Browsing by Subject "sustainability"

Now showing 1 - 13 of 13
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    Open Access
    An inductive analysis of ESG practices and assumptions of materiality amongst South African asset managers
    (2020) Worthington-Smith, Matthew; Giamporcaro, Stephanie
    South Africa is a country burdened by the overhang of apartheid and recent state capture, and desperately trying to balance economic growth with well-being of all stakeholders. This has opened the door for ESG practices to provide holistic solutions for both society and business. This is made particularly relevant by applying business resources to the most relevant ESG issues facing companies, the focus of this study. To achieve the objective of promoting positive societal outcomes through better corporate engagement with ESG, the study analysed 22 asset managers, 25 companies and 25 earnings call transcripts for the opinions of asset managers, companies and analysts on which issues were material to them across five industries. Alongside this analysis, asset managers were interviewed for their opinion of ESG as it is currently practiced in the South African market, where they saw barriers to its practice and where potential improvements could be made. The study found alignment between asset managers and companies on the majority of material issues, but little alignment with analysts, suggesting a break-down in conversation between investors and companies. In particular, the issue of governance was stressed as the most important issue category by asset managers across all industries, but was given little air-time by both companies and analysts. These findings were consistent with the literature on investor perspectives of ESG, company ESG disclosure and materiality. The author suggests a model for materiality be developed to gauge company response to material ESG issues more consistently and aide engagement. Key words: ESG, sustainability, materiality, decoupling, disclosure
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    Open Access
    Determinants of sovereign borrowing choices in Sub-Saharan Africa
    (2020) Lehasa, Mecha; Kabinga, Mundia
    There is a growing and legitimate concern about sovereign debt increasing to unsustainable levels among the Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. Understanding the determinants of external debt to these countries influenced the direction of this study. The existing literature that was examined shed light mostly on the qualitative determinants of sovereign borrowing. In addition to existing empirical literature, there is a complimentary need to examine further the quantitative determinants of external debt. The researcher seeks to establish the extent to which the cost of borrowing (proxied by interest rate) explains the changes in the borrowing behaviour (proxied by external debt) among SSA countries. To achieve this objective, data from 36 SSA countries for the period 2009–2017 was used. The data were collected from International Debt Statistics compiled by the World Bank. External debt has been regressed against interest rate and other predictor variables. Hausman tests, robustness tests and collinearity tests were carried out to ascertain the validity of results. Interest rate is found to have a positive determining impact on external debt for all SSA countries aggregated: SSA countries excluding South Africa (SA); SSA excluding Nigeria; SSA excluding Nigeria and SA; SSA excluding debt-distressed countries, middle income and oilexporting countries. It does not have predictive power over changes in external debt for SSA excluding countries at high risk of distress; countries with low to moderate risk of distress; heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) initiative post-implementation recipient countries; low income, other resource intensive and non-resource-intensive countries. External debt is also found to respond to changes in: gross national income (GNI); exports-to-imports ratio; primary income on foreign direct investment (FDI); reserves-to-imports ratio; FDI-to-GNI ratio; debt service-to-GNI ratio; interest arrears on long-term debt; short-term-to-total-debt ratio; and reserves-to-debt ratio for different country groupings. Different country groupings are found to have unique combinations of external debt determinants.
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    Investigating strategies for involving host mining communities in mine closure planning: an integrated stakeholder engagement in the West Rand, South Africa
    (2025) Majela, Karabelo Innocent; Von Holdt, Johanna; Mpanza, Mbalenhle
    Sustainability challenges are intricate and interconnected and require a collaborative effort from multiple stakeholders. There is an increased accountability for mining companies to implement socially responsible strategies to curb environmental, social and economic impacts in societies, particularly within the context of mine closure and host mining communities. This is primarily because these impacts are disproportionately felt at the community level. Responsible mining practices are equally crucial in addressing these impacts. These practices include social and environmental assessments, transparency, and compliance with international standards, which ensure that mining operations do not compromise the well-being of local communities and ecosystems. By integrating responsible mining principles, mining companies can mitigate adverse impacts and contribute to sustainable development. Literature also highlights that industry best practices continues to promote the need to engage host mining communities in mine closure planning and processes through stakeholder engagement. Effective stakeholder engagement not only fosters collaboration and innovative outcomes but also ensures that responsible mining practices are upheld, thereby promoting long-term sustainability and community well-being. However, despite this, there is a gap in knowledge on continuous community consultation in mine closure planning through stakeholder engagement. This includes the practical application of the integration of host mining communities in mine closure planning and maintaining ongoing stakeholder engagement with communities. Additionally, the lack of integration of host mining communities is exacerbated by unclear regulatory frameworks that create legislative loopholes for mining companies to treat and maintain stakeholder engagements as an optional administrative activity. Thus, this research uses the West Rand area to enhance the understanding of the impacts of mine closure on host mining communities. This is done to recommend strategies that could potentially improve the integration of host mining communities into mine closure plans within the South African context. To realise the above-stated aim, the study was conducted through a qualitative research approach using thematic content analysis based on four primary research questions: (1) What are the impacts of mine closure in mining host communities in the West Rand Region? (2) How do legislative uncertainties influence the decision-making of mining companies concerning mine closure and integration of host mining communities in closure plans? (3) What is the level of communication transparency between host mining communities and mining companies in the West Rand? and (4) What are the existing integration strategies for the inclusion of host mining communities into closure plans in the West Rand? The findings reveal that the impacts of mine closure cuts across the three pillars (environmental, social and economic) of sustainable development. The evaluation of these impacts should take place using a cascading approach. Secondly, the current legislation is ineffective due to institutional capacity, legislative gaps and a phenomenon called revolving door, a mechanism for captured state institutions. Thirdly, there is miscommunication between mining companies and communities due to a lack of established mining community structures, high community illiteracy levels, and the use of technical language in reports. Lastly, existing engagement strategies by mining companies in the West Rand are still ineffective due to selective engagement, lack of feedback monitoring, and lack of clarity and purpose in meetings. Therefore, the study proposes a constructive and proactive stakeholder engagement framework that promotes collaboration and ongoing engagements with host mining communities while elucidating and recommending reforms to the existing legislative ambiguities that hinder ongoing stakeholder engagement, the inclusion of host mining communities and the sustainable closure of mines.
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    Open textbook authorship, quality assurance and publishing: Social justice models of participatory design, engagement, co-creation and partnership
    (Digital Open Textbooks for Development, 2022-06) Masuku, Bianca; Cox, Glenda
    This is a presentation that was given by the DOT4D team as part of the CHED seminar series in June 2022. The presentation demonstrates how academics at UCT are embarking on open textbook initiatives in response to a largely mutual set of social injustices they witness in their classrooms related to affordable access, curriculum transformation and multilingualism. With a focus on student co-creation and inclusion, it presents models that address social (in)justice in the classroom and explores ways in which institutions can address sustainability in order to support open textbook development activity.
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    Protected areas as social-ecological systems: perspectives from resilience and social-ecological systems theory
    (2017) Cumming, Graeme S; Allen, Craig R
    Conservation biology and applied ecology increasingly recognize that natural resource management is both an outcome and a driver of social, economic, and ecological dynamics. Protected areas offer a fundamental approach to conserving ecosystems, but they are also social-ecological systems whose ecological management and sustainability are heavily influenced by people. This editorial, and the papers in the invited feature that it introduces, discuss three emerging themes in social-ecological systems approaches to understanding protected areas: (1) the resilience and sustainability of protected areas, including analyses of their internal dynamics, their effectiveness, and the resilience of the landscapes within which they occur; (2) the relevance of spatial context and scale for protected areas, including such factors as geographic connectivity, context, exchanges between protected areas and their surrounding landscapes, and scale dependency in the provision of ecosystem services; and (3) efforts to reframe what protected areas are and how they both define and are defined by the relationships of people and nature. These emerging themes have the potential to transform management and policy approaches for protected areas and have important implications for conservation, in both theory and practice.
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    Publishing an academic book
    (Digital Open Textbooks for Development, 2024-11) Willmers, Michelle
    This is a presentation by the Digital Open Textbooks for Development (DOT4D) initiative's Publishing Manager, Michelle Willmers, for the Emerging Researcher Programme in November 2024.
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    Open Access
    Reducing water consumption at Skorpion Zinc
    (2011) Bhikha, H; Lewis, A E; Deglon, D A
    Synopsis: The minerals industry is committed to the principles of sustainability. Reducing water consumption is a priority area, especially for regions of water scarcity. This paper presents a systemic optimization of the water balance of the Skorpion Zinc refinery with the aim of reducing water consumption. An Aspen Plus simulation of the process is used. The validity of the simulation is tested by measuring key output variables and comparing results to plant data. A number of water minimization scenarios are investigated, including unit operation and circuit configuration changes. The scenarios leading to the largest reduction in water consumption are through the full recycle of treated effluent water, which results in water savings of up to 19%. Reducing process water and/or recycling of untreated water is prohibited by the build-up of trace elements, which affect product purity. The Skorpion process already features a highly optimized water balance, with unit operational changes merely resulting in a shift in the water balance. Consequently, the largest area for improvement is through the reuse of effluent water.
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    Sustainable, collaborative models of open textbook production for social justice and student co-creation: Open textbooks at the University of Cape Town
    (Digital Open Textbooks for Development, 2022-09) Masuku, Bianca; Willmers, Michelle
    This is a workshop presentation by Digital Open Textbooks for Development (DOT4D) initiative members Michelle Willmers and Bianca Masuku at the SASUF Goes Digital Workshop in September 2022. This interactive session provided an overview of open textbook development approaches, focusing on sustainability and collaboration. The workshop session also drew attention to the capacity building and support required at an institutional level to support this work as part of institutional transformation efforts to address social injustice in higher education. This workshop was organized by the SASUF-funded Open Education for Social Justice initiative and was presented in partnership with collaborators from University West and University of Gothenburg.
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    Sustaining OER at the University of Cape Town: free, but not cheap
    (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Open Universiteit Nederland and Brigham Young University, 2014-11-05) Hodgkinson-Williams, Cheryl; Donnelly, Shihaam
    Paper focusing on open educational resources (OERs) at UCT. OER initiatives have moved from a fringe activity to a key component in both teaching and learning in higher education and in the fulfilling the universities' mission and goals. Reduction in the cost of materials is yet to be realised in practice make it necessary to consider various strategies for new OER initiatives e.g. the OpenContent directory at UCT. This paper reviews the range of sustainability strategies mentioned in the literature, plots the results of a small-scale OER sustainability survey against these strategies and explains how these findings and other papers on OER initiatives were used to inform an in-house workshop at UCT to deliberate the future strategy for the sustainability of OER at UCT.
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    The effects of community participation on sustainability in an ICT4D project: A Case of Vrygrond Community Lab in South Africa
    (2018) Ndayishimiye, Evode; Chigona, Wallace
    Background: This study explores an ICT for development project in previously ‘underserved’ community of Vrygrond in Cape Town South Africa. Developing countries have embraced technology as a means to improve the pace of development in their countries. Several projects have been setup that allow communities to access skills training programmes within their communities. However, there is a challenge when considering the sustainability of projects implemented to achieve their developmental goals Purpose: ICT for development initiatives are usually centrally planned without the involvement of the targeted communities. The targeted participants may be involved in the implementation phase only, and this may lead to sustainability failure. This study explores the how community participation affects sustainability of ICT for development projects in the context of South Africa. Research methodology: The methodology in this study is qualitative. Exploratory and descriptive research methods were used to analyse how community participation affects sustainability. This study used the Stakeholder Theory to explore community participation and project sustainability. Data was collected using semi structured interviews, documents, observations and applied thematic analysis. The Vrygrond Community Lab in Cape Town South Africa was used as a case study. Key Findings: Based on the analysed data, a number of key stakeholders were not involved in the project planning but were represented by the Vrygrond Community Trust. It was seen from the data that sustainability is dependent on closely working with existing community groups based within the community twenty-four seven. This research found positive relationship between participation and sustainability. Other findings indicated that there was an element of ‘tokenism’ and despite this the Vrygrond Community Lab seemed sustainable. This was attributed to the continued funding and operational support received from University of Cape Town and Pforzheim University. Finally, the study indicated that it was essential that socioeconomic and sociocultural issues are addressed quickly when they emerge. Value of the study: The study broadly contributes to the existing literature on community participation and sustainability of ICT4D initiatives in South Africa. Secondly study makes recommendations for donors and Universities looking to implement initiatives similar to the Vrygrond Community Lab in addressing socioeconomic challenges by equipping communities with computer skills that would assist them in their daily lives, either in finding work, studying, or running a business.
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    Understanding the effects of sustainable milk packaging on consumer attention by incorporating eye tracking technology
    (2025) Wahl, Kathryn; Pillay, Pragasen; Fouche, Jean-Paul; Vahed, Ashraf
    incorporating eye tracking technology Consumers encounter an abundance of visual stimuli during their shopping journey including but not limited to the tangible attributes of a product or its packaging, which collectively contributes to the overall product presentation. These elements encompass graphical components, colours, textual features, the packaging size and material. As such, the consumers' allocation of attention towards these various elements is an interesting topic to explore. This study aimed to develop of more profound insight of packaging design by examining the effects of distinct visual cues such as colour, icons and the textual elements that communicate sustainability on plant-based milk product packaging from the South African Oat Milk brand OKJA. The study aimed to see how these cues influence the consumer's visual attention, which is primarily unconscious. The responses of visual attention were measured using eye tracking technology which enables more accurate data measurements of the consumers' attention compared to the traditional methods which rely on subjective self-reporting analyses. To address the research questions and objectives, this study utilised an exploratory research approach. The research method involved four quantitative tasks, followed by the qualitative component of the study which consisted of an interview. The target set of individuals was the young adult South Africans aged between 18 and 27 years old residing in Cape Town, South Africa. A total sample of 90 respondents was acquired through convenience sampling and the University of Cape Town database. For this paper, the data that was analysed was the eye tracking metrics that were generated through Tobii Pro Labs. Tobii Pro Labs measure metrics such as Time To First Fixation (TTFF), Average Fixation Duration and Total Fixation Duration (TFD), which were analysed utilising inferential statistic techniques. Mean tests such as the Analysis Of Variance (ANOVA) and t-tests were conducted to test the hypotheses. In addition, the tests for normality and equality of variance were conducted. The results of this study have revealed valuable research insights into how various sustainable visual cues on product packaging influence visual attention. Additionally, this research sheds light to the consumers' perception of sustainability across various product packages. By utilising a local milk product package OKJA, this study addressed important gaps in research in the market landscape in South African. Consequently, the evidence suggests that the consumers' distribution of visual attention does impact their perception of sustainability on product packages to an extent.
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    Vulnerability to environmental change
    (2014-08-22) Ziervogel, Gina
    The material is presented in the form of powerpoint presentations for 6 sections. Activities to accompany the slides are presented here. The slides form the basis of presenting the theory and linking it to key literature. Examples are provided in many places of how the theory is applied in case studies, often from work that the lecturer has been involved in and relevant to the southern African region. It is suggested that teachers who use this material in other contexts draw on local examples to support the theoretical discussions. Course objectives: 1. understand theoretical concepts of vulnerability 2. overview of what methods to use to assess vulnerability 3. understanding of the concept and application of adaptation to climate change. This 4 week module on vulnerability to environmental change is part of a third year course called Sustainability and the Environment (EGS 3021F) in the Department of Environmental and Geographical Science , University of Cape Town. The course introduces the concept of vulnerability and explores its origin, drawing on three different conceptual approaches namely Risk/hazard, Political economy/ecology and Ecological resilience. It then looks at different methods for undertaking vulnerability assessments. Building on the theory and method sections it focuses on why the concept of vulnerability is important in the field of environmental change with a focus on climate change. The international process of assessing the science is explored followed by material addressing adaptation to climate change and examples of vulnerability and adaptation in practice in South Africa.
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    What does it take to feed a city? Understanding the urban food system
    (2014-08-22) Pirie, Gordon; Battersby, Jane; Haysom, Gareth
    Coordinated by Professor Gordon Pirie, Deputy Director, African Centre for Cities, UCT; lecturers associated with Food Security and Ways of Knowing projects hosted by the Africa Centre for Cities, this resource studies urban food systems. Food is one of the essentials of life and yet relatively little attention is paid to how it reaches us in our cities. Although there has always been enough food to feed everyone in Cape Town, up to eighty percent of residents in low income areas struggle to access adequately nutritious and affordable food. In urban centres worldwide, areas of food scarcity and oversupply exist in close proximity. The complexity of food production, distribution, access, control and consumption are critical development challenges for all cities – no less for Cape Town. This three-lecture course will investigate the workings of the Cape Town food system and will argue that food is an essential lens through which to view urban sustainability and issues of justice. LECTURE TITLES: 1. Philippi horticultural area: food flows and politics (Dr Jane Battersby) 2. Food and urban sustainability (Gareth Haysom) 3. The urban food policy gap (Dr Jane Battersby) This resource is useful for anyone interested in food security issues in an urban environment. Recommended reading: Joubert, L. 2012. The Hungry Season. South Africa: Pan MacMillan. Lemonick, M.D. Top 10 Myths about Sustainability in Scientific American. March 2009, 19, pps. 40–45.