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This seminar examines the co-creation of knowledge as a critical practice within the Scholarship of Engagement, drawing on a Participatory Action Research (PAR) study conducted in Lambert’s Bay, South Africa. In a context shaped by inequality, marginalisation, and limited access to services, the study foregrounds community members as co-researchers and co-designers of a community-based substance abuse intervention programme. Through iterative cycles of engagement including needs identification, capacity strengthening, community mapping, and stakeholder collaboration the research demonstrates how locally grounded knowledge can inform contextually relevant and sustainable responses to complex social challenges. The findings highlight that meaningful participation fosters ownership, strengthens social cohesion, and builds community capacity, while also challenging conventional expert-driven models of intervention. Engaging with Bronfenbrenner’s socio-ecological framework, the seminar illustrates how substance abuse is embedded within interconnected systems of poverty, inequality, and social dislocation, requiring multi-level, collaborative responses. The study further reflects on the tensions inherent in co-creating knowledge, including power dynamics, competing agendas, and the practical complexities of participatory work. Positioned within post-apartheid South Africa, this seminar argues that universities have an ethical and transformative role in facilitating engaged scholarship that centres community voice, disrupts knowledge hierarchies, and advances social justice. It offers critical insights for scholars and practitioners seeking to build equitable partnerships and coproduce knowledge that leads to meaningful, sustained change. Click here to view his BIO

Community Engagement Database Showcase community engagement activities. Serve as a promotional/marketing tool as it presents viewers (on and off-campus) with information pertaining to your community engagement activities and development. Present an opportunity to access information about engagement activities on and off-campus Provides cross-links and references to community engagement activities. Provides a platform for knowledge sharing and coordination. Provides potential development of partnerships on and off-campus. Scholarship of Engagement (SoE) Database Highlights the Community Engagement citation from 2015 to 2020. The publications captured represents engaged research by UWC scholars from all faculties, support units, divisions and centres at UWC. How to gain Access The link https://ceudatabase.uwc.ac.za/portal Takes you directly to the UWC CEU Databases To view the Community Engagement Programmes, click on the left menu bar for, Public Access, Staff Access, and Executive Access. Follow instruction. You will access to both Community Engagement and Scholarship of Engagement (SoE) Databases

The annual Colloquium hosted by the CEU at the University of the Western Cape: 18 - 19 May (from 2pm - 4.30pm)

Community Engagement Report Annually the report is published to acknowledge the dedication to CE at UWC. Scholarship of Engagement (SoE) Report The citations captured represents engaged research by UWC scholars from all faculties, support units, divisions and centres at UWC. CE@UWC Newsletter The newsletter is published biannually and feature exciting and relevant engagements and narratives. The publications above can be found on the CEU Website https://www.ceu.uwc.ac.za/archives Substance Misuse Case Study Manual This case study manual is an outcome of the first five modules of the substance abuse course developed by the Community Engagement Unit at the University of the Western Cape. Context is a significant aspect of any substance abuse intervention. The manual was therefore created in collaboration with participants from the course. Their specific context, which was identified as an essential component of the training material, was highlighted. Please contact Pearl September-Brown pseptemberbrown@uwc.ac.za if you would like more information on the manual.

This is a brief outline of 'how to' access the content on our new Website. Visit our Website or click anywhere on the image above. When prompted, please enter a valid email address to sign-up or Login to our Website At the bottom of any page on our website, click on Site Map (the outline of our website) Select the (underlined) main page to go to the information of your choice If in doubt, type what you are looking for in our 'Search' space provided (top of every page) #CEUcontent #CEUevent

We would like to acknowledge the work of Mr Joachim John Jacobs the Director of the HIV & AIDS Programme at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), by featuring one of the projects he worked on. Mr Jacobs was a beloved colleague, academic and social welfare practitioner. He passed away in July of this year at the age of 60 due to COVID-19-related illnesses. Risk behaviour and leisure engagement amongst youth in rural South Africa and America Engaging youth in prosocial activities such as leisure, education, employment, volunteering, family and community life can harness their potential to become contributing members of society. The project aims to describe specific risk behaviour including substance use, sexual risk, mental (ill)-health and antisocial behaviour amongst youth in rural areas of South Africa and the USA; Secondly, describe leisure engagement (time use and experience) amongst youth in rural areas of South Africa and the USA; Explore the perceptions of rural youth in South Africa and the USA regarding enablers and barriers to risk behaviour and healthy leisure engagement; Develop recommendations for interventions to promote youth engagement amongst rural youth in South Africa and the USA. This project can be accessed on the CE Database https://ceudatabase.uwc.ac.za/portal

Graduate Development Programme (GDP) The Graduate Development Programme (GDP) supports first-year students in academic, personal, and social adjustment at UWC. GDP is infused into the Extended Curriculum Programme (ECP), as it bridges the Academic and Co-curricular engagement at UWC. Through its year-long curriculum, workshops and individualised coaching, the programme aims to facilitate students’ growth and the acquisition of the university’s graduate attributes. GDP also helps enhance the personal awareness of factors that influence academic achievement; it provides students with the tools to be more prepared to face daily challenges at university and to actualise their potential. By supporting students holistically, GDP helps to manage the university throughput and to assist in containing student attrition more effectively, as students learn and practice the skills necessary to stay afloat in a university environment. The Office for Academic Support (OAS) provides learning support programmes, engagements, and scaffolding skills to students across different levels at UWC. This project can be accessed on the CE Database https://ceudatabase.uwc.ac.za/portal

Co-producing and utilizing livestock herders’ indigenous knowledge on fodder plant species in semi-arid communal rangelands in South Africa The aim of this project is to co-produce indigenous knowledge with experienced farmers and herders on fodder species use, value and distribution for sustainable use. It also aims to facilitate knowledge transfer opportunities between farmer generations and Nama communities and to demonstrate the use of the knowledge to improve livestock production for the continuation of the Nama tradition. In order to create a space where indigenous ecological and agricultural knowledge can be transmitted orally or where practical experiences can be shared with future generations. Department of Biodiversity and Conservation Biology Agriculture Research Council (ARC) This project can be accessed on the CE Database https://ceudatabase.uwc.ac.za/portal

Community Engaged Learning Programme (CELP) The Community Engaged Learning Programme (CELP), offered by the Community Engagement Unit (CEU) at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), introduces students to the principles and practice of community engagement within the South African context. Grounded in the Scholarship of Engagement for Societal Impact (SoE-SI), the programme connects academic learning with societal needs by encouraging students to apply their disciplinary knowledge to real-world challenges. Through this approach, CELP aims to cultivate socially responsible graduates who are equipped to contribute meaningfully to social transformation, equity, and sustainable development in a post-apartheid society. CELP is designed as a reflective and experiential training programme that integrates theory with practice. The training is structured through facilitated sessions that introduce key concepts, including community engagement, the scholarship of engagement, diversity consciousness, leadership for societal impact, and community entry. A central component of the programme is the development and implementation of a community engagement workshop or volunteering project, in which students apply their learning in real-life contexts and critically reflect on their experiences, leadership, and impact. The objectives of CELP are to develop students’ understanding of community engagement as both a professional and personal commitment to social change, to foster diversity awareness and inclusive practice, and to build community-engaged leadership skills. The programme further aims to strengthen students’ capacity to act as active citizens by equipping them with the knowledge and tools to design and contribute to initiatives that promote social justice and community well-being. Ultimately, CELP supports the development of reflexive, ethical, and engaged graduates who can bridge theory and practice and work collaboratively with communities to co-create sustainable solutions to societal challenges. For more information on the CEU’s Community Engaged Learning Programme, please contact: ceutraining@uwc.ac.za #IAmUWC

The HECE Conference 2026 hosted by Rhodes University in Makhanda, Eastern Cape. Dr Samantha van Schalkwyk, Acting Director of the Community Engagement Unit (CEU), and Damaris Kiewiets, Community Liaison Officer, participated in the Higher Education Community Engagement: Reparative Futures for the Cultivation of Humanity Conference, hosted by Rhodes University from 5–7 May 2026 in Makhanda, Eastern Cape. The conference brought together academics, researchers, students, government representatives, and community partners from South Africa and abroad to engage in discussions on higher education, social justice, and community engagement. Dr Samantha van Schalkwyk presented a paper titled “Community-Engaged Learning as Epistemic and Relational Repair at the University of the Western Cape.” Her presentation explored how the Community Engaged Learning Programme (CELP) offered by CEU at the University of the Western Cape, supports community-engaged learning as a humanising and socially responsive educational practice. The paper highlighted the importance of recognising communities as partners in knowledge creation while promoting ethical responsibility, dialogue, and social accountability among students. Damaris Kiewiets, together with Keith Cloete from the Department of Health and Wellness, Western Cape Government, presented “A Living Model of Dialogic Partnership: Co-Governance, Co-Inquiry, and Legacy-Making in Community Engagement.” Their presentation focused on the value of sustainable partnerships between universities, government institutions, and communities in addressing social challenges through collaboration and shared responsibility. The conference provided valuable opportunities for networking, collaboration, and knowledge exchange among institutions committed to strengthening engaged scholarship and socially responsive practices within higher education. Participation in the conference reflects the CEU’s continued commitment to meaningful community engagement, collaborative partnerships, and the advancement of socially responsive and inclusive higher education practices.

World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD) , 21 March, is a global awareness day that has been officially observed by the United Nations since 2012. Come and celebrate World Down Syndrome Day with us. Read More >