Sustainability Transformations in Africa

New Future Africa learning lab reimagines people–nature relations in Africa

Future Africa has launched the African Political Ecologies Learning Lab, creating a space for African scholars to explore people–nature relations and strengthen locally grounded sustainability research. Interested researchers can contact

Land, loss and legacy: can South Africa’s natural heritage ever be shared?

South Africa’s landscapes are breathtaking, but can they ever be truly shared? In this opinion piece, Future Africa's Prof Maano Ramutsindela and Dr Clarietta Chagwiza reflect on how colonial legacies, conservation practices and land reform shape our relationship with nature, and what it will take to make heritage a collective good.

The Tomato Paradox: When abundance meets shortage in Africa’s food systems

Marking World Food Day 2025, Dr Ololade Abdulrahman, a Research Fellow in the Future Africa Research Leadership Fellowship programme, examines Nigeria’s “Tomato Paradox” and calls for innovation to strengthen Africa’s agrifood systems.

Future Africa hosts symposium to welcome new FAR-LeaF cohort

A week-long symposium at Future Africa brought together 22 postdoctoral fellows from 10 African countries to launch the second cohort of the FAR-LeaF fellowship, fostering leadership, collaboration, and new research networks.

She Can Do More, Give Her Space: Women’s Contribution to Socio-Economic Development

In commemoration of Women’s Month, Future Africa’s Dr Clarietta Chagwiza reflects on women’s vital role in socio-economic development and calls for greater space to lead and thrive.

‘We need a people’s science’ – Future Africa dialogue urges shift to African-centred sustainability thinking

Sustainability science must shed inherited assumptions and embrace African-centred approaches grounded in justice, imagination, and relational thinking. This was the message from Future Africa’s recent transdisciplinary dialogue, where Prof Lesley Green and Prof Maano Ramutsindela called for a new language of science rooted in African thought.

The hidden violence of conservation and the case for socio-ecological reparations

Conservation is often viewed as a moral good, but speakers at a Future Africa panel revealed how its history in Africa is marked by dispossession, invisibility, and colonial violence. The discussion called for reparations that address intertwined ecological and human injustices.

Call for Abstracts: TFCA’s Symposium

The Future Africa Research Chair in Sustainability Transformations, a joint initiative of the University of Pretoria and the University of Cape Town, in partnership with the SARChI Chair in the Political Economy of Migration in the SADC Region,

Future Africa to lead science mission for Mapungubwe revival

Drawing on lessons from the rise and fall of the ancient Mapungubwe Kingdom, a proposal led by Professor Maano Ramutsindela, the UP–UCT Future Africa Research Chair in Sustainability Transformations, has been selected as one of 12 global pilot science missions by the International Science Council (ISC) to accelerate real-world sustainability solutions.

Cultivating Research Leaders for a Sustainable Future Africa

Future Africa, the University of Pretoria’s collaborative research platform, is at the forefront of fostering scientific leadership across the continent. A recent article in University World News highlights how Future Africa is addressing Africa’s research capacity challenges through the Future Africa Research Leadership Fellowship (FAR-LeaF).

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