A partnership agreement between the Energy and Water Sector Education and Training Authority (EWSETA) and The Innovation Hub to capacitate SMMEs with essential business training, will benefit two enterprising female engineers in the renewable energy (RE) space. Hleziphi Siyothula-Mtshizana, the founder and chief executive officer of In Pursuit Renewable Energy, a services … [Read more...]
Proposed online university hopes to bridge education gap
A proposed new global online university “has enormous potential to lend hope, learning and access to marginalized groups who presently could not reach higher education.” This is the message of Rabab Fatima, Secretary-General of the Fifth UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries, known as LDC5. Notwithstanding progress in increasing enrolment rates for primary … [Read more...]
Celebrating Girls in Conservation this Women’s Month
Annually on 9 August South Africa celebrates Women’s Day – part of a month dedicated to the strength and resilience of women and their contribution to society. We thought this a particularly fitting time to share a feature on our ‘Girls in Conservation’ programme and celebrate the group of girls who completed the programme this year. One of the Cape Leopard Trust Education … [Read more...]
First successful rooting of Yellow Peeling Plain Tree
2022 has been an incredible year for SANBI and conservation horticulturist and tree expert Mpendulo Gabayi from Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, Mpho Mathalauga (horticulturist) from KwaZulu-Natal National Botanical Garden, and Ntsakisi Masia (seed collector - Millennium Seed Bank Partnership) from Thohoyandou National Botanical Garden as they were triumphant in their … [Read more...]
Cultivating a passion for sustainable development in university students
Fresh life for old tyres; visionary 3D-printing for construction: these are just some of the clever and sustainable ideas presented by university students competing in the annual Growthpoint Properties and Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) Greenovate Awards. The University of Stellenbosch triumphed overall, notably in the engineering category – which … [Read more...]
African science for African sustainability
Africa’s story has for many years been recorded by those who did not speak her languages, know her legends or count their families among her people. Inasmuch as our past influences our future direction, the African story can too be easily delineated by experts who cannot fully understand the needs and peculiarities of communities on the continent. Africa requires … [Read more...]
Environmental leadership course takes flight
The Stepping Up to Environmental Leadership course funded by the DG Murray Trust was hosted by the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA) and took place between June and July 2013. As one of the participants I wanted to share our transformative and influential experience. The group was selected based on personal submissions in response to questions of … [Read more...]
Young heroes for the environment
A new initiative from the Endangered Wildlife Trust offers children a a vital role in the conservation of our planet, while having the adventure of a lifetime. It is never too early to begin playing your part. Eco Stars is a new kids only club, which was launched earlier this month at the Waterfall Polo Estate in Kyalami. This club plans to educate children about threatened … [Read more...]
Environmental sector responds to Green Paper
The greening of SA's economy can create 460 000 new jobs, says the Department of Higher Education and Training’s (DHET) Green Paper on post-school education and training. Many of these jobs would be at an intermediate skills level. There therefore exists considerable potential to generate mid-level green skills through FET colleges that could be geographically focused around … [Read more...]
Polystyrene cups into wonderbags
Now's the time to put your company's used polystyrene cups to work for the earth and our poor communities. The Polystyrene Association of SA is initiating a community project where used Polystyrene cups from cafeterias and/ or coffee stations in businesses are recycled into Polystyrene balls to be used in cooking bags called Wonderbags. This is a recycling project for … [Read more...]
