SUEUAA Project Blog

Part of the engagement role of universities involves collaboration with industry for local benefit, and of particular interest to SUEUAA is how that happens in combination with a wider focus on environmental issues.

In the City of Johannesburg, two students from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), were selected as interns of Boeing’s six-month International Business Internship Programme (IBIP) in Seattle, United States of America.

This is the tenth case study from SUEUAA (Strengthening Urban Engagement in Universities in Asia and Africa), written by Zeny Reyes from Philippines Normal University. SUEUAA is interested in how Universities in the Global South can contribute to solving geographical, economic, and social issues in their cities.

The threat of the “BIG ONE” (a cataclysmic event that may reach up to magnitude 8.5) prompted a Philippine Normal University (PNU) research team to forge collaboration with Technological University of the Philippines and De La Salle University engineers to develop a product to ensure the safety of the most vulnerable in schools—the Kindergarten pupils. 

In advance of the SUEUAA conference hosted by the University of Zimbabwe which took place 9-10 May, the team involved in the research were delighted to explore their findings with Eng. Hosiah Chisango, Town Clerk of the City of Harare.

This joint event which took place on Wednesday, April 17, was organised by SHLC and SUEUAA and explored creative research methods. Creative methods are those that go beyond the traditional methods of focus groups, surveys, and interviews. These are methods that either utilise the natural environment or involve arts-based activities (such as music, photography, visual or performance arts) in order to address the research questions posed.

This final event of SUEUAA presents cases of engagement from our six countries as well as selected other papers from Africa and Asia, and will be of interest to academics, policy-makers and officials in cities and students from around the world.

I was very interested to receive this statement from colleagues in the International Council for Adult Education (Africa Network) since it is relevant to our work in Africa (and elsewhere), but particularly in Tanzania, which has such a long history of commitment to adult education and lifelong learning since the days of President Nyerere.

This post serves as an alert to a free-to-attend webinar on the topic of creative research methods. This event is a collaboration between SUEUAA and SHLC. The event will take place on the 17th April at 10am GMT.

In our fifth case study, we highlighted the development of work taking place at the University of Duhok with regards to  building collaborations with organisations to develop a regional mine action strategy for areas affected by cluster strike and other battle areas. Last year, Professor Mosleh Duhoky stated:

Understanding and communicating the impact and potential benefits of research to a wide audience is an increasingly important task for higher education professionals. From realising the economic and social benefits of research work, to engaging with key industry and government contacts to create real-life impact, communicating the power of research has never been so important.