Research

South Africa

Thanks to its excellent university system and its large number of research institutions and commercial companies with research departments, South Africa is seen as the "gateway to Africa" when it comes to research and technology. It is also one of Germany's most important cooperation partners on the African continent. Based on their long-standing science and technology cooperation, Germany and South Africa have initiated a policy dialogue on future questions of ecological sustainability and the related demand for science, technology and innovation.

Based on a Joint Declaration of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the South African Department of Science and Technology (DST), which was signed by Federal Minister Prof. Dr. Annette Schavan and Minister Mosibudi Mangena in February 2008, the first conference of the German-South African sustainability research dialogue took place in Bonn, Germany on 16 and 17 June 2008. It was recognised that the scale, urgency and scope of challenges generated by the need to balance social, economic and environmental objectives in the context of the global transition to sustainable development requires multidisciplinary, transdisciplinary and cooperative research which seeks sustainable solutions.

The priority topics of science for sustainability cooperation between South Africa and Germany are:

  • strengthen innovation systems for sustainability
  • support R&D in the environmental goods and services sector (e.g. land and water resource management, environmental technologies, climate)
  • promoting sustainable energy systems.

The International Bureau (IB) of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in cooperation with the German Development Institute (DIE) - took part in the International Science, Innovation & Technology Exhibition (INSITE 2008) in Johannesburg from 15 to 17 September 2008. The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the International Bureau offered information about the Dialogue for Sustainability (D4S) and funding programmes in Germany for bilateral cooperation. [more...]

A second German-South African conference took place in Pretoria on 26 and 27 October 2009. Further results you can find here. [more...]

  • Research

    First Conference (C1)

    The first conference of the South African-German Dialogue on Science for Sustainability was successfully hosted at the German Development Institute on behalf of DST and BMBF in Bonn on 16th and 17th June 2008. It brought together delegations from both national systems of innovation for this first meeting.
    [more] (URL: http://www.dialogue4s.de/en/156.php)
  • Research

    Second Conference (C2)

    The second conference was held on 26 and 27 October 2009 in Pretoria, South Africa. The topics of the first day were on "Decoupling Economic Development and Environmental Degradation - emerging frameworks, current experiences and future research questions" and "Innovation at the centre of Sustainable Development - debates, approaches and challenges for innovation studies".
    [more] (URL: http://www.dialogue4s.de/en/270.php)
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CALLS

CLIENT
Announcement of regulations for the funding of research and development projects in the area of "International Partnerships for Sustainable Technologies and Services for Climate Protection and the Environment" (CLIENT) under the "Research for Sustainable Development" framework programme
until 31.08.2012

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2010 Global Development Awards and Medals Competition
The Global Development Awards and Medals Competition is an innovative award scheme launched by the Global Development Network (GDN). The Competition encourages original research on theme based proposals/papers.
until 09.09.2010 / 18.10.2010

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Alexander von Humboldt Foundation - International Climate Protection Fellowships
The International Climate Protection Fellowships enable prospective leaders to conduct a research-related project of their own choice during a one-year stay in Germany.
until 15.12.2010

Green Talents 2010

International competition of the BMBF for Research for Sustainability.

For more 
information please click here

News

Here you can find the last newsletters of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany Pretoria. It discusses issues relevant to research, science and technology in Germany and South Africa focussing on bilateral cooperation.

[more...]

Events

Corporate Responsibility Research Conference 2010
"Sustainability Management in a Diverse World"

Venue: Euromed Management School Marseille, France
Time: 15-17 September 2010

[more...]
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CLIMATE 2010: The  Wolrd´s CO2-friendly Scientific On-line Climate Conference
"Climate Change and the Sustainable Management of Water Resources"

Time: 1-7 November 2010

[more...]
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fona Forum
The 7th annual BMBF Forum for Sustainability. The main focus of this year's forum will be on the topics "international cooperation", "climate and energy", and "water".

Venue: axica, Berlin
Time: 2-4 November 2010

[more...]

Documents

Projects



EnerKey is a South African - German collaboration, which aims to develop and implement innovative pathways and projects in urban energy supply and use in order to improve the sustainability in the region of Gauteng, South Africa.

[more...]

 

Inkaba ye Africa is a German-South African collaborative Earth Science Initiative, dovetailing next-generation science and technology with a strong training and capacity-building component.

[more...]

 

BIOTA Africa Biodiversity Monitoring Transect Analysis in Africa [more...]

 

Communal Water House Project offers a promising approach to tackle the problem of supplying clean tab water in developing countries. [more...]