The Namib is a relatively well-studied hyperarid desert. Much of the research effort was coordinated through the institutional framework of the Gobabeb Research and Training Centre, which was established in the middle of this desert fifty years ago. The initial discoveries focused on the Namib's remarkably high biodiversity and adaptations to desert conditions, analysed against the foundations of research into this desert's particular climate, geomorphology and geology. The antiquity of this desert, its extreme hyperaridity, and strong climatic gradients provided unusual windows into ecosystem drivers in arid lands, past and present. The Gobabeb Centre itself evolved to translate much of its knowledge into application and is today geared to increase this trend even further, driven by the urgent need for knowledge-based environmental management, such as ecological restoration of mining areas. Keywords: Ecosystem Drivers, Environmental sciences, Knowledge Management, Research applications, Training.