Updates
Action research on future making and scaling nature-based solutions for climate resilient infrastructure
By Daulphin Razafipahatelo and Dr Jessica Thorn University of Antananarivo, University of Namibia and Imperial College London August 2026 Building a foundation in R and statistics From 20 to 24 July 2026, four PhD students from the African Nature Futures Lab participated in a five-day SEEC training course in R [...]
By Alivony Ravelomanantsoa and Jessica Thorn University of Antananarivo August 2026 PhD student’s reflections from the Africa Clean Air Forum For many years, air pollution in Africa has largely been framed as a scientific and technical challenge, centred on monitoring, modelling and pollutant thresholds. At the 4th Africa Clean Air [...]
by Dr Jessica Thorn University of Namibia and Imperial College London On 15 July 2026, Imperial College London hosted Africa Innovates 2026, bringing together researchers, policymakers, practitioners, industry representatives and civil society. Held at Imperial’s South Kensington Campus, the conference provided a platform for collaboration across Africa-focused science, policy [...]
By Jessica Thorn and Rebeca Biancardi Aleu On the 26th of July, the world celebrated the International Day for the Conservation of Mangrove Ecosystems. As part of this celebration, this month Jessica Thorn and Rebeca Biancardi presented at the 7th Mangrove Macrobenthos and Management Conference (MMM7): “Towards Nature Positive Mangroves” [...]
By Dr Jessica Thorn July 2026 The African Nature Future Lab welcomes three new MSc students working at the Centre for Environmental Policy and the Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Campus at Imperial College London. Thalia Letrilliart’s research is on scaling adaptation finance for mangroves in Sierra Leone. She is [...]
By Dr Jessica Thorn Between the 10-12 June 2026, Dr Jessica Thorn was in Aburi, Ghana, to discuss the future of African scholarship and reflect on how colonial legacies continue to shape not only what knowledge is produced, but whose knowledge is valued, funded, cited, and acted upon. The workshop [...]
By Giesberta N. Shaanika and Dr Jessica Thorn June 2026 According to the World Health Organization (2024), heat stress is now the leading cause of weather-related deaths globally and is associated with a range of health impacts, including cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, mental health challenges, reduced productivity and has the [...]
By Yurim Nam, Cornell University February 2026 “Development is more complicated than you expect”, shared World Food Prize laureate Dr. Jan Low during a dinner she generously hosted for Cornell University students in Kenya this January. Yurim Nam, a Research Assistant in the African Nature Futures Lab and a third-year [...]
By Daulphin Razafipahatelo, University of Antananarivo July 2025 Understanding the goal: Can wetlands clean our wastewater? Wetlands are sometimes called “nature’s kidneys” for a reason: they filter, trap, and transform pollutants naturally. They absorb floodwater, improve water quality, and support biodiversity and local livelihoods. Yet in the capital of Madagascar, [...]
By Johannes Andreas, PhD student at the University of Namibia, Department of Environmental Sciences, Namibia December 2024 A walk through Namibia’s informal settlements tells a powerful story In Namibia, the rapid expansion of informal settlements in burgeoning towns and cities is occurring at an unprecedented pace. These areas are marked [...]
By Alivony Ravelomanantsoa, University of Antananarivo and Dr Jessica Thorn, University of Namibia/Imperial College London November 2024 On October 13th – 16th, nearly 1500 key actors in climate adaptation actions gathered at the 8th Adaptation Futures Conference 2025 in the beautiful city of Ōtautahi Christchurch, New Zealand. The conference, which [...]
By Rui Han, PhD student Department of Environment and Geography, University of York October 2023 We are excited to share that on the 28th of September 2023, Future Landscape Optimisation for peri-Urban Resilience and Ecosystem Health in Africa (FLOURISH) launched the Madagascar programme, at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Antananarivo. FLOURISH [...]
By Rui Han, PhD student Department of Environment and Geography, University of York October 2023 From September 19th to 26th 2023, over eighty stakeholders came together of three, three-day three participatory scenario workshops to discuss perceptions of changes in climate, land use, heatwaves, and proximity to greenspace in Madagascar’s [...]
By: Johannes Andreas and Giesberta Shaanika, PhD students University of Namibia, Department of Environmental Sciences September 2024 In April and September 2024, two PhD students from the University of Namibia, Department of Environmental Sciences investigating climate resilience in informal settlements, conducted a scoping trip to Opuwo, the gateway to the [...]
By Daulphin Razafipahatelo, PhD student Essa Forets, University of Madagascar November 2024 Addressing agricultural challenges with Earth Observation Many farmers in Madagascar rely on traditional methods for farming with limited access to modern monitoring tools, making it difficult to predict crop stress and extreme events, manage resources effectively, and ensure [...]
By Rui Han, PhD student Department of Environment and Geography, University of York January 2025 One of the most pressing issues facing humanity in Antananarivo is the escalation of urbanization and population growth that estimated at 4 million in 2024 and projected to double by 2050. With climate change, the [...]
By Eve Ruwoko published on 4 August 2022 for University World News – Link to news article here Knowledge co-production a prerequisite in climate change battle Universities can help to initiate discussions to strengthen the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and can promote the political accountability needed to [...]
