In 2024 UCT actively translated research into policy advice and capacity-building for decision-makers on climate change and adaptation. The African Climate & Development Initiative (ACDI) and allied units continued to produce science-to-policy briefs, MOOCs and seminar series designed for practitioners and policy officials, and published accessible ecosystem-adaptation guidance aimed explicitly at government and municipal decision-makers. UCT’s ZivaHub and ACDI outputs in 2024 include science-policy briefs on ecosystem-based adaptation and water/climate security that list concrete messages and actions for policy audiences.

UCT faculties and research centres provided law- and migration-focused policy support in 2024. UCT-affiliated research (for example work feeding into the ASILE country reports and related policy briefs on asylum governance) and the visible activity of law-oriented institutes contributed evidence, policy briefs and stakeholder consultations on migration, refugee protection and legal reform. Regional legal research centres also published policy-facing outputs in 2024 that have been used in civil-service and NGO policy dialogues.

On economic policy and public finance, UCT scholars and research teams produced briefing notes and policy-oriented research aimed at the finance and policymaking community in 2024. UCT outputs hosted on institutional platforms (ZivaHub / working-paper series) explicitly target government economic decision-makers — for example policy briefs on fiscal and social policy and papers intended for the South African finance community and Parliamentarians. UCT researchers also presented on economic sovereignty and policy options in public lectures and convenings during 2024, providing upskilling and evidence to policy audiences.

UCT also ran short courses, seminars and public launches in 2024 that brought together academics, civil servants and lawmakers for upskilling on topics such as children’s rights, early childhood development, governance and public policy. The Children’s Institute’s 2024 launch of the South African Child Gauge — hosted at UCT’s d-school Afrika — drew high-level government participants (including the First Lady) and produced policy messages tailored to national policymakers. These events functioned as capacity building and direct policy outreach.

Across technology and governance topics (including AI and scientific freedom), UCT convened consultative exercises and released briefs in 2024 to inform government and sectoral regulators. Examples include UCT-led consultations and written proposals on strengthening scientific freedom and surveys/invitations to inform university-level policy on AI in assessment — activities that were explicitly framed to inform policy practice and institutional governance. The “African Perspectives on Scientific Freedom: Insights from Policy and Practice in Six Countries” report was launched on 21 April 2024 at the sixth annual African Science, Technology and Innovation Forum in Addis Ababa, Ghana. Prof Daya Reddy presented the key findings of the report and took part in a roundtable discussion about scientific freedom in Africa.

Finally, UCT’s law and governance centres (regional partners such as the Dullah Omar Institute and other UCT collaborators) documented sustained policy engagement and advisory activity during the 2024 period — producing reports, policy briefs and workshops aimed at national and municipal policymakers, and supporting capacity-building programmes for government officials and civil-society partners. These outputs and events demonstrate a multi-sectoral approach to upskilling law- and policy-makers across migration, legal reform, climate and socio-economic policy.