Sol Plaatje University’s (SPU) Research Office hosted the South African Sweden University Forum (SASUF) Hybrid Colloquium at the SPU Multipurpose Hall, South Campus, on 27 March 2023. In attendance was SPU senior management, academics, postgraduate students, and viewers streaming the event live on the SPU YouTube Channel.
SASUF is a strategic internationalisation project that unites 40 partner universities in South Africa and Sweden. The overall aim of this project is to strengthen ties between the two countries in the fields of innovation, research and education. SPU is a member of SASUF which hosts an annual Research Week in South Africa. As part of the Research Week, member institutions host satellite events on their campuses on themes of the collaborative research projects. This year the SPU satellite event was a hybrid colloquium on: How Higher Education Institutions Achieve the United Nations (UN’s) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through their research, teaching and community engagement.
In welcoming and briefly sharing SPU’s role to guests in attendance, the University Registrar Dr Jody Cedras said, “SPU declared its support in March 2021 for the SASUF 2030 project and undertook to actively participate in the project and committed to contribute to the successful implementation of the project.”
The keynote speaker, Professor Aslam Fataar, a distinguished professor in the Department of Education Policy Studies at Stellenbosch University, presented on the topic “Reimagining the University’s Societal Engagement and Development Identity”. Prof Fataar said the “public good of the university involves a contest over the soul of the university, challenging the neoliberal imaginaries and combining global transdisciplinary science with local knowledge of communities and the public.”
The second presenter, Head of Department for Physical and Earth Sciences, and SASUF Delegates Coordinator, Dr Shale Sefadi, presented on “Co-creation, co-design and co-production for better ties: Our SASUF journey”. Dr Sefadi highlighted that, “As institutions, academics, researchers and scientists we have a contractual obligation with society and if anyone of us shows less commitment towards our contractual obligation with society, then the dream of a better academic life is far-fetched.”
To represent the student community, Ms Tsholofelo Khonyane, a second-year student in the School of Education presented on the topic “Social transformation through change: SPU student voice & perspective”. Ms Khonyane spoke on various socio-economic issues that affect students within the university such as financial exclusion, poverty, violence, and health care. She emphasized that universities must recognise and address these matters as they have the necessary tools and are capable of creating a supportive environment that promotes academic success and well-being.
The event ended on a high note as guests engaged and socialised over dinner.
