The African Quaternary: environments, ecology and humans (AFQUA) is an international conference series focusing on Quaternary research in Africa. AFQUA is designed to bridge the existing gap between large international meetings (AGU, EGU, INQUA Congresses and PAGES Open Science Meetings (>500 delegates)) and the regional West, East and southern African conferences (WAQUA, EAQUA, SASQUA (~50 delegates)), and foster communication both within and beyond Africa. The global distribution of research and educational funds favours developed world researchers to become the recognized leaders in African Quaternary studies, but often their interactions with the local scientific communities is limited to their direct collaborators. There is therefore a need to 1) create a more fully integrated African research network and 2) provide opportunities for African researchers to develop, access and share capacity that will allow for their participation in research projects at the highest level. AFQUA brings developed and developing world researchers together, bridging regional divides, and fostering communication and collaboration at both regional, continental and international scales. But it also goes beyond the standard structure of most conferences, with equal time being dedicated to a series of focus groups and training workshops. These include thematic discussions of cutting-edge research topics as well as workshops that introduce and train researchers in the skills they need to develop and communicate their science in the modern research environment (e.g. R, age-depth modelling, database management, data-model comparison, writing and presentation skills, and project/proposal design). AFQUA has a clear mentoring mandate, and focuses on the professional development of African scientists.

​

Visit the website of the previous edition in 2015 at Cape Town, South Africa: https://afqua2015.wordpress.com/