Norway and South Africa Collaborate on 10 Groundbreaking Climate Projects
The funded projects include research on sustainable and equitable urban development in Oslo and Cape Town, ecosystem management in the mountain regions of Norway and South Africa, and sustainable seafood farming practices that ensure economic, environmental, and social sustainability in the fjord outside Ålesund and in Saldanha Bay, South Africa.
– We are now continuing a much-requested research collaboration with good results. South Africa and Norway have cooperated well for a long time on nature, oceans, and the environment, both politically and within research. I look forward to seeing what skilled researchers in both countries will deliver through this new phase of our collaboration, says Minister of international development Anne Beathe Kristiansen Tvinnereim.
The projects will receive a total of almost 60 million Norwegian kroner, or 100 million South African rand. The projects encompass common problems within urban development, extinction of species, global value chains in the export of wine, management of marine and fishery resources, planning of renewable energy in various landscapes, and how to prevent and combat increasing rates of forest fires.
‒ The climate and nature crisis is global, and international cooperation is essential to address these significant and complex challenges. Through these projects, Norwegian and South African efforts can jointly contribute to the knowledge necessary for a more sustainable world, says Mari Sundli Tveit, Managing Director of the Research Council of Norway (RCN).
‒ The National Research Foundation and the Research Council of Norway collaboration is long and strategic for both sides and the new version is even better in that bigger consortia projects will be supported, says CEO of National Research Foundation (NRF), Dr Fulufhelo Nelwamondo.
‒ In the new Collaborative Research Programme 2025-2028 the NRF and the RCN have a Lead Agency Agreement which main function is to provide a framework for joint peer review of proposals to the RCN and NRF as the funding agencies in different countries. Through this programme, the NRF and of course the RCN aim for the enhanced knowledge in addressing common challenges within areas under pressure, particularly the sustainability, use and management of land, as well as the utilisation of funded projects results by policy makers, public institutions, private sector and/or civil society, says Nelwamondo.
The research collaboration between Norway and South Africa has lasted for over 20 years, and the projects are financed by both countries. Each project is led by one Norwegian and one South African project leader, and the projects have extensive collaboration with actors outside of research, in industry, public sector, and civil society.
The RCN will follow up the Norwegian parts of the projects while the (NRF) will follow up the South African parts of the projects.
These are the 10 funded projects
| JustUrban: Sustaining urban nature for environmental justice in the face of urban growth | STIFTELSEN NORSK INSTITUTT FOR NATURFORSKNING NINA | University of the Western Cape and Rhodes University |
| NatuRA - Sustainable use of Natural Resources in Alpine and mountain grassland ecosystems under global change | UNIVERSITETET I BERGEN | University of the Free State and University of Venda |
| Human-Environment-Animal Relations in Deep Time | Institutt for kultur- og språkvitenskap, Universitetet i Stavanger | Stellenbosch University and University of Fort Hare |
| Land Governance and Responsible Value Chains in the South African Wine Industry (WINELAND) | INSTITUTT FOR FREDSFORSKNING (PRIO) | University of the Western Cape |
| Planning renewable solar energy systems combining technological and ecological assessments | SINTEF ENERGI AS | University of Stellenbosch and University of Limpopo |
| Co-creating nature recovery maps to guide conservation and restoration efforts in Norway and South Africa. | STIFTELSEN NORSK INSTITUTT FOR NATURFORSKNING NINA | University of Witwatersrand and University of the Western Cape |
| Wildfire safety of homes and other vulnerable establishments in the wildland-urban interface | RISE FIRE RESEARCH AS | University of Stellenbosch and Sol Plaatje University |
| Sustainable multiuse of ocean areas in South Africa and Norway – interactions with fisheries and aquaculture of low trophic resources | Møreforsking AS | Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment and University of the Western Cape |
| Pressures of Urbanisation on Fish and Fisheries In Norway and South Africa (PUFFINS) | NORCE Miljø/Klima VESTLAND | South African National Biodiversity Institute and University of Zululand |
| Turning wastewater into potable water - sustainable plant-based water treatment systems for rural communities | SINTEF AS | University of KwaZulu Natal and University of Venda |
Messages at time of print 21 December 2024, 15:06 CET