Latest News Archive
Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
26 July 2022
|
Story Bulelwa Moikwatlhai
|
Photo Supplied
Experiencing the UFS in person for the first time are from the left: Sandor Potjer (VU Amsterdam), Bulelwa Moikwatlhai (UFS OIA), Ricarda Kochems (Bremen University, Germany), Froukje Pronk (VU Amsterdam) and Matome Mokoena (UFS OIA)
As the UFS COVID-19 Regulations and Required Vaccination Policy has been lifted with immediate effect – allowing 100% capacity of both students and staff members and a fully operational campus – the
Office for International Affairs welcomes its first physical exchange cohort after two years. The cohort of students hail from the various international partners of the UFS, namely the
University of Bremen in Germany, the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and Sciences PO Bordeaux in France. The students will be hosted in the UFS faculties of the Humanities, Economic and Management Sciences, and Natural and Agricultural Sciences, respectively.
These students have been paired with
Umoja Buddy Programme ambassadors to help ensure their smooth transition and integration into student life at the UFS. Furthermore, the students received an invitation from the President of the
International Student Association (ISA), Courtney Madziwa, to join their association, thus exposing them to students from other countries to learn about the various cultures.
On 18 July, the Office for International Affairs (OIA) arranged a hybrid orientation programme for the exchange students, including those students who have not yet arrived on the Bloemfontein Campus. The students took part in an icebreaker activity, where they had the opportunity to learn from and teach other participants about their home countries. Dr Cornelius Hagenmeier, Director of the OIA, welcomed the exchange students to the Bloemfontein Campus, and expressed excitement to have physical exchanges again. Furthermore, the guest presenters ranged from student leadership, staff members, and service providers.
The presentations were practical, demonstrating, among others, how to create a password on the institutional website – presented by Mr Molemo Mohapi from UFS ICT. The presentation on how to fully utilise Blackboard was facilitated by Ms Vuthihi Mudau from the UFS CTL division. We take the safety of all our students seriously, so Ms Elise Oberholzer from the UFS Protection Services has given the students some tips on how to safeguard themselves.
DiMTEC hosts second conference on disaster risk reduction
2009-06-02
 |
Dr Anthony Turton, the Director: TouchStone Resources (Pty) Ltd. delivered the opening address at this year’s two-day annual international conference on disaster risk reduction that was presented by the Disaster Management Training and Education Centre for Africa (DiMTEC) at the University of the Free State (UFS).
In his presentation: Sitting on the horns of a dilemma: South Africa and its strategic water supply, he said: “We have simply reached the limit of the water resources in South Africa. On the one hand, we deal with the quantity dilemma in terms of strategic water storage. South Africa and Zimbabwe counts under the top 20 countries in the world in terms of dams built. We can only build about ten more dams.”
“On the other hand, we must deal with quantity. Previous solutions are not future solutions. When water is recycled, hormones such as oestrogen do not disappear. We must become creative and do something else,” he said.
“Science can make a difference. The UFS is well placed in terms of its groundwater research. Universities must invest in the necessary technology because the testing of toxins is essential. We must work in ways to prevent toxins from re-entering the water cycle,” he said.
A number of international speakers such as Dr Fabrice Renaud, Associate Director at the United Nations University’s Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) in Bonn, Germany, Dr Eugene Poolman, Chief Forecaster: Disaster Risk Reduction, South African Weather Service, and Prof. Rob Bragg from the Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology at the UFS, attended the conference, as well as attendees from 11 different countries.
At the conference were, from the left: Mr Andries Jordaan, Director: DiMTEC at the UFS; Dr Ing Jörn Birkmann, Head of Section: Vulnerability Assessment at the United Nations University’s Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS); Dr Anthony Turton, Director: TouchStone Resources (Pty) Ltd.; and Dr Fabrice Renaud, Associate Director: UNU-EHS.
Photo: Supplied |