As the MScR component of the WESAF Doctoral Programme draws to a close, we reflect back on one of the highlights of the year. In April and May of 2024, Mastercard Foundation WESAF Fellows and a delegation of 13 academics from the University of Edinburgh participated in a 10-day Sustainability School at the University of Witwatersrand (Wits) in Johannesburg, South Africa. Advancing African SustainabilityThe Wits-Edinburgh Sustainable African Futures (WESAF) Doctoral Programme, in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, aims to provide research training to equip students (primarily academics already holding tenured positions) to complete interdisciplinary doctoral research on areas related to sustainability on the African continent. The blended programme is designed to enable students to complete an online Master’s and online doctorate, with in-person Sustainability Schools once a year.Objectives of the Sustainability SchoolThe Sustainability School enabled the Mastercard Foundation WESAF Fellows and academics to meet in-person, while providing structured support for interdisciplinary research projects focusing on sustainability. The Sustainability School presented a unique opportunity to immerse myself in a new learning environment focused that on sustainability issues specific to the African context. Yashena Naidoo Mastercard Foundation WESAF Fellow The primary objectives of University of Edinburgh academics attending the Sustainability School were for them to support the Mastercard Foundation WESAF Fellows as emerging African researchers, and build on existing, or develop new, linkages with academics and research hubs at Wits University. Edinburgh academics planned and facilitated a number of thematic discussion groups for the Mastercard Foundation WESAF Fellows, and networked alongside Wits academics at the Symposium event. Furthermore, academics were encouraged to network with other Wits faculty members while in Johannesburg, and were invited to attend tours alongside the Mastercard Foundation WESAF Fellows to venues including the Apartheid Museum and the Wits campus-based Origins Centre and Wits Arts Museum.The connections made during these events are crucial to the programme’s success, allowing Edinburgh academics to strengthen their relationship with the Mastercard Foundation WESAF Fellows, as doctoral supervision will be jointly delivered by academics from both Edinburgh and Wits online.Georgia Cole, Chancellors Fellow - Global Challenges, School of Social and Political Science, said this about her experience: I was keen to meet the Mastercard Foundation WESAF Fellows, to learn more about their projects and experiences, and to think through how we as the Edinburgh contingent could best leverage our institutional privileges and resources to propel the Fellows forwards... if I were to support in the supervision of any of the students who progress onto the PhD, I think it would make all the difference to have had that in-person interaction. Georgia Cole Chancellors Fellow - Global Challenges, School of Social and Political Science Similarly, a Mastercard Foundation WESAF Fellow expressed appreciation for the connections made with Edinburgh academics: The discussions, presentations, and networking opportunities were invaluable, and I returned home with renewed energy, new ideas, and a stronger network of peers and mentors. It was amazing to see how our diverse backgrounds and research interests came together to form a cohesive and supportive community. Obed Akwaa Harrison Mastercard Foundation WESAF Fellow Symposium Part of the programme included a WESAF Doctoral Programme Sustainability and Inequality Symposium, which held panel discussions to give the Fellows and leaders in higher education the opportunity to address key issues that affect knowledge production and knowledge sustainability on the continent.Discussions sought to answer whether North-South partnerships can deliver the knowledge pipeline required for sustainable African futures, and how and in what ways African graduates in North-South programmes are accountable for their countries of origin. The program also provided the opportunity to participate in the symposium on North-South Higher Education Exchanges, which led to a valuable connection with a professor at Wits University. She generously showed me around her laboratory, and we have since collaborated on a grant proposal with academics from the UK, SA, Ghana, and Nigeria. I have also teamed up with some of my WESAF Doctoral Fellows from Ghana to form a consultancy aimed at developing climate-smart agriculture practices, effectively managing organic and plastic waste, conserving biodiversity, and implementing nature-positive solutions. Obed Akwaa Harrison Mastercard Foundation WESAF Fellow Up next The graduation of the Mastercard Foundation WESAF Fellows from their MScR in Sustainable African Futures at the University of Edinburgh will take place in November 2024. Up to 30 of the Mastercard Foundation WESAF Fellows will then begin a PhD in Sustainable African Futures, jointly supervised between Wits and Edinburgh. The next Sustainability School will be held in Edinburgh in April/May 2025. The Mastercard Foundation team are currently exploring innovative ways to engage with researchers and academics for the next Sustainability School, and would love to hear from you if you have any ideas! Contact the Edinburgh WESAF Doctoral Programme Coordinator Dr. Megan Douglas via email: m.douglas@ed.ac.uk Discover moreWits Edinburgh Sustainable African Futures (WESAF) Doctoral ProgrammeA better Africa needs interdisciplinary research Mastercard Foundation Publication date 05 Nov, 2024
