PECS Science-Policy-Practice Dialogue On

PECS Science-Policy-Practice Dialogue
Opportunities for Creating a Good Anthropocene in Southern Africa

1-2 November 2015, Hotel Verde, Cape Town
Participation by Invitation Only

Why a Policy Dialogue?
In order to foster substantive transdisciplinary engagement beyond academia, a dedicated science-policy-practice dialogue took place on 1-2 November in conjunction with the first PECS international conference, to engage with a wider set of stakeholders from government, business, the NGO sector and civil society that have an interest in PECS-related research. The dialogue was by invitation only, and involved around 15 scientists from the PECS and SAPECS community, and around 40 participants from the policy and practitioner community.

The dialogue focussed on “Opportunities for creating a Good Anthropocene in southern Africa”, and aimed to stimulate thinking and action around shaping a positive future for the region that simultaneously meets ecological sustainability imperatives as well as pressing needs for human development and social justice. The dialogue was motived by and connects to a Future Earth Fast Track initiative, “Seeds of Good Anthropocenes”, which aimed to explore the potential for transformative, positive global and regional futures that go beyond the types of changes typically discussed in the sustainability arena.

Dialogue Structure
The dialogue featured 4 leading international thinkers that provided a diverse set of provocative perspectives on the challenges and opportunities for transformative social-ecological change in the southern African region. The event started with a learning journey on Sunday afternoon to visit three innovative social-ecological projects in Cape Town: Hotel Verde (“the greenest hotel in Africa”), the Woodstock Peace Garden, and the GreenPop Nursery. The dialogue on Monday was professionally facilitated and structured around in-depth break-out discussions of how these opportunities and challenges can connect to on-the-ground actions in government, business, NGO and civil society in the region. The focus was specifically on bringing together key scientists and “bridging” agents or “connectors”:  people working at the science-policy interface, who are agents of change in the region and may be interested and inspired to take some of these ideas and insights generated at the dialogue into their domains of practice.

Outcomes of the Dialogue
  1. The dialogue provided a platform for sharing and discussing the latest international thinking in social-ecological research for sustainability, focusing specifically on opportunities and constraints for sustainability transformations in southern Africa.
  2. The dialogue stimulated dialogue and reflection amongst policy-makers, practitioners and researchers on how this thinking could be incorporated in regional policy and practice, and shape future research priorities
  3. The dialogue helped foster a regional network of change agents for sustainability, and several ideas for collaborative initiatives emerged and will be developed in future.

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