MEDIA RELEASE
WITS LAUNCHES GLOBAL CHANGE AND SUSTAINABILITY RESEARCH
INSTITUTE IN THE WAKE OF COP17
Human beings are the only species on the planet that have single-handedly changed the
atmosphere, altered global weather patterns and threatened the natural world with
resource depletion, habitat destruction and species extinction.
How do these issues connect and relate to each other and to the world at large? These are
some of the questions that the Wits Global Change and Sustainability Research Institute
(GCSRI) aims to answer.
The R28-million Institute will be launched on Tuesday, 8 November 2011 (14:00 – 16:00) in
the new Science Stadium, just off Yale Road, in Braamfontein, Johannesburg. Dr Heidi
Hackmann, Secretary-General of the International Social Science Council will deliver the keynote
address. The media is invited to attend.
Says Hackmann: “Climate and broader, related processes of global environmental change
confront us with an unprecedented situation, unique in its causes and consequences, its
complexity and urgency. Its effects are inescapable and relentless, posing challenges to all
human beings in all parts of the world. If science is to step up to the mark and play a leading
role in meeting those challenges, then scientists have to get their act together. Research as
usual is not an option. For the benefit of our common humanity and shared physical
environment, working across traditional disciplinary and institutional boundaries, integrating
multiple sources of expertise, and working with society in the co-production of solutions is
not a choice but a simple necessity.
With the global population mark reaching seven billion, there are too many people
dependent on fewer and fewer non-renewable resources, resulting in the extraction of more
resources, the exploitation of new areas all of which result in land cover change. Combined
with climate change, these changes arecollectively known as global change, which presents
some known challenges but others which we can only predict.
“We do know that these challenges of the future will be complex, and that it will require a
collective contribution to better understand and resolve these issues,” says Prof. Andrew
Crouch, Dean of the Faculty of Science at Wits University and Acting Director of the Institute.
“This 21st Century Institute, which we will promote to a global audience at COP17, will tackle
problems related to global change, climate change and sustainability in a revolutionary way.
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It will bring to bear the distinct capabilities of environmentalists, social scientists,
researchers, academics, economists, biologists, innovators, strategists and energy experts as
well as representatives from government, industry and civil society to resolve the complex
issues we face today, and in the future.”
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.
Dr Robert Scholes, a Systems Ecologist at the CSIR will is one of the speakers at the launch: “South
Africa is the leader in Africa regarding the analysis of global change issues. Our capacity to
move beyond highlighting the problem, into generating solutions that are appropriate for
our circumstances, will be determined by how well we are able to draw together the many
threads of this complex challenge. In particular, it requires the deep integration of
climatological, ecological, engineering, economic and social expertise. This is what the Wits
Global Change and Sustainability Institute sets out to do.”
For more information on the Wits Global Change and Sustainability Research Institute, visit
http://www.wits.ac.za/gcsri or call (011) 717-6001.
For media interviews or Wits experts related to global change, climate change and
sustainability, contact Shirona Patel on (011) 717-1019 or 083 362 1995 or email
Shirona.Patel@wits.ac.za
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