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11 January 2021 | Story André Damons | Photo Supplied
Vincent Clarke
Dr Ralph Clark

The Afromontane Research Unit (ARU), the flagship research group of the University of the Free State (UFS) Qwaqwa Campus, has recently been granted R8,4 million to establish a Risk and Vulnerability Science Centre programme.

The Risk and Vulnerability Science Centre (RVSC) programme was established by the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) as part of the Global Change Research Plan for South Africa and is funded by the DSI through the National Research Foundation (NRF). The RVSC will focus on the need to generate and disseminate knowledge about risk and vulnerability on global change challenges faced by local policy makers/ governance structures and communities in South Africa.

Invited to participate  

Dr Ralph Clark, Director of the ARU, says the UFS, together with the University of Zululand and the Sol Plaatje University, has been invited to participate in Phase 2 of the RVSC programme. Dr Clark was approached by the DSI (on referral from the South African Environmental Observation Network – SAEON) in February 2020 regarding the potential for establishing a RVSC at the UFS Qwaqwa campus.

Subsequent interactions were held between the UFS and DSI, and in March 2020, the UFS formally accepted the DSI invitation. It has since been agreed that the RVSC: UFS will be hosted as a RVSC under the ARU umbrella, with dedicated personnel embedded at the UFS in this regard (internal processes and reporting) but reporting directly to the NRF regarding the RVSC.

Interest and support welcomed

Dr Clark welcomed this interest and support from the DSI-NRF, saying that the funds will further assist the UFS in growing its excellent and growing research portfolio and building more research capacity on this traditionally undergraduate-focused campus. “The RVSC will contribute to much-needed solutions in an area marked by major sustainability challenges and will assist in moving Phuthaditjhaba away from its negative apartheid history towards becoming a sustainable African mountain city,” says Dr Clark.

News Archive

University hosts second International winter school
2012-08-17

Participating in the Winter School on Pluralism and Development were, from the left, back: Sitirohmanatin Fitriani, Indonesia; Pallavi Mishra, India; Ajita Vidyarthi, India; Damairia Pakpahan, Indonesia; Josephine Kigozi, Uganda and Annemarte van Kruchten, The Netherlands; in the front: Dot Vermeulen, South Africa and Masabata Mokgesi, South Africa.
Photo: Linda Fekisi
17 August 2012

The University of the Free State (UFS) once again hosted the annual international winter school on Pluralism and Development. Participants from India, Indonesia, Uganda, Zimbabwe and The Netherlands attended the winter school.

The international Winter School, organised by the University of Humanistic Studies in The Netherlands was held in South-Africa, on the Bloemfontein Campus, for the first time in 2011. It is held in partnership with the International Institute for Studies in Race, Reconciliation and Social Justice.

The winter school brings together an international group of staff from civil society based organisations, activists and graduate students who engage in critical thinking about issues such as ethics, human rights, political theory, sustainable development, governance, gender and education.

Participants took part in a series of lectures, workshops and field trips. The field trips included a visit to the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg.
 

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