ABOUT THE GLOBAL CHANGE AND SUSTAINABILITY RESEARCH
INSTITUTE
This 21st Century Institute will tackle problems related to global change, climate change and
sustainability in a revolutionary, multidisciplinary manner.
Some of the research areas explored by the Institute include: Global Change adaptation and
mitigation; Biodiversity, human health and the nutritional status of rural communities;
Sustainable urban living through improved water, waste and energy management; Pollution,
extraction and ecosystem health; Environmental policies; Building resilient cities and
Innovation policy-making effectiveness and support.
The GCSRI will implement this vision by developing new knowledge pathways that recognise
that historical knowledge may not be an adequate basis for future predictions; identifying a
robust agenda of high relevance to decision and policy makers; developing an agenda that
is driven by and responds to sustainable local development needs; tightly linking the
outputs of research to the intended end users; and planning research processes founded on
partnerships rather than the activities of a discrete unit.
Core areas of research
1. Vulnerability: adaptation and mitigation
 Diagnosing vulnerability and analysing opportunities
 Adaptation pathways based on managing current global change using historical
information to inform points of intervention
 Adaptation pathways under progressive climate change
 Defining new indices of vulnerability which include global change
 Poverty alleviation through global change adaptation and mitigation
 Risks and opportunities for innovation in rural communities
2. Coupling ecosystem and human health
 Land use change, food security and nutritional status of rural communities
 Biodiversity, human health and reliance on the natural resource base
 Long term trajectories in public health and ecosystem goods and services
 Pollution, extraction and ecosystem health
 Learning from the past, using palaeoclimatic and other long term data records to
improve predictive capacity
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3. People, Practice and Policies
 Action research on environmental policies and whether they make development
more (or less) stable
 Life cycle analyses and the nature of business models
 National development initiatives and environmental justice
 Societal willingness to change and access to resources (including housing,
education and natural resources)
 Gender, history and decision making
 Unlocking the potential of macro-level policies
4. Building resilient cities
 Sustainable urban living through improved water, waste and energy
management.
 Ex situ and In situ restoration and conservation within an urban context
(including the ecological footprint of the city, the urban periphery and the
ecosystem goods and services supply chain and source areas).
 The vulnerability (including aspects such as health) and adaptation of urban
populations (including transportation systems and urban planning and design).
 Urban migration and integration
Programmes
The GCSRI has at its core four programmes that are the first steps to becoming an
integrating, multidisciplinary research platform. Various members of GCSRI are working with
the Director to obtain additional funding to expand the activities of the Institute. So far, R28
million has been secured for the four core programmes over the next 5 years.
Research chair: Global Change and Sustainability
With generous funding from Exxaro, the Director: GCSRI will also serve as the research chair
in Global Change and Sustainability.
Climate Leadership Programme
Leaders are confronted by unprecedented climate change issues, characterised by large
uncertainties, complexity and conflicting interests. Leaders from all over the world are
challenged to:
• collaborate across traditional boundaries, as the complexity is beyond the scope of any
single actor;
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• anticipate future trends and associated risks and opportunties;
• strengthen leadership competencies and appropriate mindsets, and
• develop a systemic understanding of causes and effects of climate change to facilitate
innovative action.
The CLP programme brings together committed actors from government, business, and civil
society from South Africa and Indonesia. Participants jointly develop their leadership
competencies, acquire and share relevant knowledge, establish networks and respond
through collective innovative actions to climate challenges.
The next generation of African scholars
Wits develops its young academics and attracts students, emerging researchers, and
distinguished scholars from other African countries for training and scholarly exchanges in
two fields of study that present tough, unique challenges in Africa: global change science,
and academic medicine. With generous funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York
the proposed training models are unique and specific to the needs of the discipline, and the
continent.
Building resilient societies
The Open Society Institute funds this programme to develop creative and flexible thinkers
who can effectively navigate complex social situations and rapidly changing systems. Such
thinkers will be mindful of the society in which they are embedded and the implications of
the rapidly changing environment into which they are moving. A new qualification with an
appropriate curriculum is being developed, with the first cohort of students due to enroll in
2013.
About Wits University
The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (aka Wits University) is one of the
leading higher education institutions in Africa. It is one of only two institutions ranked in
three separate international rankings (amongst 23,000 other universities) as a top university
in Africa. The gateway to research and development in Africa, Wits is renowned for its
commitment to academic and research excellence and public engagement in South Africa,
Africa and the world.
Eight 21st Century Institutes
Wits University turns 90 in 2012, and as part of its anniversary celebrations, will be
launching the Wits Century campaign. Eight new 21st Century Institutes will be launched in
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the next decade focusing on key issues that face society today, building on existing strengths
and solving the problems of the future. These prestigious institutes will be multi-million
rand interdisciplinary entities that will attract the best academic and research talent, staff
and students from around the globe, and will serve as anchor institutes, of strategic national
commitment.
The other seven institutes are: Evolutionary Sciences; Mining, Minerals & Exploration;
Molecular Biosciences; Population, Health & Society; Cities; Energy and Finance. This is in
addition the University’s seven Research Institutes, three Centres of Excellences, 20 research
units, 10 research groups and 15 South African Research Chairs.
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