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The purpose of this paper is to review extant literature and to provide perspectives on approaches to enhancing built environment sustainability in Africa. There is a mismatch between global societal resources and the increasing demand for natural resources. The consequences of this mismatch are prevalent in many African countries, causing the need to implement of built environment sustainability as a matter of cause.

Little research has been undertaken to date with a focus on the environmental sustainability of Africa. With this in mind the review was undertaken through a series of incremental steps. It began with an initial review, before developing through exploratory and development phases. The process culminated with the refined literature review presented.

The paper finds that a different approach is required to achieve built sustainable development for developed and developing countries, with a clear difference in terms of its application observed between the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Current energy and water crisis facing Africa is brought to the fore and an evaluation is provided of the systems being used to ameliorate its effects. The study explores a range of technological solutions that are appropriate for consideration in the African context. It also examines the barriers that need to be overcome to facilitate the widespread use of the suggested solutions in Africa.

This study examines built environment sustainability through the Africa lens. It highlights its importance and the contextual factors inhibiting the widespread uptake of built environment sustainability solutions. The study offers a number of recommendations for the future to encourage long-term built environment sustainability in Africa and more specifically the Sub-Saharan region.

Developing countries experience their own social, political and environmental issues, but surprisingly limited papers have examined sustainability reporting in these regions, notably in sub-Saharan Africa. To fill this gap and understand the state of sustainability reporting in sub-Saharan Africa, this paper aims to investigate the current state of reporting, identifies the major motivations and barriers for reporting and suggests an agenda of future issues that need to be considered by firms, policymakers and academics.

This paper includes analysis of reporting practices in 48 sub-Saharan African countries using the lens of New Institutional Economics. It comprises three phases of data collection and analysis: presentation of overall reporting data collected and provided by Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). analysis of stand-alone sustainability reports using qualitative data analysis and interviews with key report producers.

The analysis identifies key issues that companies in selected sub-Saharan African countries are grappling within their contexts. There are significant barriers to reporting but institutional mechanisms, such as voluntary reporting frameworks, provide an important bridge between embedding informal norms and changes to regulatory requirements. These are important for the development of better governance and accountability mechanisms.

Findings have important implications for policymakers and institutions such as GRI in terms of regulation, outreach and localised training. More broadly, global bodies such as GRI and IIRC in a developing country context may require more local knowledge and support. Limitations include limited data availability, particularly for interviews, which means that these results are preliminary and provide a basis for further work.

The findings of this paper contribute to the knowledge of sustainability reporting in this region, and provide some policy implications for firms, governments and regulators.

This paper is one of only a handful looking at the emerging phenomenon of sustainability reporting in sub-Saharan African countries.

This paper aims seeks to reflect on the transition of a school of architecture to incorporate sustainability principles as a core part of its undergraduate (Part I) programme. The paper offers a brief overview of the processes undertaken and outcomes of this to an integrated problem-based learning approach and with sustainability at its core changing both knowledge content and pedagogical approaches.

Reflecting on the transition to a sustainability-based curriculum, this paper makes use of a mixed methods approach incorporating a review of literature on sustainability in architectural education, pedagogical approaches and epistemology, as well as educational issues in sub-Saharan Africa. The main study made use of an ethnographic approach, including document analysis, interviews, observations and one-on-one informal interactions with students, faculty and alumni.

While the transition to a sustainability-based curriculum was achieved, with integrated studio courses at second- and third-year levels, this did not come without challenges. Divided opinions of formal education, linked to preconceived ideas of what constituted architectural education led to some resistance from students and professionals. Nevertheless, the programme serves as testament to what is achievable and provides some lessons to schools seeking to transition programmes in the future.

The paper contributes to discourses on sustainability in architectural education, examining the transition taken by an architectural programme to incorporate sustainability as a core part of its curriculum. The outcomes of this process provide advice that could be useful to schools of architecture seeking to integrate sustainability into their programmes.

As the first architecture programme in East Africa to integrate sustainability principles into its programme, this study provides an insight into the processes, experiences and outcomes of this transition. This reflective engagement highlights value of an enabling environment in any transitional process.

Inquiry-based approaches can potentially enrich sustainability learning in any educational context, more so in open and distance learning (ODL – perceived as theoretically inclined) and in regions of educational need (such as the Global South, of which Africa forms part). The purpose of this paper is to map the benefits and challenges of using inquiry-based learning (IBL), with reference to ODL and the value added by IBL in terms of education for sustainability (EfS) in Africa.

Evidence-based reflection is used to provide a narrative assessment of the experience gained with IBL in two undergraduate sustainability-focussed modules in the Department of Geography at the University of South Africa (Unisa), an ODL provider in Africa and the Global South.

Consideration of enabling and limiting factors indicates that although constraints are experienced, adoption of IBL approaches holds potential as pedagogic for EfS in Africa, due to grounding of learning in theory and applied to local places/contexts. This indicates a role for IBL to change perceptions regarding the lack of practical utility of ODL.

Implementing place-based and contextual IBL is innovative in ODL. It adds value to learning experiences and supports transformative learning, both important components of EfS and addressing a need in the African context. Practitioners will find the experience gained with implementation of IBL, coupled with possibilities associated with information and communication technologies, of value.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a case study report of the development of data networks and initial connectivity in the Sub-Saharan African (SSA) region and how that development evolved into the formation of research and education (R & E) networks that enable new collaborations and curriculum potential.

This case study is presented through the past 20 year’s operations and field activities of the Network Startup Resource Center (NSRC) at the University of Oregon, who in partnership with the National Science Foundation has worked together to significantly train network engineers in Africa on how to develop regional R & E networks that can link together the various research universities in SSA.

The author shows how the development of these networks have fostered improved collaboration between African and US scientists, particularly around issues that relate to climate change. This paper contains testimonials from both scientists and on-the-ground key directors in Africa about the value of these improved networks. The expansion of regional R & E networks has allowed the Association of African Universities (AAU) to launch sustainable development as one of its new core programs over the period 2013-2017. Within this new core AAU program are four sub-themes: agriculture and food security, water resources management, climate change and energy. All of these themes will benefit directly from these new, network-enabled, data-sharing abilities.

The current state of network-driven curriculum and curriculum exchange between African universities is assessed and compared that to that in the early days of academic network penetration (1990-2000) in the USA to find similar rates of evolution. Since 2015, SSA has sufficient network access and connectivity to now enable a wide variety of new collaborative research and collaborative academic programs.

The experience and operational competence of the NSRC at the University of Oregon needs to be detailed and espoused. No other American university has had such an impact on Africa in terms of improving its overall network infrastructure enabling new kinds of collaborative research on real-world problems, such as climate change and resource depletion in Africa.

The purpose of this chapter is to examine the corporate water reporting of the selected South African listed food producers with regard to the activities of measuring, managing, engaging with their stakeholders, and disclosing of their water risks.

This chapter examined the sustainability and integrated reports of 14 food producer companies on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), for the years 2013 and 2017. The company reports were examined using the Ceres Aqua Gauge™ as the framework.

The findings of this study are that there were improvements in water disclosure from 2013 to 2017. Most companies are disclosing the basic water reporting requirements. However, critical areas around stakeholder engagement and supply chain water management were found to be lacking.

This research contributes to the body of knowledge around water disclosure and increases the awareness of water scarcity and poor water quality in South Africa. Furthermore, the study highlights that the food producers could be doing a lot more with regard to water sustainability in their businesses and the country.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of sustainability reporting and the assurance thereof in South Africa.

The paper takes the form of a literature review and a study of empirical evidence obtained through content analysis of the sustainability reports of companies listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange Socially Responsible Investment Index for 2009.

Although sustainability reporting and the independent assurance thereof are widely researched and advocated in the literature, only a limited number of companies obtained independent assurance on their sustainability reporting.

The paper supports the recommendations of King III (effective from 1 March 2010) that companies should provide integrated reporting in terms of both their finances and sustainability, and that the sustainability reporting and disclosure should be independently assured.

This study aims to review the zeal exhibited by universities in South Africa towards aligning institutional mandates of teaching, learning, research and community engagement to the sustainable development (SD) agenda. The implementation of the SD agenda across higher education institutions (HEIs) continues to draw attention from the wider society. This is because HEIs are increasingly being looked up to for leadership in this regard. However, although several studies are quick to identify various factors which have driven the adoption of sustainable practices in HEIs, the paucity of studies seeking to identify the drivers for SD implementation remains glaring. This is particularly so in developing countries like South Africa.

To confirm the exploratory data from desktop study on public university engagement with sustainability in South Africa, a single case study was conducted in the Central University of Technology (CUT). The single case study design adopted semi-structured interviews and document reviews as data collection techniques. Purposive snowballing sampling technique was strictly adhered to in the selection of interviewees. Interviewees were selected on the basis of their roles in the implementation of the CUT’s sustainability agenda.

Data emanating from these interviews were analysed thematically using qualitative content analysis. Although a plethora of drivers were identified, there appeared to be a consensus between most of the interviewees that the quest for cost reduction remained the most significant driver for the viable implementation of the sustainability agenda at CUT.

It is expected that findings from this study would provide a platform for the development of effective implementation strategies in South African HEIs. Also, the findings contribute to filing the extant gap observed concerning implementation and drivers for engendering SD implementation in HEIs in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region.

By highlighting the drivers for SD implementation, this study contributes to the development of a more receptive social ontology among various stakeholders in an HEI towards the agenda, particularly within the SSA context where there is low level of awareness and buy-in by these stakeholders.

This study makes an original contribution to the research base of SD in HEIs and implementation.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a model for operationalizing the integrated use of lean and sustainability concepts for infrastructure delivery. This model is premised on the need for the attainment of a sustainable built environment through efficient infrastructure delivery.

A case study research design was used in assessing five purposively selected cases within Gauteng province in South Africa. These facilities attained Green Building Council of South Africa ratings of 5- to 6-star, for the rating of green buildings and available evidence of integration of lean principles at the developmental stage. Questionnaires were administered to project’s role-players and semi-structured interviews were conducted with the users and facility managers, in order to elicit data for the model development. Questionnaire survey was adopted for the model validation.

The lean-sustainability platform for infrastructure delivery demonstrates features such as resources, drivers, barriers, activities, outputs, the results, and the ultimate impact. The findings give insight into various components of the model. It validates its robustness and highlights leadership among other critical factors necessary for successful operationalization of the lean-sustainability ethos required to transform the delivery of infrastructure.

The developed model provides a transformational route for achieving infrastructure sustainability. The lean-sustainable indicators identified will serve as evaluation tools for assessing lean-sustainability ethos during the delivery phases of infrastructure projects.

The model provides a new way of thinking about infrastructure project delivery regarding the need to promote sustainability in the built environment.

The mainstream climate change community has primarily concerned itself with mitigation and adaptation strategies, both of which require monitoring and prediction. These four inter-connected response actions (mitigation, adaptation, monitoring and prediction) constitute the main strategies for managing climate change. This paper aims to weigh in on policies and societal coordination for effective management of the earth’s climate with respect to these four elements in Africa because of its socioeconomic peculiarities.

The Delphi experts’ method backed by questionnaires was used to obtain relevant data for the study. The questionnaires were distributed to professionals dealing with issues related to climate change response and sustainability in various parts of the world, with a focus on Africa.

With respect to the strategies that are most needed for effective climate change actions in Africa, government’s policies, activities and decisions rank highest at 1.20 with a p-value of < 0.001, and financing is next at 0.93, mitigation is 0.83, prediction is 0.76 and adaptation is 0.68 (p = 0.048), at the 5 per cent cutoff. Also, for the most appropriate approaches to managing climate change across Africa, regional efforts are at least 8 times more effective than country-wide approaches, followed by continental efforts at 6.51 times, international cooperation at 3.99 times and inaction at 0.00 times.

The paper concludes that a holistic climate change management approach is important in Africa to contain the impacts of climate change in the continent.