Generally, the ‘human’ dimension of climate change is often lost in the technocratic world of climate governance and notions of ‘sustainable development’ are bound increasingly to ecologically and socially unjust neoliberal market-oriented strategies for development. Yet, the vast majority of people in southern Africa are ‘ecologically sensitive’, experiencing vulnerabilities associated with widespread dependency on the land and natural resource base, and from exposure to ‘natural’ hazards. The localised effects of global climate change are exacerbating these experiences. These issues should be considered through a social
justice lens. As such, there is a need for climate activists and enthusiasts to have the skills needed to think critically about the way in which climate change is already and will likely continue to exacerbate existing social injustices and insecurities in a context of deepening structural inequality and poverty. It is also important for them to understand how particular policy frameworks and governance strategies function to promote or hinder social justice and people’s vulnerability and what opportunities exist, even in the face of serious capacity deficits, to think creatively about how to advance greater social justice in the region from the community level up.

After the completion of this course, the Participants will be able to:

1. identify potential impacts on marginalized and vulnerable groups and any obvious gaps
   that result in exclusion of these groups.
2. evaluate national and international climate change and sustainable development
   strategies through a social justice lens
3. effectively engage with and disseminate information to a wide range of stakeholders by
   demonstrating a capacity to evaluate and synthesize context specific information
   pertaining to experiences of social injustice and organize and present this information in
   a range of written and oral formats.
4. recognize and assess the benefits and limitations of different approaches intended to
   advance climate-related social justice in broader sustainable development strategies.
5. suggest creative and ethically appropriate methods and techniques to incorporate the
   voices of the marginalized and vulnerable in the development and implementation of
   climate change response policies with a cognizance of the implications of such
6. work collaboratively with peers and listen to others’ perspectives and opinions in order
   to critically reflect on and evaluate their own positionality and thinking.

1. Intersectional Justice and Climate Change
2. Social Justice and Mitigation
3. Social Justice and Adaptation
4. Prospects and Barriers for Pursuing Social Justice

Mulungushi University certificate will be provided