The Stellenbosch University (SU) Sustainable Development Impact (SDG/2063) Hub was introduced to 5 000 SU first-years on Saturday 10 February 2022. The hub is housed in SU International's Centre for Collaboration in Africa.
This formed part of SU's annual Social Impact Morning, which took the form of an online event. The event, a collaboration between Matie Community Service, the Social Impact Division and the Centre for Student Communities, explored how meaningful social impact could be facilitated through social entrepreneurship. *
The Social Impact Morning, therefore, proved a fitting occasion to expose the SU student community to the SDG/2063 Hub, which aims to promote the United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals (SDGs) as well as the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063 in higher education. It pursues this aim by raising awareness, creating partnerships, and enhancing the broader SU community's contribution to both the UN and AU sustainability agendas in Africa and beyond.
More specifically, students received information on the Future17 SDG short course, a new global, multidisciplinary and multicultural programme in sustainability. The course is presented by the University of Exeter (United Kingdom), QS World University Rankings and a university consortium including SU, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the University of São Paulo (Brazil).
Against the framework of the SDGs, the course will help find solutions to the world's sustainability challenges, while also improving participants' employability by building their critical thinking and presentation skills. Challenges for the programme were conceptualised by a range of SDG-Challenge partners. Participants will approach these challenges collaboratively, working with partner universities and mentors assigned by the different institutions.
The inaugural edition of the programme will be presented virtually from late February to late May 2022. It is open to students from second-year level up to postgraduates, subject to selection. Students will collaborate in groups of six to eight and will present solutions to their set sustainability challenges at a showcase event at the end of the course.
Those accepted into the programme can look forward to taking part in a community driven by social impact and growing into truly engaged citizens and future leaders and policymakers.
Eligible students are invited to apply by 20 February 2022. For more information and the enrolment form, click here. Alternatively, email programme manager Ms Corina du Toit on corina@sun.ac.za.
* Other SU presenters at the Social Impact Morning included Renee Hector-Kannemeyer (deputy director of Social Impact, and director of Matie Community Service), Students' Representative Council Member Precious Nhamo (responsible for the Social Impact and Innovation portfolio) and the LaunchLab's Leana Kotze and Abby Stern. Busisiwe Chauke represented 4-Good, a valued SU partner in student volunteer initiatives, while Vere Shaba, one of the top 100 businesswomen in Africa, urged students to get behind causes that would contribute to a better world.
