Rika Preiser is Professor at the Centre for Sustainability Transitions at Stellenbosch University and holds the UNESCO Chair in Complexity and Transformative African Futures. Her work draws on complexity science, philosophy and transdisciplinary research to explore how people and organisations can navigate uncertainty and change in ways that enable more just and sustainable futures.

She holds an MPhil in Media Ethics, an MPhil in Organisational Change and Public Culture, and a PhD in Philosophy, all from Stellenbosch University. This interdisciplinary background informs her interest in how knowledge, culture, ethics and power shape our understanding of—and responses to—complexity.

Her work extends beyond the university through collaborative research, workshops and learning processes across Africa and internationally. She designs and facilitates participatory foresight processes that help groups question inherited assumptions, imagine alternative futures and make decisions under conditions of uncertainty. Her collaborations have included universities, research networks, civil-society organisations, policymakers and international institutions. She has contributed to initiatives such as Seeds of Good Anthropocenes, Youth Futures for Systemic Justice, the Southern African Resilient Waters Programme and international projects on science systems, resilience and transformative change.

She is regularly invited to deliver international keynote addresses and facilitate workshops on complexity, uncertainty and transformative change.

Rika serves on the Executive Committee of the International Federation for Systems Research and is a member of several international research and professional networks.