Social Learning and Regenerative Sustainability: Unlocking value created in sustainability projects in higher education
- Authors: Royle, Carlene
- Date: 2023-10-13
- Subjects: Social Learning South Africa Makhanda , Sustainability South Africa Makhanda , Education, Higher Social aspects South Africa Makhanda , Social accounting South Africa Makhanda , Education, Higher Activity programs South Africa Makhanda , Value creation , Agent (Philosophy) , Sustainable Development Goals
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/402981 , vital:69911
- Description: This qualitative study considers two bodies of theory, regenerative sustainability and social learning theory, within a tertiary education context. Universities offer unique opportunities, across both the formal and informal curriculum, that engage with the two-fold socioeconomic and environmental crises. The study explores both the promise of unlocking value in an ex-linear economy; and the healing and regenerative benefits in moving toward greener practices. Through an embedded case study at Rhodes University, in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, this research explores the value that is being unlocked in campus-based sustainability projects, when considered through a social learning lens (Lave and Wenger, 1991). Invitations to participate in this study were extended to project-leads of sustainability initiatives originating from Rhodes University campus. Six projects, which have been active on campus in recent years, were selected and, through semi-structured interviews, the insights of 12 participants were captured and analysed using the associated Value Creation Framework (VCF) developed by Wenger, Trayner and De Laat (Wenger, Trayner, de Laat, 2011) and later Wenger-Trayner and Wenger Trayner (2014, 2015, 2020). The VCF consists of value cycles that interconnect dynamically, including Orientating, Strategic, Enabling, Immediate, Potential, Applied, Realised and Reframed or Transformative value cycles. The study identified instances of all these value cycles, within and across the six embedded case studies (project). Drawing on social learning theorists the analysis further focused on instances of collaboration, agency and boundary crossing. Additional themes that emerged across the majority of the embedded study projects, were a convergence of socio and eco; a whole-systems perspective shared by project leads; the importance of the social commons; language as an enabler; and problem solving for system change. A recommendation is proposed to further unlock the unbounded value created through such projects by reframing the informal curriculum opportunities offered on university campuses as social learning spaces where students can practice agency. To do so, would require formalizing various forms of system support, thus facilitating expanded learning in regenerative sustainability activities, for the common social and planetary good. , Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, Education, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-10-13
- Authors: Royle, Carlene
- Date: 2023-10-13
- Subjects: Social Learning South Africa Makhanda , Sustainability South Africa Makhanda , Education, Higher Social aspects South Africa Makhanda , Social accounting South Africa Makhanda , Education, Higher Activity programs South Africa Makhanda , Value creation , Agent (Philosophy) , Sustainable Development Goals
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/402981 , vital:69911
- Description: This qualitative study considers two bodies of theory, regenerative sustainability and social learning theory, within a tertiary education context. Universities offer unique opportunities, across both the formal and informal curriculum, that engage with the two-fold socioeconomic and environmental crises. The study explores both the promise of unlocking value in an ex-linear economy; and the healing and regenerative benefits in moving toward greener practices. Through an embedded case study at Rhodes University, in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, this research explores the value that is being unlocked in campus-based sustainability projects, when considered through a social learning lens (Lave and Wenger, 1991). Invitations to participate in this study were extended to project-leads of sustainability initiatives originating from Rhodes University campus. Six projects, which have been active on campus in recent years, were selected and, through semi-structured interviews, the insights of 12 participants were captured and analysed using the associated Value Creation Framework (VCF) developed by Wenger, Trayner and De Laat (Wenger, Trayner, de Laat, 2011) and later Wenger-Trayner and Wenger Trayner (2014, 2015, 2020). The VCF consists of value cycles that interconnect dynamically, including Orientating, Strategic, Enabling, Immediate, Potential, Applied, Realised and Reframed or Transformative value cycles. The study identified instances of all these value cycles, within and across the six embedded case studies (project). Drawing on social learning theorists the analysis further focused on instances of collaboration, agency and boundary crossing. Additional themes that emerged across the majority of the embedded study projects, were a convergence of socio and eco; a whole-systems perspective shared by project leads; the importance of the social commons; language as an enabler; and problem solving for system change. A recommendation is proposed to further unlock the unbounded value created through such projects by reframing the informal curriculum opportunities offered on university campuses as social learning spaces where students can practice agency. To do so, would require formalizing various forms of system support, thus facilitating expanded learning in regenerative sustainability activities, for the common social and planetary good. , Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, Education, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-10-13
A critical analysis of the Urban Food System, Urban Governance and Household Food Security in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
- Authors: Maphosa, Mandlenkosi
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Food security Zimbabwe Bulawayo , City planning Government policy Zimbabwe Bulawayo , Urban poor Zimbabwe Bulawayo , Urban agriculture Zimbabwe Bulawayo , COVID-19 (Disease) Zimbabwe Bulawayo , Agent (Philosophy)
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/327165 , vital:61087 , DOI 10.21504/10962/327165
- Description: Urbanisation is occurring on a massive scale globally and even more so in the less developed regions of the Global South including sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Like other developing regions of the world, urbanisation in SSA is not occurring alongside a corresponding growth in urban economies. Resultantly, it is taking place in tandem with the rising scourge of urban poverty, including food insecurity. While urban food insecurity is a clear challenge in SSA, the challenge has however not been met with equal vigour in policy making and implementation circles and even in academia. Problematically, the urban food security literature often focuses on one element of the food system without giving due attention to other components of the system. Resultantly, broader systemic failures and the dynamics related to the different actors across the system-elements are missed. There has thus been recent calls to embrace urban governance in studying urban food systems, which this study does. The thesis examines the urban food system in Bulawayo (in Zimbabwe) with specific reference to urban governance and household food security to understand sociologically the complex multi-dimensional processes, structures, systems, and practices underpinning the urban food system. As a result of the complex nature of food systems, an eclectic analytical framework is employed encompassing Obeng Odoom’s DED framework, Clapp and Fuchs’ framework of power, Gaventa’s power cube and theories of everyday life derived from de Certeau and Lefebvre. Methodologically, the study is informed by a Critical Realism paradigm which accommodates the convergent mixed methods research design employed. The research strategy employed was that of a survey and case study. Key findings reveal that the Bulawayo food system, from production to consumption, is complex and is nested within broader national and international food systems. Although without a direct and explicit mandate on food security, the local authority is at the centre of urban governance processes as it employs a plethora of strategies to influence the nature of the food system. However, the study reveals that the food system is as much a construction from below through the agential activities of the urban poor. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Sociology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
- Authors: Maphosa, Mandlenkosi
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Food security Zimbabwe Bulawayo , City planning Government policy Zimbabwe Bulawayo , Urban poor Zimbabwe Bulawayo , Urban agriculture Zimbabwe Bulawayo , COVID-19 (Disease) Zimbabwe Bulawayo , Agent (Philosophy)
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/327165 , vital:61087 , DOI 10.21504/10962/327165
- Description: Urbanisation is occurring on a massive scale globally and even more so in the less developed regions of the Global South including sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Like other developing regions of the world, urbanisation in SSA is not occurring alongside a corresponding growth in urban economies. Resultantly, it is taking place in tandem with the rising scourge of urban poverty, including food insecurity. While urban food insecurity is a clear challenge in SSA, the challenge has however not been met with equal vigour in policy making and implementation circles and even in academia. Problematically, the urban food security literature often focuses on one element of the food system without giving due attention to other components of the system. Resultantly, broader systemic failures and the dynamics related to the different actors across the system-elements are missed. There has thus been recent calls to embrace urban governance in studying urban food systems, which this study does. The thesis examines the urban food system in Bulawayo (in Zimbabwe) with specific reference to urban governance and household food security to understand sociologically the complex multi-dimensional processes, structures, systems, and practices underpinning the urban food system. As a result of the complex nature of food systems, an eclectic analytical framework is employed encompassing Obeng Odoom’s DED framework, Clapp and Fuchs’ framework of power, Gaventa’s power cube and theories of everyday life derived from de Certeau and Lefebvre. Methodologically, the study is informed by a Critical Realism paradigm which accommodates the convergent mixed methods research design employed. The research strategy employed was that of a survey and case study. Key findings reveal that the Bulawayo food system, from production to consumption, is complex and is nested within broader national and international food systems. Although without a direct and explicit mandate on food security, the local authority is at the centre of urban governance processes as it employs a plethora of strategies to influence the nature of the food system. However, the study reveals that the food system is as much a construction from below through the agential activities of the urban poor. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Sociology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
Youth, political violence and ZANU-PF politics in Zimbabwe, c.1950-2018
- Authors: Munyarari, Tinashe
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Youth protest movements Zimbabwe , Political violence Zimbabwe , ZANU-PF (Organization : Zimbabwe) , Agent (Philosophy) , Zimbabwe Politics and government , Zimbabwe History
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/365966 , vital:65806 , DOI https://doi.org/10.21504/10962/365966
- Description: This study is a socio-political aspect of Zimbabwean history. It examines the development of youth political violence starting from the late 1950s when violent forms of African political mobilisation emerged to 2018 when the first election without Robert Mugabe was held. It explores how early nationalist parties such as the Salisbury City Youth League (SCYL), Southern Rhodesia African National Congress (SRANC), National Democratic Party (NDP), Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) and later the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) mobilised and socialised youths into political violence to understand the roots of the violent political culture in Zimbabwe. This study shows that youths were an important part of the strategies of these political parties in countering the violence of the colonial state as well as mobilising mass support for the movements during the liberation struggle. It reveals that war collaborators (mujibhas and chimbwidos) were central role players in instigating political violence against innocent and defenceless people during the war. In the 1980s and 1990s, the Youth brigades and the ZANU-PF Youth League became a key constituent for state-socialist developmental goals but they were at times manipulated as a resource for political violence when Mugabe’s power was challenged. The study shows that more grotesque violence occurred in the 2000s era when the National Youth Service (NYS) was introduced and state-sanctioned vigilante groups like Chipangano in Mbare emerged in response to the rise of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and diminishing of consensual power. This study argues that youth were not mere victims and perpetrators of political violence, but they were a collection of various interest sub-groups with diverse agendas and a sense of agency. Some joined violent groups for their social mobility, power, impunity and economic opportunities availed to the group members. Data for this study was drawn from Mbare and Highfields (in Harare Province) and Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe (in Mashonaland East Province). , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, History, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
- Authors: Munyarari, Tinashe
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Youth protest movements Zimbabwe , Political violence Zimbabwe , ZANU-PF (Organization : Zimbabwe) , Agent (Philosophy) , Zimbabwe Politics and government , Zimbabwe History
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/365966 , vital:65806 , DOI https://doi.org/10.21504/10962/365966
- Description: This study is a socio-political aspect of Zimbabwean history. It examines the development of youth political violence starting from the late 1950s when violent forms of African political mobilisation emerged to 2018 when the first election without Robert Mugabe was held. It explores how early nationalist parties such as the Salisbury City Youth League (SCYL), Southern Rhodesia African National Congress (SRANC), National Democratic Party (NDP), Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) and later the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) mobilised and socialised youths into political violence to understand the roots of the violent political culture in Zimbabwe. This study shows that youths were an important part of the strategies of these political parties in countering the violence of the colonial state as well as mobilising mass support for the movements during the liberation struggle. It reveals that war collaborators (mujibhas and chimbwidos) were central role players in instigating political violence against innocent and defenceless people during the war. In the 1980s and 1990s, the Youth brigades and the ZANU-PF Youth League became a key constituent for state-socialist developmental goals but they were at times manipulated as a resource for political violence when Mugabe’s power was challenged. The study shows that more grotesque violence occurred in the 2000s era when the National Youth Service (NYS) was introduced and state-sanctioned vigilante groups like Chipangano in Mbare emerged in response to the rise of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and diminishing of consensual power. This study argues that youth were not mere victims and perpetrators of political violence, but they were a collection of various interest sub-groups with diverse agendas and a sense of agency. Some joined violent groups for their social mobility, power, impunity and economic opportunities availed to the group members. Data for this study was drawn from Mbare and Highfields (in Harare Province) and Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe (in Mashonaland East Province). , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, History, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
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