About SARA

The Southern African Resilience Academy’s goals are to strengthen existing expert networks, expand collaboration, and facilitate the co-production of policy and practice-relevant knowledge. Furthermore, SARA aims to contribute directly and meaningfully to regional and global policy discussions around resilience and development, and elevate the southern African voice in international fora. 

Since early 2022, SARA has supported eight working groups comprising a diverse range of experts, from early-career professionals to established practitioners. These groups are actively synthesizing regional knowledge under the theme of “Building equitable resilience in southern Africa.” Each working group focuses on different topics and systems, such as informality, telecoupling, urban food systems, and conservation systems. This innovative model resulted in both academic articles and a number of exciting non-academic products and processes. 

A new round of SARA is currently being planned for 2025-2027. This Knowledge Exchange event will offer opportunities to connect with others interested in becoming involved in the next round of working groups, working to synthesise knowledge under a common theme.