FRACTAL is a 4-year project coordinated by the Climate Systems Analysis Group. The aim of the FRACTAL project is to advance scientific knowledge about regional climate responses to human activities (such as burning fossil fuels, changing land surface cover, etc.) and work with decision makers to integrate this scientific knowledge into climate-sensitive decisions at the city-regional scale (particularly decisions relating to water, energy and food with a lifetime of 5 to 40 years). FRACTAL is designed to work across disciplines within the scientific community and foster strong collaboration between researchers, city government officials and other key decision makers in southern Africa.

FRACTAL works in 3 Tier 1 cities, namely: Windhoek, Lusaka, Maputo, and two self funded cities, namely Durban and Cape Town. FRACTAL also engages with 3 Tier 2 cities, namely: Blantyre, Gabarone, and Harare.

Time frames: Research commenced in June 2015, to be finalized in 2019.

Funder: UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and the Natural Research Council (NERC) through Future Climate for Africa programme.

Partners:
The FRACTAL consortium includes the following member organisations:

  • CSAG, University of Cape Town
  • ACDI, University of Cape Town
  • ACC, University of Cape Town
  • Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre
  • CSIR
  • ICLEI
  • SEI Oxford
  • START
  • Aurecon
  • SMHI
  • UK Met. Office
  • NASA
  • Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
  • EC Joint Research Centre

For further details: Contact Bruce Hewitson or Alice McClure and check: www.fractal.org.za