Following their visit to the Faculty of Applied Sciences, the Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences (HSWT) representatives were impressed by the “outstanding hospitality, friendliness, great enthusiasm and dedication to practice-oriented teaching and research at CPUT”.
The HSWT delegation comprised of Prof Carsten Lorz, Vice President for International Affairs and Diversity at HSWT and a Professor in Forest Soil Science, and Juliane Glovania, Project Coordinator for the African-Bavarian Alliance for Applied Life Sciences. Dean of Applied Sciences, Prof Joseph Kioko, said the aim of the visit was to explore and establish strategic links between HSWT and CPUT, particularly the Faculty of Applied Sciences.
Kioko said HSWT has programmes which are similar to those offered by Applied Sciences at CPUT, such as Agriculture, Horticulture, Landscape Architecture, Food Technology, Biotechnology Environmental Sciences and Biodiversity Conservation.
“We hope to establish links to advance research collaboration, academic exchanges, and to leverage best practices. There will also be a particular focus on innovation/entrepreneurship,” said Kioko.
The visit was a great success and culminated with the formulation of the next steps towards a mutually beneficial partnership between the two institutions, observed Kioko. “As part of the next steps, HSWT will invite CPUT Faculty members in the area of agriculture and climate change to a HSWT seminar in March/April 2023 to network with HSWT scholars and other Faculty members from partner universities from South Africa, Senegal, Ethiopia and Tunisia in frame of “African-Bavarian Alliance for Applied Life Sciences". HSWT will cover accommodation, meals, and flights to Germany.
The Dean was also impressed by the keen absolute extent of common areas of interest (for both Teaching & Learning; and Research & Innovation), and the interest to collaborate from both sides, “which was really great to see”.
“I foresee a rich and productive future of collaboration between ourselves and HSWT.”
Reflecting on their experience at CPUT, Lorz said the visit at CPUT was very impressive, with their discussions with the Faculty of Applied Sciences as well as with the Director of Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships, Prof Judy Peter. “We were especially impressed by the professionalism of the laboratories and practical teaching sites of the departments of food technology and horticulture/landscape architecture,” he continued.
“The Faculty’s focus on applied teaching and training in agriculture, food technology, horticulture, nature conservation, environmental management etc makes it an excellent partner for our university. We were very impressed by the high motivation and dedication of all people we met. The Faculty of Applied Sciences has a great team and we are looking forward to our future cooperation.”
Kioko added that the key outcome was that a tangible foundation for collaboration between CPUT and HSWT was laid down, and a plan of action was agreed to.
“Making this collaboration a success will be a key contribution towards our goals of smart internationalisation in line with the aspirations of our One Smart CPUT V2030,” Kioko remarked.
Lorz said they would be happy if they could merge their networks with other African universities to enable mutual learning and experience-sharing when it comes to applied higher education.
Written by Aphiwe Boyce
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