Fifth National Global Change Conference

Several CSIR researchers will be sharing their knowledge with attendees at the highly anticipated 5th National Global Change Conference, which began on 30 January and will end on 2 February 2023.

The four-day event, themed, “Research and Innovation Accelerating Transformations to Global Sustainability”, which will be held at the Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State, will be attended by ministerial dignitaries and delegates.

The CSIR is well represented by several researchers who are contributing to the programme at this gathering of decision-makers and researchers. Their contributions will be in the form of talks during sessions on extreme climate events and ocean monitoring. Vuyo Ndayi, an expert in coastal engineering and ports infrastructure is presenting a talk on the impact of extreme wind on operations at the Port of Cape Town. Researchers from the CSIR-hosted Southern Ocean Carbon and Climate Observatory (SOCCO), Dr Sandy Thomalla, Tumelo Moalusi and Dr Sarah Nicolson, will be giving talks, while Zakiena Hoossen and Laique Djeutchouang – both SOCCO PhD students – are presenting findings from their research during the scheduled poster sessions. At the ACCESS side event, Dr Neville Swejid and Dr Carl Palmer are chairing and hosting three open sessions titled, “Extreme Climate Events”, “Climate and Health” and, “ACCESS Habitable Planet”. ACCESS is a CSIR-hosted platform for research, education, services, and training related to a changing environment.  

The get-together was set in motion with a welcoming by the university’s Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Francis Petersen. The Premier of the Free State, Sisi Ntombela, did the official welcoming. This was followed by messages from the National Research Foundation President and CEO Prof. Fulufhelo Nelwamondo, and the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Barbara Creecy. The Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande, delivered the keynote address.

This national biannual event for early career scientists serves as an ideal platform for networking and knowledge-sharing among global change stakeholders from the research and development sector, business, industry, government, and civil society.

The conference’s activities are being hosted at the university’s Economic and Management Sciences Auditorium. The activities include plenary addresses, an invited science talk; general plenary sessions for high-level presentations on topics of general interest; parallel sessions for oral presentation or selected research and/or technical papers, including case studies; interactive poster sessions; panel discussions for invited groups to engage about their perspectives on selected topics; and special sessions and exhibitions of scientific and non-scientific products or services that align with the conference theme.

This highly anticipated conference, which aims to rethink societal and ecological issues and pave the way for innovative ways of engaging with and imagining a shared future, especially as it relates to ecological and equity complexity, is taking place via livestream and in person. Lively and decorous exchanges, debates, discussions, and disputes are encouraged to grapple with complex issues by supporting systems thinking that are focused on the broad themes of the sustainable implementation space – innovation, institutions and imagination; understanding a changing climate, reducing the human footprint and adapting the way we live.
 

For more information about the 5th National Global Change Conference, go to https://gcc5.org.za/

Stay up to date with the what is happening at the event via social media by following @2023Gcc5 on Twitter and GCC5 on Facebook.