The PopUp Bellville innovation challenge ignites creative thinking encourage entrepreneurship among young people - and also gives them the chance to design a fun and engaging business venture.

Pop-Up Bellville (PUB) is a project of the Greater Tygerberg Partnership and Innovation South Africa

The University of the Western Cape’s (UWC) Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI) is excited to announce the PopUp Bellville innovation challenge, launched at UWC this month.

Pop-Up Bellville is an innovation challenge for UWC students across faculties with an interest in social innovation and entrepreneurship. The winners of the competition will create a pop-up space to connect with the Bellville community. PUB will create an opportunity for students to create a Pop up space that impacts the community whilst being a viable business opportunity in order to spur social entrepreneurship amongst students.

PUB is an excellent opportunity to drive a culture of socially conscious entrepreneurship . It is also an opportunity for students to investigate

Forty business-minded social change-makers were selected from UWC’s students to learn creative problem solving and gain business start-up experience. The successful applicants form project teams that will attend four on-campus workshops to gain experience in design thinking and entrepreneurship.

The competition provides a platform to ignite creative thinking, nurture invention and encourage entrepreneurship among young people. Students work in teams to design a pop-up space for the Bellville community that can succeed as a business venture while also being fun and engaging.

The students will develop their pop-up space idea and prototype it on campus.

The winning team will receive R 10 000 to implement their idea - and will also have the opportunity to showcase their stall at Bellville Middestad Mall.

Clint Davies of the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation said exciting aspects of their programmes are the partnerships, student learning platforms and the importance of student entrepreneurship development as job creators as opposed to jok seekers. “The CEi works with partners where there are innovative entrepreneurship teaching and learning opportunities through a carefully managed and integrated path for aspiring UWC student entrepreneurs,” he said.

Lana Franks from Innovation SA said the Pop-Up Bellville innovation challenge provides a platform to develop creative thinking, to nurture invention and encourage entrepreneurship among young people. Further, students develop: social awareness design thinking teamwork,startup business experience

Franks said;  “The purpose of the project addresses two key areas of regeneration in the Bellville Precinct: activating public spaces such as Kruskal Avenue and Kerk Plein for recreational activity and meaningful connection between people who live, work or study in Bellville The hope is to create a pop-up (temporary & mobile) space for people to communicate and share experiences in a creative way in order to create greater social cohesion within the Bellville community.” Franks also mentioned that entrepreneurship is so much more that making money. It’s about learning to see problems as opportunities for innovation and then doing something about it.

“When this happens, the possibilities for overcoming the numerous challenges we face as individuals, families, communities and ultimately the nation, are endless. South Africa needs a generation of young innovators to spearhead the transformation of society and resolve local challenges with a hopeful and creative zeal.”

“The 'Future of Jobs Report' published by the World Economic Forum, ranks problem solving, critical thinking and creativity as part of the top 10 required skills for 2020 and into the future. Students who graduate with these skills will be set-apart as leaders in their field, Franks said.

For more information on Innovation SA, contact Stefan Louw via email at stefan@innovationsa.co.za

For more information of the programmes at CEI, contact Wendy Mehl via email at wmehl@uwc.ac.za or visit the CEI website