Regional Development

CHEC's partnerships with the Western Cape Government (WCG), the City of Cape Town (CCT) and the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Colleges in the Western Cape contribute to the development of the Western Cape as a learning region. These strategic partnerships constitute an integral part of the so-called third mission of our regional universities, namely, to be responsive institutions with a systematic approach to transformative social impact.

To date, the partnerships with the WCG and the CCT have focused on small research projects where academic researchers "partner" with government staff on projects that contribute to government priorities. While the government partner sets the agenda for the research calls, academics have considerable autonomy in shaping their responses to the call. Interdisciplinary and multi-institutional projects are encouraged.

The Western Cape Government

Origins and purpose of the partnership

Following a summit with the Cabinet and Premier of the then WCG held on 16 October 2006 (view the report on CHEC – Provincial Government Summit 2006), a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed. Its key objectives are to:

Establish structures that enable the Western Cape institutions and the Provincial Government to develop and implement shared strategies for advancing social and economic development
Promote the Western Cape as a 'Learning Region', which can be used to attract people to the region to study and contribute to growth and development in the Western Cape province
Facilitate the regular sharing of information on the plans of higher education institutions and the Provincial Government
Develop a three-year plan to address the mutually agreed strategic initiatives
Strengthen the contribution of higher education to the provincial economy

Members of the WCG joined CHEC representatives on the Barcelona leg of a study tour to the North-West and North-east of England and Barcelona in 2009. The tour enabled the group to study best practice with regard to higher education partnerships with government, business and civil society (Report to the CHEC Board: Preliminary visit to Barcelona, 2009).

The Joint Task Team

CHEC's partnership with the WCG is coordinated by the Joint Task Team (JTT), co-chaired by Dr Hildegard Fast in the Department of the Premier and Mr Mawethu Nyakatya of Stellenbosch University. The JTT consists of a representative from each of the universities, the CHEC CEO and representatives from relevant provincial departments.

Meetings are held every six weeks and include discussions on the government's Vision-Inspired Priorities, the research grants and other partnership events (such as workshops, projects and roundtables).

The Innovation Grants and Annual Research Grants

For the past decade, the JTT has awarded grants to the value of R500 000 to several small research projects each year. In the past six years, an amount of R100 000 has also been set aside for an annual Innovation Grant. In 2021, it was agreed that the full amount of R500 000 would be awarded to one larger project on Regional Innovation Systems (RISs). This decision was in line with the JTT's adoption of a more strategic approach to the partnership.

The 2021 CHEC / WCG grant was awarded to Dr J. Becker and his team from UWC and SU for a multiphase project that will investigate global and local RISs, develop a model for the WCG for further review by experts, and consider the RIS sectors with the highest potential in the provincial economy.

Previous Innovation Grant projects

2019/2020 — Mr F Kroll from UWC: Co-producing knowledge for resilient food systems in the Western Cape
2018/2019 — Dr J. Becker (UWC): Harnessing the power of machine learning to identify nascent entrepreneurs
2017/2018 — Professors J. Chipps and A. Padmanabhunni (UWC): Developing a contextually-informed psychosocial mobile phone intervention to enhance resilience amongst primary care nurses in the Western Cape Province (NurseCARE)
2016/2017 — Professor P. Wolski (UCT): Telling stories with data – an information/education platform for visualising current and near-future climate and water resources situation for general public and decision-makers
2015/2016 — Dr T. Oni (UCT): Health in Housing Policies in the Western Cape Province: an investigation of housing policies to address infectious and non-communicable disease epidemics

The City of Cape Town

Origins and purpose of the partnership

Following a successful colloquium with the City of Cape Town in November 2007, a committee was constituted to take this partnership forward through the identification of strategic projects between CHEC and the City of Cape Town.

A Collaboration Protocol was signed between the City of Cape Town and CHEC. The purpose of the Collaboration Protocol is to:

Achieve growth and development related to social, economic and environmental goals within the city's boundaries
Build a more skilled and skilful citizenry, equipped to contribute effectively to the development of our democracy
Consolidate Cape Town's status as a 'rising urban star' and the prime centre for higher education in Africa

Joint Research Programme

The City of Cape Town and CHEC have collaborated on a Joint Research Programme with awarded projects focusing on urban development challenges.

TVET Colleges

Following a meeting on 30 August 2021, CHEC and the DHET Regional Office are exploring the following areas of collaboration:

Capacity development of senior management at TVET Colleges
Collaborative provision of higher education qualifications, especially Higher Certificates
The development of articulation pathways in specified qualification pathways
The possible sharing of resources