Entrepreneurship and Community Engagement

The Role of the University and Community Engagement The University as an Entrepreneurial thinker The University as an anchor institute in communities, that creates value The university as a connector The university that impacts and contributes to society Disconnection in our ecosystem is a reality Civic engagement and Universities

Language within HEI’s Universities are changing we need a new model within HEI’s Third stream income is real Employability of Students Skilfulness Narrow the gap between universities and communities and/or society at large Students as job creators and not job seekers Universities are pubic entities they MUST impact society and address societal needs

Potential of SME’s In South Africa, it is estimated that SMEs make up 90% of formal businesses, provide employment to about 60% of the labour force and contribute roughly 34% of GDP. SMEs are inherently more adventurous than big business. They have the single largest potential to move people out of the poverty trap of structural unemployment. They are great sources of innovation. They open new markets. They are imbued with the energy of an entrepreneur.

A scenario that requires a response The school feeding scheme example. 9 million schools on feeding scheme BUT do we purchase food locally, school feeding programmes can support marginalised enterprises, whether it is local women Cooperatives or small-holder Farmers.  School feeding can provide a consistent and stable market for these enterprises whilst at the same time providing fresh and nutritious local food.  This is in line with our government’s view that Cooperatives and Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) represent an important vehicle to address the challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality in South Africa.

UWC’s Journey with local government A journey that will see us develop the next generation of entrepreneurial employers and job-creators who will contribute towards addressing unemployment and small business’ needs within our communities by focusing on existing businesses and helping them prepare and gear up for growth. UWC’s own vision is in line with the Western Cape Government’s Provincial Strategic Goal One (PSG 1) – Creating opportunities for growth and jobs and in particular the goal to provide: “Support to entrepreneurs and small businesses to thrive”. UWC, understands the key role of entrepreneurship in the context of stimulating small business growth, and is well positioned as a key player in this space. UWC understands the importance of this role in reducing unemployment and impacting positively on communities.

The UWC Narrative started in 2014

Scholarship in Action

Tender for DEDAT

Recently registered SME growth and entrepreneurship short course is a response to local economic development needs and addresses the need for a responsive university to partner in local economic development

This responds to societal needs for economic growth initiatives to support local entrepreneurs for entrepreneurship skills development and empowerment for local SME’s to pursue greater economic opportunity and access to market  

Success

UWC boosts Business

University grows Entrepreneurs

Long Street Kiosk Project CEI initial research focus on informal sector enterprise development that is high on the agenda of national department of small business. The research we involved speaks to community engagement where the focus of our research is hoped to influence policy in the local government initiative for informal sector development

Sustainability of this engagement Internal: inside the university the Community Engagement strategy must be entrenched in IOP and University attributes of a graduate, it must become a culture and must be supported by leadership External: within the external ecosystems. Is the engagement authentic? Credibility of interaction, competencies of the team, how do we portray the university externally? Relationships and Integrity.

Impact over a 4 year period 2 short courses, the value of a university offering entrepreneurship training Mentorship programme Research and policy development within LSK Student experience Trained 1500 entrepreneurs in the following western cape areas: CPT, Eden, Boland and West Coast, Overberg Trained for PURCO in Gauteng university suppliers 30 and a pending 300 contract to train with these courses. We are tracking our impact but we are aware of a few success stories through our interaction. Income generated here has enabled student entrepreneurship programmes, we have impacted 1000 students across all 7 faculty directly

Across campus student entrepreneurship development