Geci Karuri-Sebina

Biography

Geci is a Johannesburg-based scholar-practitioner who mainly works on urban planning and governance issues. She is currently currently an Associate of South African Cities Network, Visiting Research Fellow with the Wits School of Governance, and National Organiser of the Civic Tech Innovation Network in South Africa. Geci’s experience and interests span a range of development foresight, policy, innovation and practice topics, particularly relating to cities and local systems. She has two decades’ experience working and publishing in these fields. Her recent publications include the book Innovation Africa (Emerald ) and a foresight journal special issue on Urban Futures.

Geci previously worked with South Africa’s National Treasury Neighbourhood Development Partnership Grant programme, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), and the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Advanced Policy Institute. She holds Masters’ degrees in Urban Planning and Architecture from UCLA, and a PhD from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa.

She is active a number of roles including as a Regional Advisor: Africa Innovation Summit; Curator: The Emergence Network, Council Member: South African Council of Planners; Board member: African Network for the Economics of Learning, Innovation, and Competence Building Systems (AfricaLics) and Plan Act NGO; founding director: Southern African Node of the Millennium Project and co-founder: ForesightForDevelopment.org; Associate Editor: African Journal for Science, Technology, Innovation and Development (Taylor & Francis) and Africa Regional Editor: foresight (Emerald).