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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.”
Board of Directors of the International Institute for Development and Ethics
2006-03-17
During the recent meeting of the Board of Directors of the International Institute for Development and Ethics (IIDE), office bearers were elected and approval was granted for its conversion into a Section 21 Company. The IIDE specialises in the studying and research of general questions of developmental theory and practices and provides services and support in education, strategic planning, policy formulation, advocacy and capacity building of development agencies. The office of the IIDE in Africa is situated on the Main Campus of the UFS in Bloemfontein. The UFS is a funder of the IIDE together with the Paul Foundation and private sponsors from the Netherlands.
The IIDE in Africa's Board of Directors are from the left Mr Willem Ellis (newly elected executive officer of the IIDE) and Prof Annette Combrink (Deputy Chairperson of the IIDE in Africa and Rector of the North West University's campus in Potchefstroom). At the back from the left are Prof Lucius Botes (Director: Centre for Development Support at the UFS), Rev Kiepie Jaftha (Chairperson of the IIDE in Africa and Chief Director: Community Service at the UFS), Prof Sytse Strijbos (IIDE Europe and affiliated to the University of Amsterdam), Dr Amon Kasambala (Director: Focus on the Family, Africa) and Rev Tshililo Liphadzi (Reformed Church Chiawelo in Soweto).
Photo: Lacea Loader