Future Africa
a unique pan-African platform
Future Africa is a research institute and pan-African platform at the University of Pretoria that makes possible fundamentally new approaches to research and innovation that span disciplinary fields and geo-political boundaries. More specifically, through the efforts of a growing network of leading scientists and exceptional young talent, Future Africa is set to inspire science excellence to transform Africa and the world.
There are many complex challenges that face Africa and the global community. These include diverse issues such as climate change, food security, poverty, human rights, health and well-being, biodiversity loss, and much more. We know that traditional linear and singular approaches to science are no longer appropriate, and that searching for solutions will require that the scientific community operate in fundamentally new ways. It also requires transformation-minded researchers and science leaders to drive equitable and sustainable development.
In a nutshell, Future Africa:
- takes a future-oriented perspective on skills
- development for a new generation of science leaders in Africa
- actively builds networks between leaders of science across Africa and the rest of the world
- develops interdisciplinary and multinational research teams who, together with societal structures, can engage in impactful research to find solutions to complex problems
- places equity and sustainability central in its research and engagement related to African challenges.
Research that matters
a sense of people and place
Future Africa offers exceptional opportunities to address rising societal challenges, and to implement new modes of learning and research that engage a diversity of scholars and stakeholders.
The launch of the Future Africa was held on 29 March 2019. This event was preceded by years of detailed concept planning, infrastructure development and, since 2015, the implementation of science leadership programmes.
In less than a year after the official opening, the Future Africa campus has become a vibrant collaborative space where Africa’s young and leading scientists, together with civil society and international scholars, leverage the benefits of inter- and transdisciplinary research to address Africa’s most pressing problems.
The ethos of Future Africa has influenced all elements in its development, from the design, to the sourcing of materials and the people who were trained as part of the construction process. The gardens celebrate the evolutionary history of African plants and orphan crops, and are now integrated in research and used in the food that is prepared; the buildings reflect the need for different spaces of engagement, dialogue and contemplation — a conference centre designed to foster group work and interaction, a research commons with offices and meeting rooms, and accommodation for visiting scholars and residents.
The end result is a contemporary African setting that focuses attention on people and a commitment to sustainability; a place that will be as challenging and transforming to every visitor and resident as the ideas we hope to stimulate.
Future Africa’s focus is on connecting people, developing research capacity, and making an impact through networks that trigger a powerful and creative process of engagement that is impact focused.
This truly pan-African platform supports innovative research projects from conceptualisation to execution — from IdeasLabs to forums, dialogue and seminar series, the focus is on selected challenges that require transdisciplinary solutions.
Africa
an untapped pool of science excellence
Africa is endowed with unbelievable richness in history, people, cultures, biodiversity and environments. With this diversity comes complexity and opportunity. Africa is also a continent where research capacity needs to increase exponentially in order to generate the ideas and innovation for a better African future and world.
A necessary starting point is the development of early and mid-career researchers and science leaders. The basic premise is that the quality of the leadership in the system that is needed to lead change is closely linked to the development of science capacity in Africa.
It is estimated that by 2050 the world population will reach 9.8 billion, and that about 40% of the world’s young people (<25 years) will live in Africa. It stands to reason that among these great numbers will be the next generation researchers and science leaders, and that opportunities must be created for this talent to emerge.
The second point relates the role of science and the expectation, in Africa and globally, that science must benefit society.
Future Africa combines leadership for change, and the transformative power of inter- and transdisciplinary science that starts with addressing tangible, real world problems.
The science leadership model we have developed at Future Africa gives growing impetus to our work, and illustrates the very real possibilities of strengthening networks and research capacity for values-driven science in Africa.
‘Africa remains the greatest untapped pool of scientific genius.’
Thierry Zomahoun, March 2019.Africa’s young scientists
leading the way
At Future Africa the foundation was laid by the African Science Leadership Programme (ASLP), developed in partnership with the Global Young Academy and KnowInnovation, and support from the Robert Bosch Stiftung. Targeting early and mid-career African academics, the theme is science leadership and the intentional focus to enable ASLP fellows to develop the skills and research networks to become future leaders who can address, with transdisciplinary research teams, the complex challenges faced by Africa and the global community.
ASLP has created a lasting network of pan-African researchers and science leaders. Each year since the inaugural programme in 2015, a new group of exceptional researchers is selected from across the African continent, the majority of whom are women, representing a broad spectrum of research fields and disciplines.
The programme has had a profound impact on participants. But it has achieved much more. In the process, it has become a powerful catalyst for strengthening research networks and the development of science leadership programmes on the continent, and even internationally.
An e-platform that connects African scholars and their institutions has been developed by ASLP fellows as a visualised network of researchers and research expertise on the continent. ConnectUs.Africa makes it possible to find like-minded scholars through this growing network. An added advantage is that researchers who join the network have access to information about opportunities in science development and become visible to other researchers, and to funders.
