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06 November 2023
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Story MBALI MABOEA
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Photo SUPPLIED
The Department of Geography on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus recently played host to the Society of South African Geographers Conference (SSAG 2023), which gathered more than 100 students over three days.
Fostering academic growth, collaboration, and inspiration among students and researchers in the field of geography, the Department of Geography on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus recently played host to the Society of South African Geographers Conference (SSAG 2023), which gathered more than 100 students over three days.
Following a five-year hiatus, the three-day conference comprised student proposal presentations in different fields: human geography, environment geography, geoinformatics, and physical geography, divided into breakaway sessions over two days. Furthermore, day three of the annual conference included an excursion to the Basotho Cultural Village and Clarens.
The three-day annual student conference focused on different themes presented by two main speakers. The topic of the first keynote speaker, Dr Mahlomola Daemane, General Manager of the SANParks Arid Research Unit, focused on the contemporary conservation, transition, and relevance of science in policy and decision making.
The second keynote speaker was Dr Felicia Akinyemi, a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Research Fellow affiliated with the Institute of Geography at the University of Bern in Switzerland. Her work focuses on the intersection of geoinformatics, global change, and sustainability. Dr Akinyemi focused her talk on the integrative geospatial methods and metrics for sustainable land use. She introduced different techniques and metrics and gave students insight in early-career African research.
Speaking about the success of the conference, Nthebohiseng Sekhele, Geography Lecturer on the Qwaqwa Campus and chair of the organising committee, said, “The local organising committee was also very impressed with the quality of presentations from our postgraduate students in Geography, as well as the robust discussions that happened during the parallel sessions in the two days of the conference. We had a positive response of physical and online participation from many universities across South Africa. We are pleased that we have achieved our goal with this conference, which is to inspire the next generation of geographers.”
Teachers from America attend SAFEFE conference
2009-08-07
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At the conference were, from the left: Ms Zandile Gxwati, Director: General Education and Training, Free State Department of Education, Prof. Klopper Oosthuizen, Director of SAFEFE and associated with the Department of Agricultural Economics at the UFS, Prof. John Brock, Director: Centre for Economic Education, University of Colorado, USA and Prof. Herman van Schalkwyk, Dean: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, UFS.
Photo: Lacea Loader |
A delegation of 12 teachers from 12 different states in the United States of America (USA) visited Bloemfontein this week to attend a conference at Bain’s Game Lodge presented by the University of the Free State’s (UFS) South African Foundation for Economic and Financial Education (SAFEFE). Amongst others, the conference aimed to inform the teachers about education in the province and the importance of the ongoing involvement of universities in the R-12 school system. The conference was also attended by representatives from the Free State Department of Education.
The group of teachers form part of a larger delegation of 28 teachers from the USA who are currently visiting South Africa. The delegation is part of the Council for Economic Education (CEE) in the USA’s Economics International Programme that is presented at the UFS in cooperation with SAFEFE. The teachers are visiting several schools in the country to gain experience about the South African school system.