Prof van Greunen was invited to the installation at the Glasgow Campus in Scotland as she, together with the CCT, is the principal investigator and co-coordinator of a European-Union funded project, Common Good First, in South Africa. The Glasgow Caledonian University is the other co-coordinator working on the project, which Annie Lennox has pledged to promote further.
The project makes use of digital storytelling to provide a space for social innovators/entrepreneurs to tell the stories of their projects and journeys.
An academic module on digital storytelling (DS) has also been created, which can be used to incorporate DS into the different disciplines.
The first Common Good First Centre for Digital Creativity in South Africa will be launched at Nelson Mandela University on 22 October this year, with Glasgow Caledonian University Vice-Chancellor Prof Pamela Gillies travelling to Nelson Mandela Bay for the event.
During the launch, a video will be shared of Annie Lennox marking the centenary of Nelson Mandela and incorporating a message from her signifying the relationship that our universities have, along with the values that both institutions share.
The CCT is currently exploring collaborations in other areas using Digital Storytelling with technology that, among others, includes addressing of mental wellness in vulnerable youth suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress.
The unit is also looking at ways on how to use Digital Storytelling to address Gender-Based Violence – something very close the hearts of both institutions’ Chancellors.
An exhibition of the project will take place in Brussels, Belgium, on 6 and 7 September and will be attended by Mandela University’s Dean of Teaching and Learning, Professor Cheryl Foxcroft, to see how Digital Storytelling can be integrated into our curriculum.
Common Good First won a distinguished Cordes Innovation Award in celebration of its work with community partners. The platform was recognised by Ashoka U, a global network of universities and colleges which focuses on social innovation, for its ambitions to identify, showcase and connect social impact projects to each other, and to universities for research, evaluation, teaching and student engagement.
Other universities forming part of the project are in Europe: Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Spain and in South Africa: University of the Western Cape, University of the Free State, Rhodes University, University of Johannesburg and Northwest University.
Read more about Common Good First: http://www.commongoodfirst.com