Dean

Prof. I Chirisa

Qualifications: D.Phil in Rural and Urban Planning (UZ), MSc (Rural & Urban Planning, UZ); BSc (Rural & Urban Planning Honours, UZ); Post-Grad Diploma (Land Management Informal Settlements Regularisation, IHS, The Netherlands)
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Welcome to the Faculty of Social And Behavioural Sciences (FSBS). The faculty has a long and distinguished reputation of teaching, research and community service as well as producing highly qualified and capable individuals. 

The world is fast transforming. Sustainability as a concept and practice has just become vogue. It anchors on four critical pillars: planet, people, production and institutions. The idea is about balancing processes involved into a matrix of clear and informed interventions. On the whole, humanity is exploiting the planet through production, albeit unsustainably. Institutions, being rules of the game (norms, laws, regulations policies and guidelines) have to be created, agreed and made informative, towards some consensus (rather than dissensus), in short collectively. After all, it is about humanity in action, and humanity devising, installing and running institutions. For this reason, understanding human behaviour, by applying social and behavioural sciences, is an ignito towards achieving the desired sustainability. Human interactions and behaviour with both fellow humans and nature are best understood by scientifically and critically interrogating the cognitive and applied aspects of social or collective/shared lives.