Southern African Mountain Conference 2022
The theme of SAMC2022 is
‘Southern African mountains – their value and vulnerabilities’
The African Mountain Research Foundation (AMRF), the Afromontane Research Unit (ARU – University of the Free State), and the Global Mountain Safeguard Research Programme (GLOMOS – United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security, and EURAC Research), are organising the first ever Southern African Mountain Conference (SAMC2022), to be held at the Champagne Sports Resort in the Maloti-Drakensberg Mountains in South Africa from 14 to 17 March 2022.
Focusing on mountains in the Southern African region – i.e., Angola, the Comoros, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (southern mountains), Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Réunion, South Africa, southern Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe – this will be the first regional conference of its kind.
SAMC2022 is intentionally multidisciplinary and seeks to bring together key stakeholders in the scientific, policy, practitioner, and livelihoods sectors, leading to stronger cooperation on mountains, providing a strong science-policy-industry interface.
Click here to visit the dedicated conference website.
Click here for the brochure listing our partners
Why a conference on Southern African mountains?
- Mountains have always played an important role in the culture and history of people.
- Southern African mountains produce virtually all of our sub-arid region’s fresh water, provide ecosystem services to millions of people, and support a wide diversity of livelihoods.
- They are home to high levels of biodiversity.
- These landscapes also attract millions of visitors annually, producing substantial tourist revenue that is vital to national economies.
- These mountains are under immense pressure from immediate threats and from global change, and require a much more active focus to ensure their future sustainability.
- Compared to many other regions around the world – including within Africa – Southern Africa’s mountains are poorly understood systems.
- As a result, they do not feature well in national or regional policy, and there is a relatively small scientific community of practice.
Why support SAMC2022?
- SAMC2022 will bring together key stakeholders in the scientific, policy, practitioner, and livelihood sectors for a stronger community that prioritises Southern African mountains at these levels.
- It provides the opportunity to interact with a large community of professionals and academics (from South Africa, deep into Southern Africa, and globally).
- The conference presents unique opportunities to directly target more than 200 delegates from various fields.
- A strong line-up of speakers will be part of the programme. The main keynote address will be delivered by Dr Carolina Adler, the Executive Director of the Mountain Research Initiative in Switzerland.
- Support for SAMC2022 demonstrates commitment to the advancement of knowledge in the sustainable development of Southern African mountains, expanding profile and goodwill.
The call for abstracts
The call for abstracts is open to any discipline – single, multi-, inter- or transdisciplinary. The final programme of sessions will be determined by the subjects of the abstracts received and accepted.
Bearing in mind that SAMC2022 focuses on the mountains of Southern Africa, topics of interest could include, among others:
- Biodiversity and biogeography
- Climatology and climate change
- Conservation, restoration, and management
- Culture, anthropology, and indigenous knowledge systems
- Ecosystem services and ecological infrastructure
- Governance and policy – including traditional
- Industry, economics, and livelihoods
- Mountain communities, their resilience and adaption
- Mountain resources and intellectual property
- Observatories and long-term monitoring
- Palaeoecology and palaeoreconstruction
- Socio-ecological systems and sustainability
- Transboundary cooperation
- Water resources and management
To submit your abstract, please click here and then select ‘Abstracts’
Important dates:
Deadline for submission: 31 August 2021
Notification of acceptance: By 15 November 2021 |
Click here for the information brochure about the call for abstracts.
Sponsorship and exhibition portfolio
Coming on board as an official sponsor or exhibitor at the first Southern African Mountain Conference (SAMC2022) is an ideal opportunity to associate your organisation with this event and allows you to connect with the local and international mountain research, policy, and practitioner community. Attracting more than 200 delegates, SAMC2022 will provide opportunities for co-learning and knowledge-sharing, combined with networking for delegates, exhibitors, and sponsors.
We invite your organisation to participate in this event as a sponsor and/or exhibitor. This will be a valuable opportunity to showcase your organisation to the Southern African market and extend your footprint into Africa and beyond.
Click here for more information about sponsorship opportunities.
Interested in becoming a partner?
Contact:
The SAMC2022 Conference Secretariat,
E: info@samc2022.Africa or
Chairman of the Organising Committee, Dr Ralph Clark
E: clarkvr@ufs.ac.za
We are carefully monitoring the COVID-19 situation and will adapt SAMC2022 as needed; however, we are optimistic about an in-person event (with the necessary protocols), or a hybrid event. The selected venue has an excellent reputation in hosting safe events.