2022 CBE Annual Report

College of Business and Economics | Annual Report 2022 56 PEETS) to develop a sector development plan for the micro-digester industry in South Africa. The plan was released on April 2022. The release followed a discussion of the recommendations with industry stakeholders in February 2022 and a final broader stakeholder validation workshop in March 2022. The plan focuses on four different sector pathways to develop the sector. If the pathways progress, South Africa has the potential to significantly reduce rural energy poverty and urban organic waste to landfills, as well as boost employment and business opportunities. Accessed the policy report here: https://www.uj.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/ uj- trcti-finalreport-sanediproject-06apr21_ revised25jul21-finaledited94.pdf In addition, in 2022, we hosted 19 events (plus 10 under TIP SA). Our events are increasingly attended by non-academic participants, including policy officials and practitioners, which is a testament to the broader impact of our work. Our event series included: • The Brown Bag sessions are informal lunchtime presentations where any Chair member can present work in progress, ongoing research projects, project proposals and article ideas. We held five in 2022. • The Debate series aims to engage different perspectives on relevant topics related to sustainable development, transformative innovation and the 4IR. The debates are open to students, professors, and researchers within UJ, SPRU and ACTS. We held two in 2022. • The Conversation with Authors series invites inspiring authors and emerging scholars to present their original research papers. The events allow participants to interact with crucial readings and facilitate their incorporation into ongoing and planned research projects. We held two in 2022. • The Public Lecture series invites expert lecturers and community discussions highlighting development in Transformative Innovation, the 4IR and Sustainable Development. We held four in 2022. • The Trilateral Chair developed a volume titled “Harnessing Innovation in Africa for Transformative Change: lessons from COVID-19”. This project has resulted in 11 working papers and one edited volume for publication in early 2023. The Chair hosted two pre-book launches, which provided a platform for interested parties to engage on the content and the context of the book before it is published. • Policy dissemination workshops included: – An industry stakeholder workshop on the future of the micro digester sector in South Africa was held with around 80 stakeholders from the public and private sectors to validate the final sector development plan. – A matchmaking workshop was held as part of the Innovation in African Universities project, which was attended by nine entrepreneurs (+ other firm representatives), eight students and project team members. The workshop provided a space for entrepreneurs and students to understand the gaps entrepreneurs had, the skills available from students, and the matching of these to take place. – A Stakeholder Validation Workshop on “Emerging Technologies in South Africa” presented research findings on the landscape of emerging technologies in South Africa to stakeholders from academia, government, and Panel on Transformative innovation policy as a model to drive sustainable development at the Sustainability Research & Innovation Congress

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