Prof Marius Venter Director The Centre for Local Economic Development (CENLED) was established in 2008, primarily for capacity-building in the local economic development sphere. In accordance with the vision, mission, core values, principles of corporate governance, and the legal and management framework of the University. CENLED drives 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). In addition, CENLED lectured on the MCom LED qualification, the module Topics in Poverty and Inequality, and presented a workshop to master’s students: “Guidelines for writing the methodology section of the technical research report”. Five PhD students enrolled in 2025, and three will complete early 2026. CENLED incorporates the PASCAL International Observatory (Africa) and Prof Marius Venter also serves as the director of PASCAL (Africa), whilst representatives from the LED cluster Prof Marinda Pretorius and Prof Peter Baur serve as co-directors. 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 from around the world. PASCAL (Africa) under the auspices of CENLED organised and hosted the VII International Congress on Sustainable Development (SD2025): Resilient Regions and Global Partnerships for Social Innovation and Sustainable Development, from 29 – 31 October 2025, at the Lagoon Beach Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa as part of the UJ 20th anniversary. This congress brought together thought leaders, policy makers, academics, and industry experts to focus on the critical challenges, dynamic transformations, and innovative solutions shaping the resilience and sustainability of peripheral regions and to emphasise the pivotal role of interdisciplinary research and global partnerships in fostering inclusive and sustainable regional development. CENTRE FOR LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (CENLED) School of Economics Global engagements and partnerships An academic collaboration contract was concluded with the Centro Universitário Integrado in Brazil. Dr Chane de Bruyn a postdoctoral research fellow of CENLED global engagements represented the Centre extensively: – UNICAMP (Brazil): Guest lecture in the Postgraduate Program on Geopolitics and Climate Change: Environmental Education as a Tool for Transformation. 10 October 2025. – Kumaraguru College of Liberal Arts and Science (India): Master Class on Development from the Ground up: Local Economic realities in South Africa and India. 29 September 2025. – Polytechnic University of Portalegre (IPP) (Portugal): Guest lecture at the Postgraduate Program in the Post-Graduation on Climate Change and Risk Mitigation. 3 May 2025. – Guest lecture students at Centro Universitario Integrado, Campo Mourão in Brazil. May 2025. National capacity-building CENLED and the Department of Cooperative Governance are in the process of a five-year collaboration agreement to execute capacity-building initiatives to strengthen Local Economic Development (LED) implementation in South Africa. A contract with the Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism is being implemented to capacitate municipal officials and councillors in the online Higher Certificate in LED. During 2025, 41 candidates completed the qualification successfully. Dr Chane de Bruyn Carlien Roux , Lebogang Moleele (student of the HCLED), Morongwa Raboshakga (SALGA) and Dr Chane de Bruyn Prof Marius Venter, CENLED Sustainable Development Congress 2025 Carlien Roux and Dr Chane de Bruyn at the CENLED strategic planning session 58 59 College of Business and Economics | Annual Report 2025 College of Business and Economics | Annual Report 2025
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