Engagement Office at the celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the George Community Church in Lavallia; Denver Johnson from the Garden Route District Municipality: Tourism together with George Campus staff Calvin Sibanyoni and Zonele Mdiya (LT Collab), Hugo Loubser (Madibaz Sport) and Kershia Jagernath (Natural Resource Management Cluster)
Celebrating the signing of the MoU with George Municipality and Andiswa Landingwe and Leshilo Pushetji from the Engagement Office.
The six thematic hubs include Food Sovereignty, Identity Engagement, Livelihoods, Knowledge Sharing, Culture and Sport and Art.
In preparation for the visit, the Engagement Office developed a draft concept for George HoC, informed by previous engagements and the HoC programmatic work in Gqeberha.
In the week before the launch on 26 July, Engagement Office colleagues held workshops with internal and external stakeholders, including Mandela University staff and students at the campus, local community members, faith-based organisations, and the Garden Route District Municipality.
They presented the draft concept of HoC in George for further input and deliberation, setting the stage for the formal launch of HoC.
Objectives included support for the establishment of the George HoC (GHoC) as a strategic project for the campus, identifying projects for collaboration, suggesting the coordination for the GHoC and co-constructing and implementing an action plan.
Various projects were identified by workshop participants to be explored under each thematic hub.
Participants also emphasised the need for regular feedback meetings or cycle sessions on GHoC, documenting the workshop and its suggestions.
They cautioned the need for all participants to engage robustly and be comfortable in uncomfortable situations, because all knowledge and context matter. One student emphasised, "We hope this is not one of the yep-yep situations... where nothing takes place after we have met."
The team then consolidated all the inputs, recommendations, and report writing, from the George Campus visit and activities together with the leaders from the various stakeholders, who participated in the launch.