ACDI Public Lecture: Prof Carl Folke talks about development and the biosphere

The African Climate & Development Initiative is proud to host Prof Carl Folke at UCT on October 16th at the Kramer Lecture Theatre 2 on Middle Campus. Prof Folke is the Founder and Science Director of the Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University and the Director of the Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, Sweden.

THE LECTURE: People are embedded parts of the Biosphere and shape it, from local to global scales, from the past to the future. At the same time people are fundamentally dependent on the capacity of the Biosphere to sustain development. Humanity has emerged as a major force in the operation of the Biosphere. Research on complex social-ecological systems and resilience link people to Biosphere dynamics and a changing planet. Shifts between states and pathways of development are at the core of resilience thinking, practice and policy. It is about how to navigate the future in relation to diverse pathways, and thresholds and tipping points between them. In resilience thinking, adaptation refers to human actions that sustain development on current pathways, while transformation is about shifting development into novel pathways and even create new ones. Deliberate transformation involves breaking down the resilience of the old and building the resilience of the new. The interplay of key actors, social networks, bridging organizations and diverse institutions helps prepare for social-ecological transformations in the face of complexity and change and use windows of opportunities, whether environmental, economic, or political, to make it happen. New research initiatives, new forms of collaborations for Biosphere stewardship and examples of shifts towards governance of ecosystem services of landscapes and seascapes and will be presented.