SAF-ADAPT 2022 Summer School

This year as part of the SAF-ADAPT project our annual joint summer school research skills programme was organised and implemented by the SAF-ADAPT team to facilitate both a virtual and in person event. The SAF-ADAPT summer school programme aims to build the capacity of postgraduate and postdoctoral students to design and deliver research for impact, and facilitate the exchange of skills and experience between staff and students. The overarching purpose of the summer school programme is to support the quality, relevance and impact of research in complex topics relating to climate change in an African context.

This year the summer school was held in person (as well as online for students who could not travel) at Zevenwacht Wine Estate in Kuils River, Cape Town. Recognizing the fast pace of change in the field and the varying strengths of disciplinary expertise amongst universities, supervisors were encouraged to attend and/or co-deliver on the summer school in order to promote an enabling environment for the ECRs to practice their new learning from the summer school once back home.

The summer school aspires to adopt an Afrocentric pedagogy which promotes transformative social learning that is inter-disciplinary and context-sensitive. The specific topics covered vary year-on-year, though always include a balance of:

• The latest developments in climate change science, policy and practice
• The theory and practice of undertaking research on complex problems, across disciplines and in
• Collaboration with non-academic stakeholders
• Research impact beyond journal publications
• Career progression in academia and beyond (incl. presentation skills, supervising students, grant proposal writing, tenure tracks)

For more information on the 2022 summer school, as well as access to the resources from the programme, visit the dedicated summer school website here.