Community Talk February 2025
Remote Sensing for Urban and Rural Development & Resilience (ReSiDeR) in South Africa
online
What is this Community Talk about ?
The impact of climate change is being felt more and more in both rural and urban environments. The water crisis in Capetown got global attention, as it is the first large town wrestling with a water crisis at this scale. The urban heat island effect is also expected to become more and more an issue. Adaptation is needed in several domains. Better data – especially spatial- are needed for local planners to map changes in natural resources and the urban climate. Satellite imagery and GIS can contribute a lot to quantify and locate issues and possible solutions.
This project studied trade-offs and win-win scenarios between rural and urban development and natural resource conservation under climate change. It provided scientific support and tools to the SAF-ADAPT project that provided a direct link with South African policymakers. The University of Cape Town functioned as the local hub for project implementation, in collaboration with the universities of Venda and Fort Hare. Two PhD students carried out their research at KU Leuven. Their most salient results will be presented in this session.
Speakers
Liezl Vermeulen - PhD student KU Leuven
Tshilidzi Cloudia Manyanya - PhD student KU Leuven
Bruno Verbist - Project Lead KU Leuven