About us

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The vision of the School is to be a world-class institution for interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary climate and related studies in and for Africa, and to support and encourage research partnerships with other entities, both nationally and internationally. It has a broad mandate to work across all faculties, centres and institutes at SU, as well as with other national and international higher education institutions and public and private enterprises.

Research and development

• Consolidating and integrating current thinking on climate, particularly in Africa, including climate variability and climate change, and the multiple interactions between human socioeconomic and ecological systems and the climate system
• Developing and implementing an innovative, Africa-focused research programme that responds to established and emerging issues so as to understand climate impacts as well as adaptation and mitigation responses, and thereby supports human climate resilience
• Making available research results by means of publications, research papers, seminars, short courses and dissemination to relevant stakeholders, including the broader community
• Obtaining, procuring and managing specialised equipment, software and facilities for climate studies so as to create the required platforms for data-intensive research and innovation

Learning and teaching

• Facilitating and developing curricula, sharing climate training and learning expertise across multiple faculties at SU through undergraduate and postgraduate modules, and coordinating interfaculty climate training. The quality assurance of undergraduate and postgraduate modules will be the responsibility of the respective faculties.
• Developing climate competence (monitoring, impacts and adaptation) through student research projects
• Hosting climate workshops, short courses, training events, congresses and any other appropriate events, such as summer and winter schools

Collaboration, capacity building and consultancy

• Strengthening and expanding current climate studies collaborations at SU
• Facilitating new climate research partnerships and collaborations across SU’s faculties
• Establishing new climate-related strategic partnerships and collaborations with other researchers and institutions in Southern Africa, the rest of Africa and further afield
• Developing new academic capacity, career paths and infrastructure for climate studies at SU
• Creating opportunities for students to gain work experience in leading national and international public and private entities engaged in fundamental and applied climate studies, while the entities benefit from having access to talented students

Commercialisation and social impact

• Offering consultancy services to other departments and divisions at SU as well as to clients and partners outside SU, within the School’s capacity and the SU policy framework
• Providing climate expertise to industry and other private and public organisations
• Contributing to the development and application of climate-related technologies that address issues on the broader social agenda, such as diversity, inclusivity, poverty alleviation and job creation

About Us