Specialists in every ministry and organisation in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region should be trained to adapt to and mitigate climate change, according to Professor Heila Lotz-Sisitka, who holds the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) chair in global change and social learning systems. Universities, therefore, need to introduce programmes on climate change in the short and long term to increase capacity in communities. This could ensure that communities are well informed on issues of climate change and that they have survival skills, Lotz-Sisitka said during a presentation at the Southern African Regional Universities Association’s (SARUA) eighth colloquium on climate change held virtually on 22 June 2021.