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Engaged Research – Strengthening Community Partnerships (University of Pretoria, South Africa)

 

 

 

 

Thursday, 11 August 2022,

8:30 - 10:00 AM EST

Watch this CommUniversity Workshop led by Martina Jordaan, Head of Community Engagement Research and postgraduate studies at the University of Pretoria, with community members Glen Mokwena, Chair, Historical Society of Mamelodi, and Rev. Chris Nkomo, Vice-Chair, Historical Society of Mamelodi. Dr. Jordaan was previously responsible for a compulsory undergraduate module, Community-Based Project of the Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and IT at the University of Pretoria, where more than 1600 students enrolled annually for the module and the students were involved in more than 570 projects a year at various community sites. Dr. Jordaan will reflect on engaged research and its value in strengthening community partnerships between a higher education institution and the broader community.

 

Dr. Martina Jordaan

Martina Jordaan is the Head of Community engagement research and postgraduate studies at the University of Pretoria Mamelodi campus. She was previously responsible for a compulsory undergraduate module, Community-Based Project, of the Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and IT at the University of Pretoria. Annually more than 1600 students enroll for the module and the students were involved in more than 570 projects a year at various community sites. Martina holds a doctorate in History and a Masters in Development study. She was also head of the Education Museum in Pretoria and responsible for the development of preschool teachers in the informal settlement next to Pretoria as well as the skills development of staff at various schools in Pretoria.

 

Mr. Glen Mokwena

Mr. Glen Mokwena was born in Eersterust and had to leave with his parents due to the apartheid policies of the previous government. He was raised in Mamelodi, a township further east of Pretoria. In his formative years, amongst other things, Glen became a trade unionist for a period of over a decade. After 1994 he joined the corporate world as a transformation manager in public and private corporations, including being a board member for the Ditsong National Museums of South Africa. He is a lifelong student of development studies. Glen has a passion for public interest issues of the South African social landscape with a particular focus on his home area in helping the development of his people.

Rev. Chris Nkomo

Rev. Chris Nkomo was born in Eastwood next to Pretoria and then was removed by the apartheid regime to Mamelodi. He holds a mechanical engineering certificate from the University of the Witwatersrand. He also studied dyed-design and completed a project management course at the University of Stellenbosch. Rev Chris is also a pastor in the local community. He is now busy with a leadership in the urban transformation course at the University of Pretoria. He is passionate about the preservation of Mamelodi history.

The CommUniversity 2022 workshop series, organized by OSUN and the Talloires Network, showcases university civic engagement approaches (frameworks, strategies, methods, and practices) that have been shown to produce favorable results and that represent a standard suitable for adoption or adaptation.

Other workshops in the series feature leaders in the field of university civic engagement and run each month from February 2022 through July 2022, highlighting innovative community-university research in communities in the United States, Lebanon, Bangladesh, Uganda, Ghana, and Austria.

Learn more about the Engaged Research Fund grants here.
Learn more details about the workshops here.

For more information or questions, please email talloiresnetwork@tufts.edu.