Many South Africans and beyond fret over food security, migration, and environmental management. As a result, the Faculty of Applied Sciences (FAS) recently held a partner workshop on the project: Co-Producing Knowledge On Sustainable Growth through Service-Learning Pedagogy between African and European HEIs (COPAFEU).

The event, which was held at the South African Renewable Energy Technology Centre, was part of the EU-funded Erasmus+ grant with nine other universities across Africa and Europe. Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Applied Sciences, Beatrice Olutoyin Opeolu who co-facilitated the workshop with Dr Ignatius Ticha, Language Coordinator: Faculty of Applied Sciences welcomed the guests, said they have partners in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Greece, and Finland. “At CPUT and the UFS [University of the Free State], we are focused on food security, migration, and environmental management because these are relevant to South Africa.

“We aim to use the project to understand the dynamics among local and migrant food vendors and their practices and facilitate cohesion among them using enhanced service learning (ESL).”

Opeolu said the process involves working with many stakeholders, including the students, as co-creators of knowledge that “we may massify for learning and teaching elsewhere”. She added that other partners are focused on different themes relevant to their countries. “Still, we all agree that entrepreneurial skills are vital to our set outcomes for participating students and communities.”

The successful meeting was engaging as the set outcomes were achieved. As the Country Leader for the COPAFEU Project in South Africa, Opeolu leads the project teams of CPUT and UFS. Amongst the facilitators of the workshop were the representatives from UFS, Hanken University, Finland, and the University of Peloponnese, Greece.

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
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The Cooperative Education Unit of the Centre for Community Engagement and Work Integrated Learning recently hosted an exciting workshop to prepare students for the future world of work.

The workshop was presented in collaboration with the Cape Town Science Centre and covered a range of compelling topics, including Artificial Intelligence, Coding and Robotics.

Project Lead David Haarhoff said: “Students are the centre of our core business and their development in respect of skills is critical. We have a huge responsibility to ensure that they meet industry expectations.”

Prof Lalini Reddy, Director of the Centre for Community Engagement and Work-Integrated Learning, welcomed the students and guests and said the event was the first of a series of events being planned for the year.

“The World Economic Forum 2023 report says technology adoption will remain the key driver for business transformation as we go forward in the next five years. And many of you, whether you're in the second year or third year, you are going to be looking for jobs in the next five years. You need to know the trends out there. You need to be kept active and aware.”

Students were given demonstrations on AI and robotics. The list of speakers and presenters included the Cape Town Science Centre’s Theresa Ely-Felin Ashric Don, Deputy Chief Education Specialist: Coding and Robotics, Western Cape Education Department (WCED), Jonathan Freese: Deputy Chief Education Specialist: Technology, WCED, Fatima Jakoet: Airline Pilot, Consultant, Entrepreneur, 4IR skills specialist, Sakhikamva Foundation, Wesley Pillay, Business Facilitator / Project Manager – Skills & Enterprise Development, ORT SA, Melissa Slaymaker, Africa Regional Director: Women in Tech and Bongumusa Ngema Postgraduate Diploma student: Business Administration.

Haarhoff said there had been huge interest in respect of topics aligned to AI, coding and robotics.

“In my engagement with students after the event, there was a hunger from students to embark on more offerings such as this. My longstanding relationship with the Cape Town Science Centre is worth noting. Collaborating with them in partnership with the Western Cape Education Department, Women in Tech, Sakhikamva Foundation and ORT SA was rewarding. It afforded students to engage with experts directly and this warms my heart.”

Dr Lizel Hudson, Work-Integrated Learning Coordinator in the Faculty of Health and Wellness Sciences, thanked the guests and the students for contributing to the successful event.

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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