College of Business and Economics | Annual Report 2022 70 Centre for Local Economic Development (CENLED) Prof Marius Venter Director: Centre for Local Economic Development, School of Economics College of Business and Economics OVERVIEW The Centre for Local Economic Development (CENLED) is in the School of Economics within the CBE at UJ. CENLED was established in 2008, primarily for capacity building in the local economic development sphere. Following the vision, mission, core values, principles of corporate governance, and the legal and management framework of the University, CENLED: • Provides leadership and excellence in local economic and human settlement development and entrepreneurship. • Promotes the placement of qualified people in local economic and human settlement development. • Promotes local economic and human settlement development as distinct, recognised, and selfgoverning professions. • Promotes entrepreneurship through formal qualifications, short learning programmes and other interventions at post-school educational institutions and other organisations. • Builds partnerships with communities. • Contributes to South Africa’s and Africa’s economic well-being. CENLED is the driving force in establishing a career path for local economic development (LED) professionals and the professional body for economic development practitioners, the Economic Development Council of South Africa (EDCSA), which was established with the support of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). CENLED has partnered with the International Economic Development Council (IEDC), which supports the professionalisation of economic development practitioners, and the IEDC recognises the EDCSA professional designation of Certified Economic Developers. CENLED incorporates the PASCAL International Observatory (Africa). The PASCAL International Observatory is a global network of practitioners and researchers from higher education, regional government, the private sector, and non-governmental organisations, which fosters collaboration and innovation in regional development - economic, workforce, social and cultural. The PASCAL network actively integrates policy, practice, and research to strengthen communities and promote prosperity. PASCAL associates consult on regional development, operate a web-based knowledge exchange forum, host international conferences, conduct original research, and publish materials on innovative regional development practices worldwide. PASCAL originated from a conference organised by the Organization for Cooperation and Development (OECD), which examined the role of learning cities in regional development. Learning cities/ regions arise when individuals and organisations intentionally coordinate learning with economic and community development. The PASCAL network connects researchers and practitioners across four sectors: higher education, regional government, private (for-profit), and non-governmental (not-forprofit) sectors. PASCAL serves as a pipeline that produces public benefits, with at least three inputs at the front end: human talent, physical resources, and knowledgesharing systems. Coordination of these inputs creates conditions for productivity and innovation, ensures beneficial outcomes and impacts for all within the region and increases PASCAL’s range of contributors and the number of beneficiaries. Communities engaging in regional development have an excellent opportunity to learn from similar areas worldwide and from various existing networks that can aid efforts.
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