SARUA statement on ChatGPT and other AI tools Most academics would have heard of ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence (AI) application that was released by OpenAI at the end of November 2022 and that…
The German Academic Exchange Service has extended the application date for the next DAAD Train IQA course to 18 November 2022. As you can see from the attached Call, the course will be…
Dear Friends of the SARUA Climate Change programme One of our esteemed members of the Climate Change and Sustainable Development module development teams reports on the recent Unicaf University International Summer School and…
The State of Climate Action 2022 provides a comprehensive assessment of the global gap in climate action across the world’s highest-emitting systems, highlighting where recent progress made in reducing GHG emissions, scaling up…
The Southern African Master’s curriculum in Climate Change and Sustainable Development content development phase will commence with an orientation event to be hosted on 4 July 2022. The event will introduce the process…
SARUA and the Alliance for African Partnership enter into a collaboration agreement SARUA is pleased to announce that it has entered into a collaboration agreement with the Alliance for African Partnership (AAP). Founded…
UNESCO – World Higher Education Conference. 18 – 20 May 2022. SARUA values the discussions and commitments to collaboration between higher education institutions al a local, regional, and global level. SARUA will continue…
“As a continent, we must move from climate theory to climate action and, therefore, it is critical to build alliances and partnerships between different role-players in terms of climate change. This calls for the inclusion of local contexts and indigenous knowledge in climate adaptation strategies.”
Continuing professional development for higher education cannot be treated as an individual responsibility. Dedicated institutional support is essential, according to Tony Lelliott, a programme specialist at the non-profit educational trust the South African…
Specialists in every ministry and organisation in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region should be trained to adapt to and mitigate climate change, according to Professor Heila Lotz-Sisitka, who holds the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) chair in global change and social learning systems. Universities, therefore, need to introduce programmes on climate change in the short and long term to increase capacity in communities.
This could ensure that communities are well informed on issues of climate change and that they have survival skills, Lotz-Sisitka said during a presentation at the Southern African Regional Universities Association’s (SARUA) eighth colloquium on climate change held virtually on 22 June 2021.
The critical role of higher education institutions towards the adoption of long-term climate-smart resolutions and sustainable development policies in society has been intensified over the years as the world grapples with the adverse effects of climate change, especially within vulnerable communities.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, a region most devastated by climate change, according to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), academic institutions have been working with stakeholders to develop curriculums, advance research projects and provide further training for graduates on climate change.
There is a pressing need to critically evaluate and monitor higher education’s responses to the lockdown in Africa, especially in relation to teaching and learning remotely, says Daniela Gachago, an associate professor in…