INVITATION TO INFORMATION SHARING & DISCUSSION SESSION ON THE DRAFT GLOBAL CHANGE NATIONAL SCIENCE PLAN

WHEN: 29 July 2008, 14h00-17h00
VENUE: Ghost Frog Room, Centre for Biodiversity Conservation, Kirstenbosch
CONTACT:
Dr D.C.Le Maitre; Email: dlmaitre@csir.co.za; Ph: 021 888 2407
Cell: 072 337 0657; Dr Constansia Musvoto; Email: cmusvoto@csir.co.za
Ph: 012 841 4856; Cell: 0725381221; Please copy your replies to Ms Lynn Havinga (havinga@sanbi.org, Tel: +27 21 7998895) so she can make arrangements for refreshments.
The development of an ambitious and comprehensive 10-year Global Change Science Plan for the broader National System of Innovation forms a key component of the Global Change Grand Challenge implementation framework.
As a member of the South African Global Change science community you are invited to a regional information sharing and discussion session which forms part of the process of developing the National Global Change Science Plan.
This follows a national workshop which was held on 22 and 23 April 2008 in Pretoria where delegates were tasked with defining the research focal areas and kick off the process of defining the thematic priorities and potential work programmes associated with each. The workshop proposed that research under the National Global Change Science Plan for the next ten years should focus on two areas within the complex
regional system and its various components:
Focal Area 1: Understanding a complex regional system: Here the emphasis will be on understanding the processes and drivers of change in both the biophysical and social domains. Understanding system resilience will be a major area of interest.
Focal Area 2: Adaptive responses within a complex regional system: The
effective application of existing and new knowledge to meet societal needs and to build resilience of the interconnected system (including institutional) in support of societal benefits will form the core of this research focal area. More detail of the draft Science Plan will be made available at the workshop session and your input and comments on the contents will be invited at the session and via email or in the web-based discussion forum. The background to the development of the Global Change National Science Plan can be viewed at http://globalchange.grandchallengeonline.org/