The Between the Fjords group has received funding for two new research collaborations between Norway and South Africa. These projects build on long-term collaboration with Peter Le Roux (University of Pretoria) and V. Ralph Clark (Afromontane Research Unit at the University of the Free State) in South Africa through the Plant Functional Trait Courses and the Biodiversa project RangeX.
NatuRA «Sustainable use of Natural Resources in Alpine and mountain grassland ecosystems under global change» is a Collaborative and Knowledge-building Project for the call “Area under pressure”. The overarching objective of the NatuRA project is to generate new knowledge on how mountain grassland ecosystems and their natural resources have been traditionally and are currently managed, how they are now affected by global changes and changes in management practices, and then use this knowledge to co-develop nature-based solutions with local stakeholders to sustainably safeguard these social-ecological systems and livelihoods under global change. The project involves field experiments, modelling, syntheses, and close co-production with local expert, practitioners and indigenous governance systems to ensure inclusion and maximise societal impact. The project is an international collaboration funded by the Research Council of Norway and South Africa’s National Research Foundation. Led by the University of Bergen in Norway and the Universities of the Free State and Venda in South Africa, it involves partnerships with institutions such as the University of Pretoria, Meat Naturally, Witsieshoek Mountain Lodge, Bakoena Royal Council in South Africa, and Norway’s Heathland Center and Sogn Jord- og Hagebruksskule. These diverse partnerships aim to integrate scientific research with local expertise, creating innovative solutions tailored to the needs of each community.
INTEREST «INTegrating Ecological Research and Education to fill Societal knowledge needs on the naTure crisis», will (i) strengthen institutional partnerships for education between Norway and the priority institutions in South Africa, (ii) strengthen academic programmes by increasing integration between higher education and research, (iii) sustain student mobility between Norway and South Africa. The project is funded by the Norwegian Research Council, and led by the University of Bergen and collaborates internationally with the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, the Universities of the Free State, Venda and Pretoria in South Africa.
Receiving funding for these two projects at the same time is very fortunate. While the focus of NatuRA is on global change research and sustainable land-use management, the INTEREST project has an educational focus. The aims of these projects are well aligned and by integrating their activities, we will achieve a higher outcome for both projects.