Transdisciplinary collaboration critical for future of science

Calls for investment in transdisciplinary research in Africa in order to achieve progress in science and innovation as tools to tackle challenges impeding social and economic transformation of the continent have dominated proceedings at the Sustainability Research and Innovation Congress (SRI2022).

The hybrid congress, taking place, in part, on the campus of the University of Pretoria, South Africa, has been convened in collaboration with the congress host, Future Earth, a global network of scientists, researchers and innovators focusing on sustainability, and the Belmont Forum, which is a partnership to enable environmental research, as a platform for enacting ‘meaningful solutions’ to societal challenges.

The conference also heard that nurturing collaborations, both intra-Africa and with external actors, needed to be accelerated, noting that Africa needed to deploy science-based interventions urgently in tackling its most pressing challenges.

Advocacy for greater investment

The research community in Africa also needed as much support as it could muster from policymakers to come up with sustainable solutions that address, among other issues, climate change, social problems, food security, improved health, and environmental degradation, the event was told.

“As scientists and as policymakers, there is a lot of advocacy work we ought to be doing to convince political leaders that the research we do is for the good of society, and they should, therefore, do more to raise investment in science and innovation,” said Phil Mjwara, the director-general of the Department of Science and Innovation, South Africa.

As researchers across Africa did their best to have science and innovation at the centre of development processes, governments were slowly beginning to appreciate the importance of innovations that solved immediate problems facing communities.

Such included the many innovations that came up at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and which help people cope with its effects, he noted.

However, despite the proven benefits of such innovations, governments continued diverting financial resources away from research, spending little to harness knowledge production for innovation, Dr Mjwara observed.

“In South Africa, what we have done to support sustainability research is to try and convince our political leadership on the importance of increasing funding for science, by proving to them that doing so is a good way of spending the country’s resources,” the director-general added.

The government of South Africa’s investment in science was evident through, among others, the Applied Centre for Climate and Earth Systems Science, or ACCESS, whose scientists were now collaborating with international bodies such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC.

His department was also encouraged by a pledge from the government to fund innovation activities to the tune of ZAR1.2 billion (about US$75 million) by setting up an innovation fund over a period of three years.

Research for sustainability and transformation

The higher education sector, as well as individual institutions, had a major role to play in bringing about and in deploying transdisciplinary research for sustainability and transformation, said Professor Tawana Kupe, the vice-chancellor and principal of the University of Pretoria.

Despite that, he noted that the transdisciplinary approach to research, however much desired, was never going to be possible without first building collaborations, which he described as critical to the future of science everywhere in the world.

The administrator observed that research, knowledge and innovation knew no boundaries, adding that the future of any meaningful scientific endeavours lay in building strong partnerships.

The Sustainability Research and Innovation Congress 2022 (SRI2022) hosted for the first time in 2021, is a transdisciplinary gathering that advocates for sustainability scholarship, innovations, collaborations and action.

It brings together researchers, experts, industry practitioners, and innovators from all over the world to inspire action and support transition to sustainability. In the continental context, it has been focusing on four broad themes, African science and innovation, different ways of knowing, nexus issues, and new horizons.

It is taking place from 20-24 June and, according to the organisers, an important purpose of SRI2022 is to amplify the voice of sustainability science and innovation in the Global South and, specifically, in the African continent, via “raising awareness and propelling discussions about sustainable priorities” for the continent.

Africa, they note, has much to offer to the global discussion on sustainability, and the event will provide a “critical platform for collaboration with local, African and international partners”.

Sustainable solutions

It is for this reason that one of the major universities-led research networks, the African Research Universities Alliance, or ARUA, is one of the major actors at the meeting hosting daily sessions focused on different topics of relevance to Africa, including the environment, agriculture and food security.

Sustainable solutions meant to solve the persistent food crisis in Africa cannot be found without appreciating the importance of the environment in relation to agriculture and food security, Professor Wynand Steyn, the head of the civil engineering department at the University of Pretoria, told a session hosted by ARUA on 21 June.

Challenges for the agriculture sector cannot be solved using a single branch of science, and exemplified the real need for a transdisciplinary approach to research, involving fields such as engineering in order to boost efficiency and reduce wastage in the value chain, while offering easy-to-apply solutions for the critical sector. Such solutions should, besides, be practical, he noted.

Agriculture, he emphasised, is a transdisciplinary field involving a broad range of sciences whose solutions can only be found through deliberate collaborations.

“It is important for scientists to always remember that research in this important area should not just be about good journal articles, but should, more importantly, be evident on the ground,” he challenged researchers.

Universities and researchers should not get tired of coming up with various innovations, technologies and solutions even when they are not adopted by actors in the agriculture sector immediately, or when whey they are slowly taken up, noting that their value will be realised over time, he said.

Giving the example of the mobile phone whose initial purpose was to offer a basic communications service, but which has now evolved to offer services including banking, scientists, he said, should focus their research on solutions that transcend sectors and single applications.

According to Johan Hattingh, emeritus professor, Stellenbosch University, South Africa, addressing food security in Africa will involve increasing research in climate change, and by always seeking science-based solutions to the climate crisis that has hard-hit many parts of the continent.

Giving the example of droughts and flooding incidents that have hit parts of South Africa in recent years, in particular earlier in 2022, the academic noted that urgent application of science was needed to fill gaps in planning for such future occurrences.

Solutions for climate-related disasters, however, needed to take into account indigenous knowledge held by communities, he noted.