Prof. Hassan O. Kaya
The CIKS principal researcher and Director, is Prof. Hassan Omari Kaya. He has a Post-Doctorate Certificate in International Agricultural Development (Rural Development) from the Centre for Advanced Training in Agricultural Development, Technical University Berlin (West), Germany; Ph.D. in Sociology of Development and International Political Economy, (MAGNA CUM LAUDE) from Freie University Berlin, Germany, Masters in Development Sociology, Freie University, Berlin, Germany; M.A. in Sociology of Development: University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and BA with Education (Hons) from University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Prior to his appointment as Director of CIKS, Prof. Kaya was the Research Leader of the IKS Signature Project at the University of KwaZulu-Natal; initiator and coordinator of the IKS Teaching and Research Programme at the North-West University (South Africa); coordinated the NEPAD Agency IKS Regional Node for Southern Africa encompassing 12 countries; Member of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) Preparatory (Content) Committee for COP 17 UN Conference on Climate Change (2011).
He is also the Patron of the African Young Scientists Initiative on Climate Change and Indigenous Knowledge Systems, which organized the first International Student Conference on IKS and Climate Change and the COP17 Round Table Discussions in Durban (2011) on the Role of IKS and African Young Scientists in Climate Change; initiator of Pan-African IKS-informed Climate Service Platform and Strategy for Natural Resource Management and Sustainable Livelihood. Prof. Kaya was the first Research Fellow at the Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Education, University of Brunei Darussalam, Brunei Darussalam, South-East Asia: 1995/96.
Prof Kaya has presented IKS papers and organized a substantial number of national and international conferences within and outside South Africa on IKS and sustainable development. These include:
(a) The SADC Regional Workshop on: IK Community Innovations in the Biosciences and Technology, at Kwa Maretane Conference Centre, in Rustenburg (South Africa) 17-19 August 2010. This was done in collaboration with The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation ACP-EU (CTA), The NRF, The National IKS Office (DST), NEPAD/SANbio;
(b) The first African Young Scientists Conference on African Young Scientists on Climate Change and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (AYSICCIKS) in Kopanong, Johannesburg (2011);
(c) Peace Justice and Human Rights Workshop in collaboration with The Centre for Peace Culture (Sudan University of Science and Technology, Khartoum, Sudan, And .Ministry of Justice (Sudan) in Khartoum, Sudan (5-8 January 2012)
(d) The International Conference on Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Environmental Ethics: Implications for Peace-building and Sustainable Development, 28-30 April 2015, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa. This was organized in collaboration with The Africa Regional Programme of the United Nations University for Peace (UPEACE), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia);
(e) International Symposium on Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Public Health Care in Eastern and Southern Africa, 25-26 April 2016. This was done in collaboration with the University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda;
(f) BRICS Countries International Conference on Indigenous Knowledge Systems for Sustainable Food Security and Environmental Governance for Climate Change Adaptation, 13-14 September 2016, Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban, South Africa;