Universities across the Southern African region have identified the importance of enhanced engagement with climate change across disciplines and institutions, to play a stronger role in contributing to solutions to the region's urgent climate change challenges. Globally, Southern Africa is one of the most vulnerable regions to the impacts of climate change.

The Climate Change Counts mapping study provided a valuable opportunity for university stakeholders to come together to begin building partnerships for collaboratively producing and using knowledge on climate compatible development at country and regional levels, and to better understand and respond to the specific knowledge and research needs of community, policy and private sector stakeholders.

A number of country-by-country engagements within the SADC region that have been scheduled over the course of the year to engage with Higher Education Institutions as well as government, private sector and civil society stakeholders to:

• Explore diverse understandings of climate compatible development
• Scope climate compatible development knowledge and capacity needs
• Identify and map research, teaching and outreach capabilities for climate compatible development that exist in southern African countries
• Produce an up-to-date picture of the extent of knowledge co-production and transdisciplinary research practices across the SARUA network and identify opportunities for future collaboration across sectors

One of the key outcomes of the mapping study has been a collaborative research framework to enhance co-production of knowledge. It includes strategies to strengthen networks for CCD research, teaching and community outreach involving knowledge co-production processes between participating universities and policy and community stakeholders. This framework forms the basis for a SADC level research programme and for various country-based partnership agreements, and provides a ‘knowledge platform’ for regional and country-based fundraising for research and knowledge co-production. As such the framework aims to benefit universities themselves, while also strengthening regional interaction and co-operation.

Key Resources:

• SARUA: Climate Change Counts (English Overview)
• SARUA: Climate Change Counts (Portuguese Overview)
• SARUA Higher Education Profiles in Southern Africa, Vol 1
• SARUA Higher Education Profiles in Southern Africa, Vol 2
• The SARUA Story

The findings of the mapping study are available on the SARUA website in two volumes: the regionally integrated knowledge co-production framework, supported by 12 individual country reports. The documents can be downloaded from www.sarua.org:

Volume 1, Number 1: Knowledge Co-Production Framework

• SARUA Climate Change Vol1No1 KCPF [English] (French and Portugese versions available July 2014)

Volume 2: Country Reports [English]

• Number 1: Angola Country Report [Portuguese version available July 2014]
• Number 2: Botswana Country Report
• Number 3: Malawi Country Report
• Number 4: Mauritius Country Report
• Number 5: Mozambique Country Report [Portuguese version available July 2014]
• Number 6: Namibia Country Report
• Number 7: Seychelles Country Report
• Number 8: South Africa Country Report
• Number 9: Swaziland Country Report
• Number 10: Tanzania Country Report
• Number 11:  Zambia Country Report
• Number 12:  Zimbabwe Country Report

CDKN Funding: £287, 853

Timeframe: 1 Year, Dec 2012 – Dec 2013