Summit Theme: “Strengthening Global South Cooperation for a More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance.” At the XVII BRICS Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 6 to 7 July 2025, leaders of the BRICS nations convened under the theme “Strengthening Global South Cooperation for a More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance.” They reaffirmed their shared commitment to the foundational BRICS principles of mutual respect, sovereign equality, democracy, and inclusiveness. Building on 17 y...

On 25-26 June 2025 the Institute for Applied Economic Research (Ipea) as part of its Brazilian BRICS Presidency hosted the 17 BRICS Academic Forum, in Brasilia, Brazil. This years’ Academic Forum theme "Global South-Driven Cooperation for Inclusive, Sustainable Development and Reform of Global Governance”, guided carefully considered conversation that led to robust and purposefully actionable recommendations. Leading the South African delegation to the Academic Forum was the South Af...

In an era of intensifying global challenges, the governance of oceans has emerged as a critical issue for nations worldwide, transcending environmental concerns and impacting economic development, human security, and international relations. Recognising these complexities, the National Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) has supported groundbreaking research initiatives, such as the "Oceans and Ocean Regions Governance" a project led by Professor Maxi Schoeman. This ini...

Prof Netswera recounted, “Without the collective efforts of over 69 academics from all our BRICS nations participating in the various Communities of Practice and over 70 Capacity Development Fellows (Master and Doctoral students), this Prize would not have been won. This team has in the past two years produced over 8 books, two special issues of journals and numerous independent journal articles through reputable publishers like Palgrave, Routledge and Springer. More books and journal articles ...

On 30 July 2024, the Ocean Regions Research Programme at the Department of Political Sciences, at the University of Pretoria (UP) led by Prof Maxi Schoeman, hosted a roundtable discussion titled “On the Road to BRICS 2024: Agenda, Process, Politics.” The event held on the 21st floor of the Humanities and Social Sciences Building at UP main campus was facilitated by Dr Yu-Shan Wu officially opened the meeting and subsequently handed over to Prof Christopher Isike, Head of the Politics departme...