Johannes Belle

Prof Johanes Belle is an experienced Disaster Risk Management Professional and an Environmentalist; with more than 36 years’ work experience in three different Africa countries.

Prof Belle has special interest in Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation for systems and community Resilience; under the broader scope of Nature-based Solutions (NbS).

He has extensive management and administrative experience as well as lots of international exposure. He has authored more than 55 articles in International Peer Reviewed Journals and has presented them at many international and national conferences.

Prof Belle has also graduated more than 55 Master’s and PhD students.

Prof Johanes Belle holds a PhD in Environmental Management with a focus on Eco-DRR/CCA, Master’s degree in disaster management, Advanced University Diploma in Disaster Management, BA Honours in Geography, BA + Ed, Diploma in Marketing and other qualifications.

He is currently employed as an Associate professor at the University of the Free State-Disaster management Training and Education Centre for Africa (UFS-DiMTEC).

In the same institution he served as Programme Director (2018-2021), the Acting Director of UFS-DiMTEC (2019-2022)

Prof Belle is a long outstanding councilor and Board Member of Disaster Management Institute of Southern Africa (DMISA) and he was the DMISA-FS Regional Chairperson from 2013-2020. He is a trained assessor with SAQA in Disaster Management and holds the “Disaster Management Professional” designation of DMISA. He is also affiliated to many professional bodies.

Prof Belle is a member of the G20 Working Group on Disaster Risk Management and member of the Academic of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) Standing Committee on Health

Prof Belle speaks two international languages (English and French) and he likes soccer and gardening as hobbies.

Prof Belle's publications can be viewed here: https://www.ufs.ac.za/natagri/natagri/general/staff?pid=fSNsVh6Zxys%3D

A popular article about Prof Belle can be read here: https://www.ufs.ac.za/bult/bult-home/bult-stories/staff/dr-johanness-belle