Enhancing Science Partnerships for Innovation and Sustainable Development

20/11/2012

Storms, flooding, desertification: climate change in focus during the Year of Science

In November and December 2012, climate change is the key subject of the German-South African Year of Science 2012/2013. What are the causes of climate change? How can people deal with the negative effects of climate change, such as increasingly extreme weather conditions, flooding and progressive desertification? In the following weeks these and other pressing questions relating to the key subjects will be discussed as part of the Year of Science.

"Investigating climate change is one of the most important tasks of the German-South African research cooperation. Exchanging knowledge and transferring technology are both key in collectively developing effective strategies for how we can adapt to the altered climate conditions," explains the German Federal Minister of Education and Research, Annette Schavan. For the purposes of a competition running in the German-South African Year of Science 2012/2013, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the South African partner ministry Department for Science and Technology (DST) have selected 19 research initiatives that focus on the effects of climate change, which they believe are worthy of support.

So as part of the German-South African research programme Inkaba yeAfrica, young geoscientists from both countries hosted a workshop in Potsdam. Scientific symposiums on the topic of geodynamics and earthmonitoring, energy resources, mineral resources, and geoecodynamics boost international cooperation.
In South Africa, the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Ecology (ZMT) and the Applied Centre for Climate and Earth Systems Science (ACCESS) are organising a collaborative workshop in the field of marine science. Researchers and young scientists from both countries will take part.

More information on the activities of the research and scientific partnerships can be found in the online calendar.

In line with the slogan "Enhancing research partnerships for innovation and sustainable development", there are six more topics in focus during the German-South African Year of Science 2012/2013: Astronomy, bioeconomics, humanities and social sciences, human capital development, innovation in the healthcare industry and urbanisation/megacities.

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