The public is invited to view an exhibition of some of the most innovative design work by students of Aalto University in Finland and CPUT students.

Cape Town took over from Helsinki as World Design Capital in 2014 and the relationship resulted in an on-going collaboration between Aalto and CPUT that is expected to flourish for years to come.

The exhibition, Shaping a Shared World, was launched at the District Six Homecoming Centre in the city centre yesterday evening and was attended by students and staff from both institutions as well as the Finnish ambassador.

A photography exhibition entitled Me/We by a duo of Finnish and Soweto photographers is also on display at the same time.

The Shaping a Shared World exhibition is a collection of student work that demonstrate positive change through design and symbolizes Helsinki’s world design tagline of Embedding Design in Life and Cape Town’s Live Design Change Lives slogan.

One of the works on display is former CPUT B-Tech student Chanel Oosthuizen’s Knus baby hammock that was designed and created in conjunction with the Cape Town Society for the Blind.

The hammock is currently nominated for the ‘Most Beautiful Object’ prize at the Design Indaba expo happening later this week.

The event also saw CPUT Vice Chancellor Dr Prins Nevhutalu sign a memorandum of understanding with Aalto University that formalizes the institutions’ partnership.

AGREEMENT: CPUT VC Dr Prins Nevhutalu signed a memorandum of understanding with Aalto University to ensure future collaborations

Visit the Shaping a Shared World exhibition at the D6 Homecoming Centre on the corner of Buitenkant and Caledon streets from today to March 15.

Written by Lauren Kansley
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Liaises with the media and writes press releases about interesting developments at CPUT.

As part of the 2030 vision and strategy for Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships (SIP), Vice-Chancellor, Prof Chris Nhlapo and Director: Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships, Prof Judy Peter, recently hosted the Finish Ambassador, Anne Lammila at the Bellville campus.

Peter said the University was expanding and establishing new bilateral collaborations with Nordic countries.  She stated that CPUT has active partnerships with Finnish universities; Oulu University, Aalto University, School of Science, School of Arts, Design and Architecture and JAMK University of Applied Sciences. “Therefore, the recent visit by the Finnish Ambassador, Anne Lammila, was welcomed in this spirit. The outcome was a commitment to share and look at opportunities such as ‘The Future is made with Finland’, reciprocal mobility possibilities for staff and students through the Finnish Education and Science Counsellor, Iina Soiri and the SIP office,” Peter said.

She noted that the intent is to magnify the internationalisation agenda to promote research collaborations, joint degree offerings, short courses and mobility aligned with CPUT's niche research areas: Research Focus Area 1:  Bio-economy and Biotechnology; Research Focus Area 2:  Space Science, Engineering and Technology; Research Focus Area 3:  Smart Energy; Research Focus Area 4:  The Environment, Climate Change and Sustainability; Research Focus Area 5:  Human, Health and Social Dynamics and Research Focus Area 6:  The Digital Society.

In the meeting, Nhlapo said the Institution has had a good, longstanding relationship with Nordic countries. “The Nordic countries are very good to us. Our students who go there find it easy to settle… We value our partnership with Finland, it comes a long way. It would be good for our researchers to connect with them. When we are there [Nordic countries], we are at home” he continued.

“We don’t want our post-doctorates to just work at CPUT or in South Africa but they must be hosted by international universities. We would also like our Master’s students to be examined internationally.  If we can start examining your students and you examine ours that would enhance the quality of our education.”

Meanwhile, Lammila said her aim was to get to know CPUT and to learn what the institution does with Finnish partners and the meeting was a very useful and pleasant visit. “I learned a lot about the university. It was impressive to hear how you work. As a country [Finland] we need this exchange to have more courses in English because [traditionally] our courses were all in Finish. We got some money to accommodate more students and doctors from foreign [African] countries… Ours is to benefit knowledge from what you have. We put more emphasis on education and science, if you are left behind in technology unfortunately the future is not yours.”

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
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