The University of the Western Cape (UWC) is proud to host the South Africa Sweden University Forum (SASUF) which is a research and innovation forum that brings together researchers, teachers, students, university management representatives from 40 SASUF partner universities.
The fifth Research and Innovation Week will start with Satellite Events (27-29 March) across South Africa and the last part of the week will be the Sustainability Forum (29-31 March) at UWC.
SASUF has six main themes:
The forum is the pinnacle of innovation and research, but also a showcase of collaboration between various South African and Swedish researchers.
Deputy Vice Chancellor: Research and Innovation, Professor José Frantz says: “Collaborative research is key to solving the societal problems we face on a daily basis. Through partnerships we are able to find solutions that are context specific and can learn about each other, from each other, and with each other. We are keen to use this opportunity to connect possibilities in terms of research and education”.
Umesh Bawa, Director of UWC's International Relations Office added: “UWC is excited to host the 2023 SASUF Research Week which brings together Swedish and SA researchers, institutional leaders, students, and academics for collaborative scholarly engagements on the important issues of climate change, global health, and matters of importance to society.
This forum presents an opportunity for in-depth discussions to inform knowledge production in service of sustainable development.”
Below is this the programme for the 2023 forum discussion slots:
CLICK HERE FOR THE OVERVIEW PROGRAMME
SASUF was established in 2018 as a strategic internationalisation project running from 2018-2020, with the overall aim of strengthening ties between Sweden and South Africa in research, education, and innovation. It was built on the foundation of North-South partnerships established under the Southern African Nordic Centre (SANORD) – the brainchild of former Rector and Vice-Chancellor Prof Brian O’Connell (UWC) and Rector Prof Eva Akesson (Uppsala).
In 2021, SASUF was granted further funding, and a decision was made to extend the collaboration with a new three-year project plan.
This new era of collaboration goes by the name SASUF 2030 and runs from 2022-2024.
The fifth Research and Innovation Week will start with Satellite Events (27-29 March) across South Africa and the last part of the week will be the Sustainability Forum (29-31 March) at UWC.
SASUF has six main themes:
- Climate change, natural resources, and sustainability
- Education for a sustainable society
- Social transformation through change: Knowledge and social development strategies
- Health – Understanding the burden of disease in Sweden and South Africa
- Sustainable urbanisation, travel, and tourism in the 21st Century
- Digital technologies, big data, and cybersecurity
The forum is the pinnacle of innovation and research, but also a showcase of collaboration between various South African and Swedish researchers.
Deputy Vice Chancellor: Research and Innovation, Professor José Frantz says: “Collaborative research is key to solving the societal problems we face on a daily basis. Through partnerships we are able to find solutions that are context specific and can learn about each other, from each other, and with each other. We are keen to use this opportunity to connect possibilities in terms of research and education”.
Umesh Bawa, Director of UWC's International Relations Office added: “UWC is excited to host the 2023 SASUF Research Week which brings together Swedish and SA researchers, institutional leaders, students, and academics for collaborative scholarly engagements on the important issues of climate change, global health, and matters of importance to society.
This forum presents an opportunity for in-depth discussions to inform knowledge production in service of sustainable development.”
Below is this the programme for the 2023 forum discussion slots:
DATE |
TITLE |
SUMMARY |
SPEAKERS |
| 30 March (09h00 - 11h00) | Complex Societal Problems - Preventing childhood malnutrition in South Africa and Sweden – how can it be done? | The percentage of overweight in children has increased 10-fold globally during less than two generations. In Sweden, overweight prevalence among 4-year old children is around 15%. In South Africa a similar rise in overweight and obesity among children has been observed. In addition, 27% of children in South Africa under five years are stunted. Overweight, obesity and stunting predispose these children for developing non-communicable diseases. Hence, the high prevalence of malnutrition in children is a serious health threat with significant implications both for the children and societal welfare. We have started a collaboration on the project Society based intervention to combat early childhood malnutrition in South Africa and Sweden – ECHO-S (Ending Childhood Obesity and Stunting), to learn from each other and collectively work on solutions. |
Peter Bergsten (Professor at Department of Women's and Children's Health, Paediatric Inflammation, Metabolism and Child Health Research,, Uppsala University) Sindiwe James (Professor at Department of Nursing Sciences, Nelson Mandela University, Nelson Mandela University) |
| 30 March (11h45 - 13h00) | Food systems in the face of climate and exogenous shocks: Building back better for increased resilience | Over the last three years, the concurrence and severity of exogenous shocks, caused by the negative effects of climate change and natural disasters, the Covid-19 pandemic, and geopolitical conflicts, have exposed the vulnerability and fragility of food systems. The planned workshop aims to bring together participants who work on climate and environmental changes, food systems, and food security issues from a range of perspectives–government, NGO, civil society, donors and research–to discuss policy options and define research priorities for building more resilient food systems. |
Paul Egan (SASUF Coordinator & Assoc. Prof, SLU Global - Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) Enok Owusu-Sekyere (Researcher/Lecturer, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) Abiodun Akintunde Ogundeji (Associate Professor, University of the Free State) Assem Abu Hatab Associate Professor in food and agricultural economics at the Department of Economics (SLU), and a professor in Development Economics at the Nordic Africa Institute (NAI) in Uppsala.) |
| 30 March (14h30 - 16h30) |
Decolonising Education - From Theory to Practice | The aim of this workshop is to present ongoing work in the field of Higher education, curriculum theory and curriculum research in South Africa and Sweden in relation to issues of decolonising and coloniality. In the last decade, the theoretical concepts of postcoloniality and decoloniality have gained increasing traction in many parts of the world. The student movements for the decolonization of the University that spread from Cape Town to Oxford to Uppsala was only one of the controversies. The debates also concern issues of decolonization of cultural heritage and Western museums as well as colonial legacies in trade and industry. |
Kerstin von Brömssen (Professor, University West) Beverly Thaver (Professor, University of the Western Cape) |
| 30 March (14h30 - 16h30) | Translating the lessons we have learned from the Covid-19 era into the work of PhD studies and social justice considerations | The workshop will serve as an introduction to a PhD course syllabus on Rural Development & Social Justice. The course seeks to fill the knowledge gap regarding social justice and related equality and socio-economic inclusion obligations while equipping course participants with the knowledge and tools to act as change leaders to advance social justice in their operational contexts. It also seeks to help those teaching social justice with a consolidated knowledge resource toolkit on various social justice issues, theories, and analytical tools. |
Thulisile Madonsela (Professor at Centre for Social Justice, Stellenbosch University) Linley Chiwona-Karltun (Associate Professor, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) |
| 31 March (09h00 - 11h00) |
Pregnancy issues for women with heart disease - Interventions for support, increased knowledge and self-management | The workshop will be divided in two parts. The first is planned for the established researchers within the field who are associated with the performance of the research project. The second part is intended for establishing involvement with The Global Alliance for Rheumatic and Congenital Hearts (Global ARCH) and will also investigate how their collaboration can be developed further within the project. |
Marie Thynell (Senior Advisor, University of Gothenburg) Emaculate Ingwani (Senior Lecturer, University of Venda) |
| 31 March (09h00 - 11h00) |
Use of DNA sequencing technologies and integrated data management to ensure the health security of Sweden and South Africa | South Africa and Sweden have formulated bioeconomy strategies that harness and expand their respective innovation footprints in human, animal, and agricultural health. These domains have seen local implementation of DNA sequencing technologies to drive improvements in diagnostics, and animal and crop breeding programmes. In the context of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, both South Africa and Sweden have harnessed genomics capacity to understand and mitigate SARS-COV-2 transmission chains. | Dominique Anderson (Dr, University of the Western Cape) Erik Bongcam-Rudloff (Professor, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) |
SASUF was established in 2018 as a strategic internationalisation project running from 2018-2020, with the overall aim of strengthening ties between Sweden and South Africa in research, education, and innovation. It was built on the foundation of North-South partnerships established under the Southern African Nordic Centre (SANORD) – the brainchild of former Rector and Vice-Chancellor Prof Brian O’Connell (UWC) and Rector Prof Eva Akesson (Uppsala).
In 2021, SASUF was granted further funding, and a decision was made to extend the collaboration with a new three-year project plan.
This new era of collaboration goes by the name SASUF 2030 and runs from 2022-2024.
