معرفی
Professor Laura Pereira is a leading researcher at the Global Change Institute (GCI) at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. With a PhD from the University of Oxford, she has established herself as a prominent scholar in sustainability transformations, particularly at the intersection of social and ecological systems. Her work bridges academic research with practical applications through active engagement with policy processes and community-based initiatives.
Professor Pereira's research interests span multiple interconnected domains: sustainability transformations, social-ecological systems, food systems and food security (with particular focus on indigenous food systems in African contexts), climate change adaptation, biodiversity conservation, futures studies and scenario planning, and equity and justice considerations in environmental governance. She employs participatory and decolonial methodologies that center diverse knowledge systems, particularly Indigenous perspectives.
Analysis of her recent publications (2024-2025) reveals a strong focus on identifying leverage points for transformative change, developing equitable approaches to climate solutions in African contexts, integrating justice considerations into Earth system governance, and advancing transdisciplinary research methodologies. Her work consistently emphasizes the importance of participatory approaches, knowledge co-production, and centering marginalized voices in sustainability research and practice.
As a key contributor to the Seeds of Good Anthropocenes initiative, Professor Pereira has helped develop frameworks for envisioning positive, desirable futures rather than focusing solely on dystopian scenarios. Her leadership in this area has resulted in numerous high-impact publications in journals such as Nature Sustainability, Environmental Research Letters, and Global Environmental Change.
Professor Pereira's research program demonstrates strong connections to policy processes, as evidenced by her contributions to major reports like the Lancet Planetary Health-Earth Commission report. Her work on food systems transformation, particularly regarding indigenous food economies in Cape Town and closing 'justice gaps' in protein systems, shows her commitment to addressing real-world sustainability challenges through rigorous, interdisciplinary research.
