Latest News Archive
Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
24 July 2024
|
Story Lacea Loader
The University of the Free State (UFS) is co-hosting the Global Social Innovation Indaba together with Social Innovation Exchange (SIX) on its Bloemfontein Campus from 30 September to 2 October 2024. This event brings together people from different sectors all over the world to discuss how to accelerate and support people-powered
change and create a better society for generations to come.
The UFS is excited to collaborate with SIX, as its vision and values overlap. During this three-day indaba, aspects such as – what it takes to build accountable, inclusive, and participatory institutions, specifically the future role of universities in South Africa – will be discussed. Themes to be explored include young people as drivers of change, post-industrial transitions and community resilience, the role of art, social change and bridging divides, and systemic approaches to dealing with unemployment.
Some of the speakers and participants in the programme include Carla Duprat from ICE (Brazil); Cheryl Jacob from ESquared Investments (South Africa); François Bonnici from the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship (Switzerland); Sir Geoff Mulgan from the University College London (UCL) in the United Kingdom; and Dr Narissa Ramdhani from the Ifa Lethu Foundation (South Africa).
The UFS will also use the opportunity to showcase its campus and offerings to attendees, focusing on its transformation story and some of the interdisciplinary forward-thinking programmes. Guests will also be treated to true South African hospitality, laying the foundation for strong relationships and collaboration.
SIX believes in the transformative power of people working together. Exchanges based on mutual value and reciprocity are the missing link in tackling the world’s problems. As a friendly, expert entry point to global social innovation, their work connects organisations, sectors, communities, and nations to build capabilities and create opportunities for collaboration.
Staff pay a successful visit to the University of Minnesota
2008-08-01
|
Staff from the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Prof. Herman van Schalkwyk, dean of the faculty, and prof. Izak Groenewald, director of the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development, recently paid a successful visit to the University of Minnesota in the United States of America (USA). They visited among others the Minnesota Council on Economic Education (MCEE) and had talks with a representative of Cargill Inc., the world’s largest privately owned corporation. There is a good possibility that substantive monetary support will result from this interaction between the UFS and the University of Minnesota. During the visit were, from the left, back: Prof. Van Schalkwyk, Prof. Groenewald and Mr Tim Bodin, member of the MCEE council of directors and economist from Cargill Inc.; front: Dr Nona Mason, chairperson of the MCEE and director of the Master’s Programme in Business Communication at the St. Thomas University, and Prof. Claudia Parliament, executive director of the MCEE and professor in the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota. Prof. Parliament recently completed her sabbatical leave at the UFS.
Photo: Supplied
|
|