UCT Post-graduate studies - Flipbook - Page 40
8
UNIVERSITY
RESEARCH
INSTITUTES
The university research institutes are grounded in existing areas
of internationally recognised excellence while being aligned to
institutional, regional and national priorities. These institutes take
interdisciplinary approaches to research. Thus, as a postgraduate,
you may be registered within a department but your research
carried out within a particular research institute.
1
African Climate and
Development Initiative
(ACDI)
The African continent has an
imperative to improve human
wellbeing, but within the
constraints of the need for
low-carbon development and
mounting impacts of climate
variability and change. The ACDI
engages with these challenges
through innovative research
and teaching that draws on
intellectual capital across a wide
range of disciplines. It brings
together academics with nongovernmental organisations,
business and government in a
knowledge factory that coproduces and tests new insights,
evidence and innovations that will
help to solve Africa’s climate and
development challenges.
2
Poverty and Inequality Initiative (PII)
The Poverty and Inequality Initiative (PII) tackles the question of why, in a
country of rich resources, poverty and inequality are persisting and even, in
the case of inequality, deepening. PII aims to identify all major role players inside
and outside the university, including academics, research groups, government
and NGOs who are working in poverty alleviation. It also plays a leading role in
the Carnegie national inquiry into strategies to overcome poverty and inequality.
19% 3
Future Water
OF RURAL SOUTH
AFRICANS LACK
ACCESS TO
A RELIABLE
WATER SUPPLY
38
The complexity and uncertainties that go with water
management in South Africa provide a major national
challenge and can no longer be explained through the
lens of single disciplines. Future Water’s aim is to increase
water sensitivity to underpin improved quality of life and
sustainable development in South Africa. The institute
integrates technical and socioeconomic aspects through
the adoption of inter- and transdisciplinary scholarship, as
well as the perspectives of multiple stakeholders and users.
The research programme includes a clear focus on the
interactions between environmental, technical, economic
and social aspects.