91��Ƭ�� Rural Knowledge Hub - 91��Ƭ�� University

91��Ƭ�� Rural Knowledge Hub (WiRKH) Contact Us

Centred at the stunning 91��Ƭ�� Rural Campus in the South African Lowveld, at the interface between state and private conservation areas and rural communities, the 91��Ƭ�� Rural Knowledge Hub (WiRKH) serves as a knowledge broker, linking science to action for sustainable development.

WiRKH is a hub that connects and integrates the research “spokes” of long-standing 91��Ƭ�� research initiatives in and around the rural municipality of Bushbuckridge in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, providing intellectual, organisational, and infrastructural support to the 91��Ƭ�� academic project in the region for societal benefit.

Aim

To integrate, synthesise, and translate multi-disciplinary research in support of evidence-based action for positive change, particularly in rural areas.

The densely populated rural areas of the former Apartheid homelands of South Africa remain among the most under-developed parts of the country. At the same time, these areas are undergoing rapid demographic, health, socio-economic, and environmental transitions that pose both challenges and opportunities for sustainable development.

The 91��Ƭ�� Rural Campus was established as a platform for generating data, knowledge, and human capital needed to respond to this rural South African reality. Established as the 91��Ƭ�� Rural Facility by a visionary pair - Prof. John Gear and Joan Mavrondonis – in 1989, the 91��Ƭ�� Rural Campus is a nexus of multi-disciplinary research, student training, and community engagement in the rural communities of Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga Province.

The Anglo American and De Beers Chairman’s Fund is acknowledged for a generous donation that enabled the University to purchase the Umbabat property in 1988, and for providing a significant proportion of the funding for the first four years of operation of the 91��Ƭ�� Rural Facility (1989-1992). The substantial upgrading and expansion of facilities (2014-2019) was funded by the National Departments of Science and Technology (now known as Science and Innovation) and Higher Education and Training in support of transforming the 91��Ƭ�� Rural Campus into a Knowledge Hub for Rural Development.

OUR WORK

Data: Advanced research infrastructures

Knowledge brokerage: Exchange and synthesis

Learning: Training, leadership and science career development

Reflecting: Academic retreat and thought centre

Engaging: Community engagement

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