Researchers and decision-makers from various government sectors concerned with global and climate change met in Pretoria recently for a landmark workshop aimed at bridging the gap between global change science and global change policy.
The South African Risk and Vulnerability Atlas (SARVA) workshop was aimed at stimulating engagement between the two groups to determine the information requirements of potential users of the atlas in the government sector. The first version of the atlas is due for release in January 2010.
In his welcoming address, Dr Bob Scholes, CSIR systems ecologist and principal investigator in the Southern African Millennium Assessment, said that risk and vulnerability represented a "common currency" between the research and application domains, and that the atlas is set to improve access to global change information.
"The atlas will not only contain continually updated maps - it will be an easy-to-navigate, interactive spatial product at many scales, and will include case studies and other narratives to inform global change adaptation responses and planning," he explained. "The end product will be a widely encompassing storehouse of information about global change."
Dr Emma Archer, principal climate change scientist on the SARVA project, said that it is widely acknowledged that South Africa's climate change research is world-class. "We now need to make sure that this world-class science is put to good use to inform policy," she told workshop participants.
In his presentation, the Department of Science and Technology's Imraan Patel, General Manager: Science and Technology for Economic Impact, said that the atlas was one of the key components in a scientific bureau that the department was establishing for global change.
"The bureau will draw together the best of South Africa's global change research and will act as a high-level knowledge broker between researchers and policy-makers in parliament," Patel said. He called for an Atlas User Forum to be established and to have regular meetings to keep this vital conversation going. He challenged workshop participants to "push the limits of innovation" in global change.
SARVA project manager Dr Rebecca Maserumule of the CSIR told workshop participants that South Africa has learnt a valuable lesson from one of its neighbouring countries. "Despite the fact that the country produced a truly admirable risk and vulnerability atlas, they face a huge challenge in persuading decision-makers to use it. With our atlas we want to create a platform for researchers and potential users to walk hand in hand from the outset to make doubly sure that it meets user requirements," she said.
As an introduction to the workshop, six case studies were presented by global change researchers to illustrate how the atlas information could potentially be used in decision-making. These highlighted issues such as:
- Environmental health - bridging the gap between traditional health concerns and a changing climate;
- Potential impacts of climate change on the coastal zone; adapting to climate change in a diverse landscape, focusing on the case of the Kruger to Canyons Biosphere Reserve;
- Building resilience to climate variability and change in the City of Joburg;
- Climate change and water resources; and
- Climate change implications for water and land use within the agricultural sector of the Garden Route.
Source: CSIR
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