CAFRINAT
Description
CAFRINAT connects all relevant disciplinary knowledge at Ghent University in a thematic interdisciplinary approach. Through cooperation with academic and non-academic partners in the African Great Lakes region and around the globe, the network unites and expands a diversified regional and international expertise to face the challenges ahead of us.
Purpose
CAFRINAT brings together a truly transdisciplinary network to facilitate and stimulate interdisciplinary interaction and detect opportunities for collaboration; to build a basis for the development of local, contextualized research needs and policy agenda’s; to become a visible centre of excellence at Ghent University with a single point of contact and to raise awareness locally and worldwide.
Scope
The African Great Lakes region faces huge challenges for Natural Capital management and governance, because of:
- Strong direct dependence on natural resources by local livelihoods
- High population (increase)
- Context of violent conflict
- Vulnerability to climate change
- Rapid loss of flagship species
- Inadequate research infrastructures coupled with poor incentive-based resource governance mechanisms
- Underdeveloped knowledge base, research and training capacity
CAFRINAT focuses its activities in the western Albertine Rift. The activities of CAFRINAT will take place in French speaking central African countries, where in recent years little (international) research has been conducted. In the first phase the ITN will focus on DR Congo and the national park Kahuzi-Bièga in particular, as the ITN can build on established contacts and collaboration.
Activities
- Local Participatory Workshops (LPW)
During several workshops, each dedicated to a specific National Park in the western Albertine Rift, CAFRINAT will define problems , identify pathways to change and develop and facilitate (research and policy) actions for change in cooperation with local stakeholders.
The outcome of these activities is a peer reviewed paper from which a tailored and co-designed research agenda and a policy brief for the sustainable management of Natural Capital in areas with conflict in the Great Lakes region of Africa, will be distilled.
- Intensive Training Courses (ITC)
These courses will be developed by CAFRINAT partners, building on the detected needs and opportunities and will be organised in the South.
Contact
- Coordinator: Prof. Pascal Boeckx
- Operational manager: Veerle Devriendt
More information will be available on www.cafrinat.be.