The Southern African Resilience Academy (SARA) is an initiative coordinated by the Global Resilience Partnership (GRP) through the Centre for Sustainability Transitions (CST) at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. SARA’s core role is to act as a convening and support space for inter- and transdisciplinary researchers and practitioners working across southern Africa to engage around pressing resilience and development challenges in the region. The academy’s goals are to strengthen existing expert networks and expand collaboration, while facilitating the co-production of policy and practice-relevant knowledge. SARA aims to contribute directly and meaningfully to regional and global policy discussions around resilience and development, and elevate the southern African voice in international fora.
Call for working groups
SARA invites proposals for collaborative working groups to pursue inter- or transdisciplinary synthesis research under the guiding theme of “Building equitable resilience in southern Africa.”
We want to support working groups that draw from multiple disciplines and knowledge systems, and synthesize insights from across the southern African region. We’re interested in research questions that explore the challenges and opportunities of building systems that are both more resilient in the face of global change and address societal inequalities. Dr. Maike Hamann, Knowledge and Evidence Lead at GRP and coordinator of SARA
Within the theme of “Building equitable resilience in southern Africa,” working groups are free to focus on their own topics or systems of interest, be it food systems, urban systems, stewardship initiatives, resilience measurement, protected areas, or similar.
Expected outputs
Each working group is expected to produce at least two knowledge products:
- An academic paper for a special issue, and
- A non-academic product, such as a video, website, policy brief, or policy dialogue
One of the key outcomes of the working group activities is a special issue on “Building equitable resilience in southern Africa.” This provides a focus for the working group activities, and an opportunity to develop insights across different groups.
Support details
Support will be provided for three in-person meetings in the greater Cape Town/Stellenbosch area, South Africa. This includes travel, lodging, and meals for participants in accordance with CST’s travel policies.
SARA will cover the open access publication costs for the special issue. In addition, working groups will receive funds to support the development of their non-academic knowledge products.
SARA will assist in the dissemination of knowledge products through the extensive communication channels of GRP, CST and the Southern African Programme on Ecosystem Change and Society (SAPECS). GRP will also support the contribution and strategic dissemination of key insights from SARA into global policy discussions.
Support does not include working group members’ salaries, per diems, fieldwork costs, or grants to other institutions.
Timelines
Proposal submission deadline: 31 January 2022
Decision communication: 07 February 2022
Kick-off workshop: 5 – 8 April 2022
Second workshop: October 2022
Third workshop, linked to policy day: August 2023
Project deliverables due: October – December 2023
How to apply
Read the full details and how to apply here.
Please, contact Maike Hamann if you have any questions.