautions about the dangers of building resilience in social-ecological systems that may potentially worsen the situation. Elsewhere she argues that Improving our ability to manage complex, rapidly [...]

  • Resilience Action Dialogue: Complex Adaptive Systems | Dr Rika Preiser

    2018

    Dr Rika Preiser presents the concept of complex adaptive systems and uses it to question traditional ways of thinking and working. In essence, she emphasises the opportunities of leading the way in addressing Africa’s ch [...]

  • Human Systems Dynamics: Foundations, Discipline, Praxis | Glenda Eoyang

    2017

    Glenda Eoyang works with public and private organizations to help them thrive in the face of overwhelming complexity and uncertainty. She is a pioneer in the applications of complexity science to human systems, and she f [...]

  • CST Visioning Process

    2017

    At an ‘Anthropocene Visioning Workshop’ hosted by the CST in November 2016, a diverse group of key thinkers in southern Africa − including artists, social entrepreneurs, researchers, and policy-makers, was convened to en [...]

  • The African Transdisciplinary Network | John van Breda

    2017

    This promo outlines the short course “Narrative-Based Transdisciplinary Research” on offer at The Sustainability Institute. [...]