Introduction of the topic
Peri-urban areas in sub-Saharan cities are growing and changing due to incessant migration and urbanisation. The rapid expansion of small rural towns in South Africa in particular results in depletion of common property resources and natural ecosystems as individuals maximise their own gains. As the small rural towns experience increases in the number of households residing in the peri-urban villages, there is lack of access to natural ecosystem services due to rapid expansion of housing developments into the commons including mountains and wetlands. These commons are slowly depleting. This complexity is exacerbated by the need to provide space for new housing developments and survival of households amid challenges affecting their livability in the urban periphery. The purpose of this workshop is therefore to unravel and depict the sustainability impact of commons depletion on ecosystem services in peri-urban villages of small rural towns in South Africa.
Relevance of it to the Swedish and South African context
This research is key to the already established and existing network of researchers from Sweden and South Africa. These Swedish and South African research partners are co-supervising research projects. The Swedish experience therefore provides a case of best practices from the north which can be adopted in South Africa. Thus, the current workshop intends to draw insights from Sweden on how to understand the sustainability impact of commons depletion on ecosystems services in peri-urban villages of small rural towns of South Africa. The major contribution of this partnership is therefore to present a framework for climate action and SDGs as a sustainable response to commons depletion in the urban periphery.
The aim/purpose with the workshop
This workshop contributes to the debates of SDGs, urbanization and ecosystem services in a context of North-South collaboration. The impact of urbanization and land use changes on ecosystems services and to achieve the SDGs in peri-urban villages of small rural towns will be stressed in an endeavor to develop a framework for climate action as a sustainable response of fast-growing areas. The workshop intends to give students an opportunity to discuss and present their views on how the proposed framework on climate action can be useful to curb the depletion of commons and enhance ecosystems services. Finally, the research team looks forward to expanding the existing pool of researchers (both students and lecturers) who are interested to work on the project.
How you plan to develop future collaborations and activities beyond the forum
The research team intends to engage the Vhembe Local Municipality on how the proposed framework can be used to curb depletion of the commons and enhance ecosystems services in peri-urban villages of small rural towns in the district. We look forward to establishing an institutional Research Chair at the University of Venda which focuses on these oncepts. The research team will continue to co-supervise postgraduate students from the Swedish and South African universities participating in the project. We hope to sign Memorandum of Understanding with Swedish universities, and pave way for joint degree programmes and student exchange programmes.
Check zoom link:
https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/68980478561 (also in field video stream)
1000hrsWelcome and opening of workshop Experiences from Sweden – Ecosystem services, SDGs and the commons (Overwiew)
Prof N Ekelund1020hrs
Unpacking the key concepts and focus
Prof T Gumbo - online1030hrs
Impact of migration and urbanization on sustainable cities: A comparative analysis of Swedish and African cities
Prof M Thynell1040hrs
Land use planning imperatives in South Africa
Prof V Nel - online1050hrs
Climate action tools and procedures
Prof S Manik1110hrs
Remote Sensing and GIS as critical skills for research
Dr P Schubert1120hrs
The commons and local economic development in small towns
W Nthangeni online1130hrs
Depleting wetland ecosystems in the periphery of small towns
P Banda online1140hrs
Where do we go from here?: The future of the project and discourses. Discussion.
Dr E Ingwani1200hrs
Closure
Prof N EkelundLinkages with South African research priority areas
All presentations from lecturers and PhD students relate to the concept of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Examples from the Limpopo Province in South Africa and Sweden will be presented. At the end of the workshop there will be a discussion on how to collaborate in future research projects between the universities involved. The plan is to allocate two hours on Friday 17th of May 2024 in Malmö and the Chair of the workshop is Professor Nils Ekelund.
Keywords: climate action, peri-urban, small rural towns, ecosystem services, sustainability
