Input into SDG-related policy development

UWC’s research contributes to policy discussions on food security, responsible innovation, hygiene-product waste and multiparty governance. The full 2025 accounts identify the University’s specific roles and distinguish completed contributions from subsequent strategy work or ratification. [1] [31] [39]

Evidence and context

Research informing policy and public dialogue

Food security at the G20

In 2025, UWC’s food-security expertise contributed directly to international policy discussions. Professor Julian May, Director of the Centre of Excellence in Food Security, served as one of South Africa’s representatives in the G20 Working Group on Food Security and Nutrition. Working with experts from the Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Fund for Agricultural Development, he helped draft policy-paper sections on food systems, nutrition and agroecological transition ahead of the September meetings in Cape Town. The contribution connected research on food access and inequality with the policy choices being considered by governments. [1]

A framework for responsible innovation

Partnership also shaped work on responsible digital development. UWC co-led South Africa’s AI Maturity Assessment Framework with GIZ, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants. The University’s 2025 Annual Report records its launch at the Innovation Hub in August. The framework provides a basis for benchmarking AI adoption and aligns with the African Union’s 2024 AI Strategy. It is a concrete product of collaboration between a university, a development agency, a research institution and a professional body. [3, p. 19]

Research and a shared response to absorbent hygiene waste

Through its Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies of Children, Families and Society, UWC hosted the launch of the Absorbent Hygiene Products Waste Forum on 20 November 2025. Professor Rinie Schenck and Dr Marc Kalina co-chaired the forum, bringing university research into discussion with national and provincial environmental departments, producers, retailers, NGOs and community members. Kimberly-Clark funded the meeting. The forum set an agenda to support existing collection projects and assist the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment in developing the National AHP Waste Management Strategy. The completed milestone was the creation of this collaborative forum; the strategy work remained ahead. [31]

Research expertise informing a governance framework

UWC research expertise also contributed to an operational framework for multiparty governance. The GNU Clearing House Secretariat engaged Professor Jaap de Visser of the Dullah Omar Institute to refine its draft terms of reference, including disputed provisions on consensus and resolving deadlocks. The Clearing House adopted the terms on 29 October 2025, with ratification by the Political Leaders Forum identified as the next step. The framework clarified its recommending role and referral arrangements for unresolved matters. This contribution supported the rules through which the mechanism would coordinate policy discussion. [39] [40]

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Cross-sector dialogue on sustainable development

UWC participates in and convenes dialogue through SANORD, the Bellville-region research partnerships, PLAAS and media-literacy collaborations. The full accounts identify government, civil-society, professional and academic participants, retaining their different roles, dates and planned follow-up work. [24] [19] [2]

Evidence and context

From UWC in 2024 to Aarhus in 2025

The Aarhus meeting followed UWC’s hosting of the SANORD conference in 2024. UWC’s Research and Innovation report records more than 330 delegates at that earlier gathering, where discussion connected social and epistemic justice with sustainable futures. The conference returned to SANORD’s founding home and honoured former UWC Rector Brian O’Connell. Reading the 2024 and 2025 meetings together shows the University’s role both as host of regional dialogue and as a participant in continuing exchange with Nordic partners. [9, pp. 61–62]

Participants pictured in SANORD’s account of its 12–15 August 2025 conference at Aarhus University, Denmark. Credit: Southern African–Nordic Centre; individual photographer not credited. Image source.

SANORD and equitable international collaboration

UWC hosts the central office of the Southern African–Nordic Centre (SANORD), whose strategy links research and education cooperation with sustainable development. This gives the University a continuing organisational role in exchange between the two regions. The 2025 conference at Aarhus University brought more than 230 delegates from 39 universities together around equitable research collaboration. Its programme, including pre-conference activity from 12 to 15 August, examined how international partnerships can recognise different institutional conditions and give African knowledge a stronger role in shaping research agendas. [26, strategy and p. 10] [24]

SANORD Strategy 2023, adopted by the network’s Council on 6 December 2022, sets out this action under Goal 3: “Embed the United Nations SDG’s and Africa Agenda 2063 goals into the activities of SANORD in a deliberate and purposeful way.” [26, Actions for Goal 3, final bullet; printed p. 7 (PDF p. 7)] Full strategy PDF

Open/download the complete SANORD Strategy 2023 (PDF)

SANORD Director Umesh Bawa joined the opening of the conference. Sessions addressed sustainable water management, community-based health, education and technology design. A closing roundtable brought academic, diplomatic and development perspectives into discussion of the barriers to equitable collaboration. UWC also contributed emerging research through the three-minute thesis competition, including work on ageing and prostate health. These were opportunities to share research, compare approaches and scrutinise the relationships through which knowledge is produced. The conference’s emphasis on reciprocity and the practical conditions of collaboration gave substance to the network’s continuing international exchange. [23]

Regional partnerships for public services and cultural exchange

CHEC and sanitation dialogue in Khayelitsha

The Cape Higher Education Consortium (CHEC)–City of Cape Town Research Programme provided a route from university research to discussion with residents and municipal officials. Building on research conducted in 2024, UWC’s Politics and Urban Governance Research Group co-hosted a workshop with the City and BM Section residents in Khayelitsha on 23 May 2025. Its focus was practical: how residents could report faults with container-based sanitation and how the City could explain its services and respond more effectively. [19]

At the workshop, City officials demonstrated digital and telephone reporting channels. Residents, officials and the mayor worked in groups to propose improvements and vote on preferred ideas. The City committed to assess the feedback, and the research group undertook to consolidate the discussion and support a follow-up session. The workshop produced direct engagement and jointly developed proposals for better communication between residents and municipal services. [19]

A shared agenda for land and livelihoods

UWC’s Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) convened the Land, Life and Society conference from 7 to 9 October 2025. More than 250 academics, researchers, civil-society partners and supporters took part. Government participation included South Africa’s Minister of Land Reform and Rural Development and Colombia’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. Discussions examined land redistribution, small-scale fisheries, industrial agriculture, climate change and the green economy. Ten parallel discussions and a field visit connected research with experiences of land and livelihood struggles. Delegates debated a Cape Town declaration, with a final version drafted on 10 October for the subsequent ICARRD+20 process. The declaration brought the conference’s discussion into a shared contribution to the next stage of international agrarian-reform dialogue. [2]

Delegates at PLAAS’s Land, Life and Society conference, held 7–9 October 2025. UWC published its report on 13 October 2025. Credit: Jesi Townsend/UWC. Image source.

Professional partnerships for inclusive public communication

Preparing women for newsroom leadership

UWC’s Chair in Media Inclusion and Diversity is jointly held by Professor Sisanda Nkoala and VUB’s Professor Leo Van Audenhove. The Chair and the South African National Editors’ Forum jointly hosted the Young Women Leaders in News Media workshop with the SABC. Students from UWC, CPUT and Rosebank College engaged with experienced journalists about newsroom practice, digital change and the resources needed to sustain reporting. The collaboration linked professional knowledge with preparation for more diverse newsrooms. One-to-one mentoring was identified as the next phase. [27] [29]

Practical learning with community publishers

The Chair also worked with the Association of Independent Publishers on newsletter training for community journalists and students. AIP’s account records a workshop at UWC with Professor Sisanda Nkoala, attended by its staff and publishers and taught by The Outlier and Media Hack Collective founders Laura Grant and Alastair Otter. The published presentation made the practical learning available beyond the session. [28] [29]

Digital and media literacy across sectors

In a separate working visit reported in November, the Chair partnered with Mediawijs to convene a two-day digital and media literacy roundtable. Participants included the Press Council of South Africa, SANEF, the SABC, the Flemish broadcaster VRT and university researchers, including UWC’s Faculty of Education and CoLab. Visits to the SABC and Bush Radio connected the discussion with public broadcasting and community media. The exchange developed plans for joint South African–Belgian work on inclusion and media literacy. [30]

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International collaboration on SDG-related data

International research relationships support digital-inclusion assessment, shared genomic data and comparative evidence on participatory democracy. The full accounts distinguish the DISA project’s stated aims, AGARI’s November 2025 launch and the African cases contributed to Participedia. [43] [83] [16]

Evidence and context

Joint doctoral research and digital inclusion

CoLab and an established joint doctoral model

UWC’s CoLab for eInclusion and Social Innovation forms part of an established doctoral collaboration on digital inclusion and social innovation with VUB and Ghent University. UWC’s published 2021 call identifies CoLab among the participating units and sets out joint supervision, registration at UWC and the relevant Belgian institution, and research mobility. That earlier programme design provides context for the continuing doctoral work reported within the wider UWC–VUB partnership in 2025. [42]

UWC’s collaboration with Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) connects joint doctoral supervision with research on digital inclusion and media literacy. In a December 2025 account, VUB described joint PhDs supervised by Professor Leo Van Audenhove and the imec-SMIT research group, with doctoral research aligned to work in Cape Town. The partnership also connected teaching through online guest contributions from Cape Town. Its research questions examine how findings developed in Europe translate to different social and institutional settings, including the barriers people face in accessing and using digital technology. [20]

The same 2025 account identifies research on digital technologies and ageing as an area of development at UWC, following a researcher’s work in South Africa. It points particularly to the circumstances of older adults in rural communities. The account illustrates how research visits can extend locally relevant enquiry about whose needs digital services meet and how inclusion should be understood in different contexts. [20]

Shared research on digital inequality

The related DISA project, Digital Inclusion in South Africa, was scheduled for 2023–2025 with VLIR-UOS support and promoters at UWC, VUB and Ghent University. Its stated aims were to develop a South African digital-inclusion assessment instrument and bring researchers and stakeholders together around its use in policy, skills programmes and intervention evaluation. [43, PDF p. 5] [44]

VLIR-UOS’s October 2024 Country reference framework for South Africa places project planning in a cross-sector context. Section 2.4 states: “An analysis of these stakeholders is essential for each partnership.” This informational framework supports project design within the VLIR-UOS programme. [43, section 2.4, printed/PDF p. 12]

Open/download the complete Country Reference Framework South Africa (PDF)

Sharing genomic data for African health responses

UWC’s South African National Bioinformatics Institute contributed to the development of the Africa Genome Archiving for Response and Insight platform, launched in November 2025. AGARI brings Africa CDC, the African Society for Laboratory Medicine and African Union Member States together around the archiving, analysis and sharing of genomic sequencing data. SANBI director Professor Alan Christoffels served as project lead and as an adviser to Africa CDC’s pathogen genomics programme. UWC’s account also credits SANBI colleagues with initial technical development. The contribution links university expertise with a continent-wide data resource for disease surveillance and outbreak preparedness. [83]

Contributing African cases to a shared research resource

UWC’s Politics and Urban Governance Research Group reports an active role in Participedia, an international, open research resource on participatory democracy. Its 2025 Annual Report records that master’s students in Political Studies developed cases of participatory innovations in Africa for the platform. Professor Fiona Anciano served as co-chair of Participedia’s Democratic Accountability Cluster and took part in an international workshop in Montréal on 27–28 March 2025. The cases make African experiences available for comparison across governance contexts, linking postgraduate learning with a shared body of evidence on participation and accountability. [16, p. 16]

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International comparison and shared practice

UWC’s collaborations compare approaches across social and institutional settings, including participatory community work, African food systems and the adaptation of health education. The full evidence preserves the research methods, completed outputs, preliminary findings and next steps in each partnership. [4] [5] [18]

Evidence and context

International relationships that sustain shared work

UWC’s relationship with the University of Missouri System was formalised in June 1986 through a memorandum of academic cooperation. The University of Missouri South African Education Program has since supported exchanges across more than 40 academic disciplines. This enduring institutional relationship provides the background to work in health education, postgraduate research and entrepreneurship reported in 2025. Its value can be seen in the projects and scholarly relationships that continue across successive years. [25]

The University of Missouri partnership

UWC’s relationship with the University of Missouri System continued to produce research and postgraduate outcomes in 2025. The South African Education Program’s annual review records a published book, a book chapter, journal outputs and conference presentations arising from collaborations across the two institutions. It also identifies doctoral completions supported through laboratory visits, shared supervision and research training. Because the review draws on responses from former programme awardees, it gives an account of documented collaborative work rather than a complete inventory of every connection between the universities. [17]

One example is a photovoice collaboration between Missouri’s Michelle Teti and UWC’s Brian van Wyk. The programme developed research training in which participants’ photographs and accounts help examine lived experience. The 2025 review reports that two UWC doctoral researchers completed their projects and doctorates through this work and produced four publications. This links the long-term partnership to identifiable research capacity and completed scholarly outputs, extending its value beyond a single exchange visit. [17]

Adapting health education across contexts

In nursing, UWC and Missouri researchers adapted a virtual-reality clinical simulation to the South African setting. Faculty and student feedback informed changes to clinical roles, equipment placement and usability. During the explicitly identified 2025 cycle, 75 UWC nursing students were recruited to test the revised simulation, with surveys before and after use. Visits by Missouri academics also supported workshops, lectures and demonstrations, while students participated as research assistants. The report describes preliminary gains in readiness and confidence; analysis and publication were still in progress. [18]

Business knowledge put into practice

The relationship also supported applied learning for entrepreneurs. UWC’s Small Business Clinic worked with University of Missouri–Kansas City academics Jocelyn Evans and Marvin Carolina Jr to launch a business-coaching programme in July 2025. Sessions on 24, 29 and 31 July covered orientation, finance and accounting, and sales and marketing. Participants used templates to develop financial statements, while the visiting academics helped them prepare for the UWC Entrepreneurship Expo and advised them during the event. The initial report records practical use of classroom learning and identifies constraints such as access to laptops and limited teaching time. Longer-term business outcomes and the programme’s formal evaluation remained work to be completed. [22]

Developing practice through international comparison

Testing participatory approaches with communities

UWC participated in EngageSDG, which brings Southern African and European universities together to strengthen participatory approaches to sustainable development. During 2025, six universities in South Africa, Mauritius and Zambia developed and reviewed locally focused pilot projects. UWC’s pilot centred on community-led SDG awareness and empowerment workshops. Its proposal received review from the University of Bologna, the University of Barcelona and University College Cork, including an online review on 7 August 2025. [4, PDF pp. 8–11, 33]

The partners compared pilot designs and early implementation, rather than assuming that one engagement model would suit every community. Their interim synthesis identified practical improvements: clearer participatory methods, more useful monitoring indicators, realistic implementation periods and better documentation of learning. The synthesis set out recommended refinements to the Integrated Participatory Framework. UWC’s contribution was still developing during the reporting year: its August update documented planning with Hugenote Kollege, while a September University account subsequently reported a completed community workshop in Wellington. [4, PDF pp. 14–21, 41–43] [10]

Learning across African food systems

A separate 2025 research publication brought UWC scholars into a comparative assessment of African food-system challenges. The FSNet-Africa synthesis examined 19 case studies across six African countries, drawing together work by 83 researchers. UWC-affiliated contributors participated in the analysis and authorship. The synthesis identified priorities spanning governance, indigenous foods, production innovation, consumer preferences and food losses. Published in August 2025, it drew on research undertaken in 2021–2024. The publication made the findings available for shared learning about food-system change. [5, pp. 1–4, 8]

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NGO and community partnerships for the goals

UWC works with NGOs and community organisations through research, practical services, student volunteering and shared learning. The accounts below cover health, rights, biodiversity, urban research and hunger relief, identifying the NGO, community, public and private partners involved rather than treating all partners as one type of organisation. [16] [85]

Evidence and context

Health partnerships linking professional learning and access to care

Mobile dental services with Islamic Relief and public clinics

UWC’s Faculty of Dentistry translated philanthropic support into community treatment through its partnership with Islamic Relief South Africa. A R4.01 million investment supported the Dental Relief Project and the return of the mobile dental clinic to Gugulethu in January 2025. UWC contributed clinical expertise and student participation, while Gugulethu Dental Clinic provided space and patient bookings. Islamic Relief’s February account confirmed that patients in Gugulethu, Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain had already benefited, with further visits planned. The partnership joined education, funding and a public clinical setting in a practical response to barriers to oral healthcare. [60] [61]

The partner’s 2025 Impact Report subsequently described work with UWC Dentistry and Tygerberg Hospital across dental treatment, oral-hygiene education, denture provision for older patients and school outreach. Its account extends the record from the initial resumption of visits to several forms of service delivered during the year. These activities illustrate how an NGO, public healthcare facilities and a university can support both treatment access and preventive learning. [62, p. 30]

UWC’s mobile dental clinic in Gugulethu, pictured in the University’s report published on 31 January 2025. Credit: Shelley Christians/UWC. Image source.

Prevention with private sector and youth employment partners

UWC, Haleon and Motopi Consulting launched an oral-health awareness campaign on 17 September 2025. The programme planned monthly activations at Tygerberg, Mitchells Plain and Gugulethu health facilities through December. UWC specialists and dentistry students were to support assessments, explain gum health and help patients understand appropriate care, alongside trained Youth Employment Service participants. Haleon’s oral-care products were part of the planned delivery model. The September announcement records the launch and the programme’s intended activities. [63]

Continuing community based clinical education

The School of Pharmacy’s Service Learning in Pharmacy programme provides another continuing route between professional education and community care. A University account published in May 2025 describes a formal relationship with the Western Cape Department of Health and collaboration with Touching Nations, a Delft organisation employing home-based caregivers. Students undertake supervised health activities at designated community facilities. The account includes earlier programme history and shows how public services, community organisations and the University contribute different forms of knowledge and care within an established teaching model. [70]

Student service through the Phelophepa health train

A participant account published in April 2024 gives substance to UWC’s involvement in Transnet’s Phelophepa healthcare train. Nine final-year UWC dental students travelled to Empangeni near Richards Bay, where they provided basic fillings, cleaning and extractions and visited schools for oral-health education. A second reflection published in May described screening and multidisciplinary teamwork. Phelophepa provided the mobile clinical setting and logistics, while students contributed clinical learning and service. These accounts complement the Faculty’s identification of the trains among its continuing clinical education settings and show the partnership in practice before the 2025 reporting year. [76] [77] [73] [74]

Breast health knowledge in a community setting

In Kayamandi, a community campaign reported in November 2025 brought UWC molecular-biology expertise into an initiative led by Health Promoters International. Dr Sahaar Abdul-Rasool contributed breast-cancer education alongside survivor experiences, screening facilitated by health promoters and referrals for further examination. The collaboration connected awareness with routes to care through a community-led setting, with the public report documenting the shared activity rather than subsequent treatment outcomes. [69]

Building a shared approach to student wellbeing

The national mental-health dialogue has a multi-year foundation. UWC’s June 2024 account described work through Siyaphumelela towards a student mental-health framework, combining literature review with practitioner and teaching-and-learning perspectives from 2021–2022, followed by a 2023 workshop. An earlier 2024 colloquium involved twelve universities. The University also engaged directly with Wysa’s partnership leadership as it incorporated the digital service into its support approach. This history connects the 2025 gathering with sustained sector cooperation on coordinated student support. [78]

Sharing approaches to student mental health

UWC convened representatives of 18 South African higher-education institutions at its second national Mental Health and Well-being Colloquium on 26–27 June 2025. Participants considered counselling, trauma-informed teaching, peer support and digital tools within institution-wide approaches to student wellbeing. Neuroscientist and AI-and-ethics adviser Dr Becky Inkster contributed an external perspective on opportunities and risks in technology-supported mental healthcare. The University also described Wysa within its support offering. The gathering provided a shared space for comparing practice and committing to further exchange. [68]

Period dignity through shared infrastructure

Material support formed another part of student wellbeing. By August 2025, UWC had 14 operational sanitary-pad dispensers across its main, Dentistry and Community and Health Sciences campuses through work with the MENstruation Foundation and Clicks Helping Hand Trust. The partners combined the dispensing model, products and funding with UWC’s campus infrastructure. The Trust’s wider funding supported a five-university programme. At UWC, the installed dispensers were a concrete access measure within that broader collaboration. [66] [67]

Partnerships for gender justice rights and legal access

A continuing comparative research relationship

The Gender Equity Unit’s relationship with the University of Missouri provides a multi-year research foundation for work on institutional inclusion. Established in 2023, the collaboration developed a comparative study of diversity and inclusion in higher education. Following ethics approval at both universities, a Missouri team visited UWC in July 2024 to engage with leaders, staff and students. UWC’s 2024/2025 RISE report records a resulting manuscript submitted in December 2024 and identifies reciprocal exchange as a next step. Missouri’s exchange account subsequently records successful support for UWC’s reciprocal application to the 2025 programme, with the visit still described as planned. This history shows how research relationships develop through shared questions, fieldwork and writing over more than one reporting year. [9, pp. 22–23] [80, Outcomes section]

Research informing more accessible responses to gender based violence

The same report records the Gender Equity Unit’s collaboration with Social Work on a study of Deaf women’s experiences of gender-based violence published in 2024. Following publication, the Unit submitted a policy brief to the City of Cape Town proposing accessible trauma and medical support and more inclusive responses to survivors. The work connected research with practical proposals for improving access. [9, p. 21]

Practical access to Equality Courts

On 28 February 2025, UWC’s Gender Equity Unit and the University of Pretoria’s Centre for Human Rights jointly delivered Equality Courts training for students, activists and civil-society participants. The session combined equality and sexual- and gender-diversity discussion with practical work on discrimination, harassment and hate speech. Participants rehearsed filing procedures and preparation for hearings, connecting rights awareness with usable routes to redress. The universities also jointly staffed an advocacy table at Cape Town Pride. The Centre’s account acknowledges UWC’s organising contribution and European Union support for the Equality Courts project. [64]

Community alliances and public dialogue

The Unit’s Loud Enuf programme participated in Khumbulani Pride in Strand on 17 May 2025, hosted by Free Gender with other community rights organisations. In a separate Belgian and Flanders consular film-and-discussion programme, UWC’s Limpho Makapela moderated a panel involving Gender DynamiX, Triangle Project and Nelson Mandela Bay Pride. The activities connected university participation with community organising and international dialogue about gender and sexuality rights. They give concrete form to relationships through participation and public discussion. [65]

Clinical legal education and community assistance

UWC’s Law Clinic combines free legal assistance for marginalised Cape Metro communities with supervised education for senior law students. Its community-engagement portfolio illustrates the model through relationships with Langa Community Advice Services and the Mitchell’s Plain Community Advice and Development Project. The advice offices connect residents with local support, while the Clinic contributes legal assistance, case support and workshops. The portfolio also documents internship links with Missouri and City Law School, alongside its earlier service records. [71] [79]

In April 2025, City Law School again named UWC’s clinic as a host for its Ubuntu Scholarships internship opportunities. The advertised placements were designed to involve students in research, client consultations, case preparation and outreach alongside local attorneys and students. The call connected an established community-service model with opportunities for international clinical learning. [72]

A multi year research partnership on migration governance

UWC is also a partner in the Lund-coordinated MARS programme examining migration governance beyond traditional Western destination countries. The programme runs from February 2024 to January 2028 and combines collaborative research and staff exchange with the development of policy-relevant knowledge. It places the University within a multi-year network intended to make migration scholarship more representative of experiences in the Global South. [75]

Biodiversity partnerships connecting science culture and communities

The reserve as a place for shared learning

UWC’s Cape Flats Nature Reserve is a 34-hectare conservation area with an indigenous nursery and environmental education centre. It protects remnants of Cape Flats Sand Fynbos and Cape Flats Dune Strandveld alongside wetland habitat. This longstanding campus setting brings teaching and research into contact with schools, communities and conservation organisations, giving partnerships a shared place in which to work. [47] [48]

From a 2024 learning programme to 2025 exhibitions

The Nature Reserve Unit and the Zeitz MOCAA BMW Centre for Art Education used this setting to connect biodiversity with visual literacy and access to cultural institutions. A photography competition begun in 2024 culminated in an exhibition at Zeitz MOCAA on 10 May 2025. Twenty-four selected photographs were displayed alongside images made by MOCAA Art Club learners during a 2024 reserve visit. The reserve contributed ecological knowledge and access to the landscape, while the museum contributed art education and a public exhibition platform. [48]

The collaboration then reached the UWC Library. A June 2025 account records the display of the top 24 images by 11 finalists and a digital exhibition of submissions. Zeitz MOCAA representatives and Agricultural Research Council photographer and researcher Clement Cupido contributed to judging. The museum and campus displays gave participants different audiences for their interpretations of local biodiversity and extended the learning beyond the reserve visit. [49]

Community participation in biodiversity recording

From 13 to 18 October 2025, the reserve’s annual biodiversity survey involved 108 participants from schools, clubs and local communities. UWC reported 1,425 camera downloads from ten observers. Separately, twelve observers made 207 iNaturalist uploads documenting more than 115 species. These contributions helped update the reserve’s species records and linked public participation with practical conservation knowledge. [50]

University and provincial conservation knowledge

The Department of Biodiversity and Conservation Biology also has a longstanding relationship with CapeNature. UWC’s welcome address for the CapeNature Conservation Review traced that research relationship to 1996 and noted Professor Gavin Maneveldt’s board service since 2011. UWC hosted the 26 June 2025 Review, where CapeNature launched its State of Conservation Report. The meeting connected university expertise with provincial conservation leadership and an evidence base for biodiversity decisions. The partnership combines continuing institutional relationships with a dated opportunity to exchange knowledge about current conservation pressures and priorities. [51, welcome address] [52]

Research with civil society

Understanding urban crises through residents’ accounts

In June 2025, UWC’s Politics and Urban Governance Research Group hosted a collaborative workshop at its Iyatsiba Lab with partners in the Interrogating Urban Crisis project. The research involved the NGOs SERI, Equal Education and Project90 by 2030, and compared experiences in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Cali and Buenaventura. Storytelling, interviews and media analysis brought residents’ perspectives into the examination of how crises are represented and how institutions respond. [16, p. 14]

During the 2025 workshop, the team analysed narratives from fieldwork conducted in 2024, undertook site visits and co-developed outputs, including a short film using resident-created stories about state absence, violence and young people’s experiences. The NGO collaboration was part of the research process and development of shared outputs. [16, p. 14]

Community partners shaping the research agenda

Fisantekraal provides another continuing setting for shared research. The 2024/2025 RISE report describes an interdisciplinary UWC team working with residents, municipal actors, NGOs and community organisations through community-based participatory action research. A needs analysis and participatory mapping helped align university work with local priorities, while partners contributed to the design of interventions. The approach connects research and teaching with a sustained community relationship and seeks to reduce duplication between initiatives. [9, pp. 51–52]

Student volunteering with a hunger-relief partner

In March 2025, hundreds of UWC student volunteers packed 40,000 meals in the Student Centre through an initiative involving the Centre for Student Support Services and Rise Against Hunger. The meals were intended for children attending early childhood development centres in the Cape Metro. This documented student volunteering activity brought UWC students into a practical NGO partnership addressing hunger and the conditions that support early learning. [85]

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SDG 1: No poverty

UWC’s public reporting combines its 2025 Annual Report, the RISE Annual Report 2024/2025 and themed research magazines. The 13th edition of The Future Research eMagazine explicitly includes SDG 1 among its stated themes. The full shared reporting account and original publication links follow. [3] [9] [87]

Evidence and context

An annual record of progress

UWC’s 2025 Annual Report provides a public account of institutional work during the year, including student support, learning and teaching, research, governance and campus development. It records specific actions alongside continuing work. In student support, for example, the iKamvalethu Fund received R1.6 million early in 2025 to help address fee barriers faced by missing-middle students. The March Health Awareness and Wellness Drive offered health screening, counselling and awareness activities. [3, pp. 12, 14–15]

The report also makes delivery dates important to understanding progress. It records completion of Safe Walk phases 2 and 3 by August 2025, while the solar photovoltaic and battery-storage project was still moving through procurement. The tender award is placed in early 2026. [3, pp. 19–20, 57]

Published in December 2025, the RISE Annual Report 2024/2025 traces relationships that develop across years. It documents earlier foundations alongside explicitly dated 2025 activity, including MedChem2025 and the Coding Summer School. Read with the annual report, partner accounts and programme publications, it allows readers to follow UWC’s contribution through continuing institutional relationships, identifiable work and recorded outputs. Dates show the development of the partnerships without turning every stage into a new initiative in a single year. [9, p. 59] [3]

Public research reporting across the goals

UWC also published three editions of The Future Research eMagazine in 2025. The 12th edition, released in April, reports on language policy, multilingual chemistry education and community-facing language research, with stated themes of SDGs 4, 8, 10, 11 and 16. [86] The 13th edition, announced in September, focuses on SDGs 1, 2 and 12 through accounts of food security, biodiversity, environmental law and community-based research. [87] The 14th edition, announced in November, focuses on SDGs 6, 7 and 11, including solar-powered hydroponics, water research and sustainable-energy technologies. The complete magazines are publicly accessible through links from the University’s publication pages. These themed reports document selected contributions and work in progress. [88]

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SDG 2: Zero hunger

The 13th edition of The Future Research eMagazine, published in 2025, explicitly includes SDG 2 among its stated themes. Its original publication link and the full description of the themed research reports remain in the shared reporting account. [87]

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SDG 3: Good health and well-being

The annual reporting account records the March 2025 Health Awareness and Wellness Drive, alongside the health partnerships described on this page. The complete annual-reporting overview and original publication links remain in the shared reporting account. [3] [9]

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SDG 4: Quality education

The 12th edition of The Future Research eMagazine, published in 2025, explicitly includes SDG 4 among its stated themes. Its original publication link and the full description of the themed research reports remain in the shared reporting account. [86]

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SDG 5: Gender equality

The gender-justice partnerships on this page sit within the wider annual institutional and research reporting context. The complete annual-reporting overview and original publication links remain in the shared reporting account. [3] [9]

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SDG 6: Clean water and sanitation

The 14th edition of The Future Research eMagazine, published in 2025, explicitly includes SDG 6 among its stated themes. Its original publication link and the full description of the themed research reports remain in the shared reporting account. [88]

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SDG 7: Affordable and clean energy

The 14th edition of The Future Research eMagazine, published in 2025, explicitly includes SDG 7 among its stated themes. Its original publication link and the full description of the themed research reports remain in the shared reporting account. [88]

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SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth

The 12th edition of The Future Research eMagazine, published in 2025, explicitly includes SDG 8 among its stated themes. Its original publication link and the full description of the themed research reports remain in the shared reporting account. [86]

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SDG 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure

The 2025 annual reporting records responsible innovation and the AI Maturity Assessment Framework, while the research report documents continuing research partnerships. The complete annual-reporting overview and original publication links remain in the shared reporting account. [3] [9]

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SDG 10: Reduced inequalities

The 12th edition of The Future Research eMagazine, published in 2025, explicitly includes SDG 10 among its stated themes. Its original publication link and the full description of the themed research reports remain in the shared reporting account. [86]

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SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities

The 14th edition of The Future Research eMagazine, published in 2025, explicitly includes SDG 11 among its stated themes. Its original publication link and the full description of the themed research reports remain in the shared reporting account. [88]

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SDG 12: Responsible consumption and production

The 13th edition of The Future Research eMagazine, published in 2025, explicitly includes SDG 12 among its stated themes. Its original publication link and the full description of the themed research reports remain in the shared reporting account. [87]

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SDG 13: Climate action

The community-learning and partnership accounts on this page include climate action and environmental sustainability, alongside the wider annual reporting record. The complete annual-reporting overview and original publication links remain in the shared reporting account. [3] [9]

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SDG 14: Life below water

Environmental and conservation study and the broader partnership accounts are retained alongside the shared institutional and research reporting record. The complete annual-reporting overview and original publication links remain in the shared reporting account. [3] [9]

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SDG 15: Life on land

The biodiversity partnerships and community-recording accounts on this page are retained alongside the shared institutional and research reporting record. The complete annual-reporting overview and original publication links remain in the shared reporting account. [3] [9]

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SDG 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions

The institutional Annual Report includes governance, while the partnership evidence on this page documents public-policy and justice-related collaboration. The complete annual-reporting overview and original publication links remain in the shared reporting account. [3] [9]

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SDG 17: Partnerships for the goals

The annual and research reports document continuing institutional relationships, completed collaborative outputs and work developing across reporting periods. The complete annual-reporting overview and original publication links remain in the shared reporting account. [3] [9]

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Institution-wide education and graduate expectations

UWC’s Graduate Attributes Charter sets expectations for critical citizenship, social responsibility and environmental sustainability, and provides a reference point for curriculum design and transformation. The opening context and complete A.3 subsection remain visible below. [84]

Evidence and context

Education for sustainable development

An institution-wide graduate commitment

UWC’s Graduate Attributes Charter provides a reference point for curriculum design and transformation. Its section on critical citizenship and the social good sets expectations for UWC graduates to contribute to social justice, participate in engaged scholarship and act with social responsibility. It also expects graduates to exercise leadership and responsibility for environmental sustainability and understand the consequences of their choices for global warming and the environment. This institution-wide educational commitment provides context for the dedicated sustainability study and student activities described below. [84, PDF pp. 1–2, A.3]

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Dedicated courses relevant to sustainability

The 2025 catalogue provides dedicated study in Environmental and Water Science and honours-level Biodiversity and Conservation Biology. The full accounts retain the named modules, programme level and conditions governing students’ combinations. [13] [14]

Evidence and context

Dedicated environmental and conservation study

UWC’s 2025 academic catalogue includes dedicated study routes in environmental and conservation fields. The four-year BSc in Environmental and Water Science lists modules across environmental and water science, alongside Geographical Information System 311. The published programme structure links environmental subject knowledge with tools for understanding spatial and resource-management questions. It provides a defined undergraduate route relevant to challenges such as water stewardship and environmental sustainability. [13]

At honours level, the 2025 BSc in Biodiversity and Conservation Biology catalogue lists Diversity, Evolution and Conservation, Marine Biology, Biodiversity Information Management and Quantitative Ecology, together with a research project. These are specific catalogued learning opportunities in the study and management of living systems. The catalogue establishes what was available for study in the academic year; faculty rules determine students’ module combinations. [14]

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SDG-related education with wider communities

UWC’s community learning includes the Wellington workshop linking local priorities with the SDGs, children’s rights and climate-action training, and student-led higher-education outreach. The broader evidence retains regional inclusive-education and eco-literacy partnerships with their own dates and participants. [10] [11] [12]

Evidence and context

Learning with communities

Connecting local priorities with the SDGs

UWC and Hugenote Kollege co-hosted a 2025 workshop in Wellington for community-focused organisations. Participants first reflected on the values behind their work, then connected organisational priorities with the SDGs, South Africa’s National Development Plan and Decadal Plan, and the African Union’s Agenda 2063. A further exercise identified practical barriers and considered opportunities for joint responses. UWC’s September account reports new connections and discussions about partnerships and shared resources. The workshop created a setting for community organisations to relate global goals to their own decisions and work. [10]

Participants at the UWC and Hugenote Kollege community-engagement workshop in Wellington, reported by UWC on 16 September 2025. Credit: Supplied/UWC; individual photographer not credited. Image source.

For context, the National Development Plan 2030 (2012) sets out a concrete role for citizens in its overview’s discussion of active citizenship: “Work together with others in the community to advance development, resolve problems and raise the concerns of the voiceless and marginalised.” [81, Overview: Citizens active in their own development, second citizen-action bullet; printed p. 37 (PDF p. 40)] Full national plan PDF

The Science, Technology and Innovation Decadal Plan 2022–2032, approved by Cabinet on 30 November 2022, specifies this medium-term action in Table 5.3: “Establish national and regional platforms to forge collaboration between universities, science councils/entities, business and industry”. The table identifies the number and effectiveness of such platforms as the measure for this action. [82, 5.4 An open, responsive and impactful NSI; Table 5.3, national and regional collaboration platforms row; printed p. 67 (PDF p. 79)] Full STI plan PDF

Children’s rights in climate action

The Children’s Rights Project at UWC’s Dullah Omar Institute also convened a 2025 training workshop on children’s rights and climate change. Supported by SIDA through the African Children’s Rights Project, it brought together community and religious leaders, early childhood development teachers and grassroots activists. Participants considered how climate pressures affect children and how local leaders can make space for young people’s views. The discussion called for a child-rights perspective in local climate governance, with communities involved in developing responses. The activity shows dedicated community learning on the relationship between climate action, rights and inclusion. [11]

Helping young people explore higher education

Student-led outreach extended beyond South Africa. In an initiative reported in June 2025, two UWC master’s students partnered with the Pilgrim Center for Reconciliation in Uganda, supported by staff from the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at UWC. They led an outreach session for more than 50 young people, many described in the University’s account as internally displaced. The session included information about higher education and support with UWC applications. The initiative connected prospective applicants with information and practical support through a community partnership. [12]

Regional cooperation for inclusive education

UWC’s regional contribution includes Professor Sulochini Pather’s leadership of the SADC Care and Support for Teaching and Learning Research Group. As described in the 2024/2025 RISE report, the group brings representatives from 16 member states together with MIET Africa, UNESCO, UNICEF and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. Its approach connects education, health and social services within inclusive systems of care. The partnership supplies a regional structure for research and cooperation on the conditions that support learning. [9, p. 56]

Environmental learning through international and local knowledge

Among its explicitly dated 2024 engagement activities, UWC records participation in a Nelson Mandela University-led New Frontiers in Research Fund collaboration with institutions in Canada, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. The eco-literacy project links primary-school environmental learning with food and water security, climate change and Indigenous Knowledge Systems. UWC’s Dr Rubina Setlhare leads a Humansdorp strand using participatory learning and advisory structures to bring youth voices and First Nations knowledge into the research. This earlier work forms part of the multi-year partnership base documented in the 2024/2025 report. [9, p. 58]

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Student sustainability enquiry and assessment

The SDG Essay and Poster Competition reported in May 2025 assessed 41 submissions on sustainability-related questions. Its criteria included originality, academic rigour, referencing and clarity of the link to the SDGs. The full account below retains the scope of this assessed student work and its research-communication purpose. [15]

Evidence and context

Student enquiry and research communication

Co-curricular activity also made the SDGs a subject of student enquiry. The second annual SDG Essay and Poster Competition received 41 submissions, comprising 34 essays and seven posters. Reported in May 2025, the competition addressed topics including water, poverty, gender equity and climate action. Assessment considered originality, academic rigour, referencing and the clarity of the connection to the SDGs. The Library’s involvement connected research support with student communication of sustainability questions. The documented output is a body of student work and an opportunity for critical engagement with the goals. [15]

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