CzASE Studies: Critical Zones Africa South & East
Abstract
Critical Zones Africa South & East (CZASE) will bring together ??80 university and associated research organization-based researchers in five trans-disciplinary fields from Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa, to understand cascading societal challenges and risks arising from changes in the Critical Zones. The project draws from trans-disciplinarities that already exist in pockets between biosciences and geosciences but must be broadened and linked to social sciences and humanities. It redefines the CZ beyond an investigation of flows of water and nutrients -- or toxins -- in soils in a specific locale, through a social sciences and humanities-framing to investigate concepts and conditions that optimise or detract from the habitability of the locale, affecting the quality of lives lived in that soil.
The consortium will commence by co-developing integrative, transdisciplinary Africa-focused curricula to train the graduate students in CZ methods and approaches, linking across sciences, social sciences, humanities, planning, law and policy. The HSRC Policy team will participate from the outset so that policy proposals communicated in Year 4, at all levels of governance, are based on a purpose-built scientific foundation.
