HSRC webinar to elevate African voices in climate risk studies

The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) will today host a webinar preceding the 3rd Climate Change and Futures in Africa Conference. 

The webinar, hosted in collaboration with the University of Venda, Midlands State University and the National Youth Climate Action Network of Namibia, will take place from 11am to 1pm.

Titled, 'Decolonising Climate Risk Scholarship from the Global North to Africa', the HSRC

said the webinar represents "more than an academic exercise". 

Instead, the council said it directly confronts the imbalances embedded in contemporary climate scholarship and is a deliberate attempt to disrupt the status quo within the politics of climate knowledge by examining how knowledge is produced and whose perspectives are prioritised. 

“It is designed to challenge existing knowledge hierarchies that systematically marginalise Global South perspectives, while simultaneously elevating indigenous and local knowledge systems that offer valuable insights for climate risk management,” the HSRC said.

According to the principal convener, the HSRC’s Dr Wilfred Lunga, the webinar creates space for transformative dialogue that moves beyond extractive research practices toward genuinely collaborative knowledge production. 

“Our approach recognises that meaningful climate action requires not merely the inclusion of Global South voices as subjects of research, but their recognition as authoritative knowledge producers, whose insights can fundamentally reshape how we understand and respond to climate challenges,” Lunga said. 

By centring African experiences and knowledge systems, he believes that this will help to demonstrate how decolonial approaches can generate robust, contextually appropriate and socially just climate knowledge.

“This approach aligns with growing recognition within climate scholarship that technical solutions divorced from social and cultural contexts consistently fail to address the root causes of climate vulnerability,” said Lunga.

The 3rd Climate Change and Futures in Africa Conference will take place from 29 October to 1 November 2025 in Windhoek, Namibia. The conference will focus on the theme, 'Risk in Time and Space', highlighting the variability of disaster risks over time and space. 

The gathering will bring together experts in climate change, disaster risk reduction, and community-based participatory research to present cutting-edge trends and advancements in the field.

In addition to the expert presentations, the conference will offer a dynamic platform for dialogue, collaboration, and knowledge exchange among academics, policymakers, practitioners, and community leaders from around the world. 

The event will feature interactive panel discussions, workshops, and breakout sessions designed to foster innovative approaches and practical solutions to the complex challenges posed by climate change and disaster risks. – SAnews.gov.za