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As global change research reveals rising evidence of climatic and associated changes, it is becoming increasingly clear that these changes are likely to impact many sectors of South African society. South Africa's Department of Science and Technology (DST) is meeting this challenge head on by means of a broad-based and detailed initiative to address global change.
In 2008, the DST adopted a Ten-year Innovation Plan, Innovation Towards a Knowledge-based Economy 2008-2018. The Plan identifies five Grand Challenges for the National System of Innovation over the next decade. Each of these Grand Challenges is designed to not only stimulate multidisciplinary thinking, but to challenge the country's researchers to answer existing questions, increase interdisciplinary collaboration, and develop new technologies.
One of the Grand Challenges is Science and technology for global change, with a focus on climate change. This Grand Challenge has three main objectives - enhancing scientific understanding of global change, developing innovations and technologies to respond to global change, and understanding the social context within which solutions will have to be implemented.
| South Africa - a priority destination for global change research
The DST, through the Global Change Grand Challenge, intends to draw on South Africa's many unique environmental features, its outstanding record of scientific research, and its sophisticated scientific infrastructure to position the country as a priority destination for global change research.
"Marketing South Africa and southern Africa as a priority area for globally relevant research will enable us to add value to, as well as benefit from, international research collaborations." - Imraan Patel, Chief Director: Science and Technology for Economic Impact, DST
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Bureau for Global Change Science
For the implementation of the Global Change Grand Challenge National Research Plan, the DST developed an integrated and comprehensive architecture clarifying mandates, roles and responsibilities of key role players, as well as their inter-relationships.
An interesting feature of the architecture is the explicit identification of focused interventions that would assist in building stronger links between science and policy. Two specific initiatives have been introduced in this regard - the South African Risk and Vulnerability Atlas and the Bureau for Global Change Science.
"The Bureau will draw together the best of South Africa's global change research, and will act as a high-level knowledge broker between researchers and policy-makers." - Imraan Patel
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 National Research Plan
An inclusive process involving a wide cross-section of the science and policy communities in South Africa was followed to develop a detailed implementation plan aimed at enhancing scientific understanding of global change. This process has culminated in the development of the Global Change Grand Challenge National Research Plan.
This 10-year research plan follows a three-pronged approach aimed at studying and understanding the changes, understanding the implications of these changes for decision-making, and stimulating innovation in responding to the challenges posed by global change.
Although the research plan's main focus is on climate change, it embraces the wider sphere of global change by including changes in economics, politics, land use, atmospheric composition, loss of biodiversity, as well as palaeo-analysis and the geosciences in so far as they illuminate global change issues.
According to Imraan Patel, the DST's Chief Director - Science and Technology for Economic Impact, the research plan sets out to coordinate South Africa's agenda on global change and guide the South African research community towards probing and addressing key issues that affect our people's future.
A key priority is addressing local needs and working in areas of global comparative advantage. Researchers will build on existing scientific and disciplinary strengths, investigate what is specific to the country's geographical location and of global as well as local interest (such as the Southern Ocean and South Africa's rich biodiversity), consider the human dimensions of vulnerability and impacts of abrupt, extreme events (such as floods and cyclones), as well as required mitigation and adaptation strategies.
Another objective is to attract South African and other young researchers to the region and retain them by sparking their interest in aspects of global change, developing their capacity and professional skills in the relevant fields of investigation, and offering them exciting career opportunities.
Knowledge generation system
In addition to specific science-policy initiatives, a strong focus over the next decade will be on building a global change knowledge generation system in South Africa.
Important initiatives in this knowledge generation system are the centres of excellence - African Centre for Climate and Earth Systems Science (ACCESS), and Global Change for Sustainability, African Earth Observation Network programme - as well as associated networks such as the South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON) and the South African National Space Agency.
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