Page 150 - UniZulu Annual Report 2020

COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING
Communications and marketing played a critical role during the year under review, especially since UNIZULU was celebrating its 60 years of existence. UNIZULU’s unveiling of its special 60th celebration logo was accompanied by the accreditation of Engineering programmes to highlight this achievement in the University’s rich history. Webinars were effectively used during the COVID-19 lockdown to support UNIZULU in its drive to becoming a high-performance university as envisaged in the Strategic Plan 2016-2021. Conducted webinars include:
Earth and Environmental Sciences International Webinar Conference: The University, in conjunction with Chinese institution Chang’an University in February 2020, held a conference on the same day as World Wetlands Day with this year’s theme ‘Wetlands and Water’, which highlights the importance of wetlands as a source of freshwater and encourages action to conserve and restore them. The webinar was a result of an NRF and National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)-funded project that
was established in 2015. Through this initiative, the two institutions have established student exchange, workshops and training programmes and have jointly published research articles in reputable journals. The thought-inciting conference had a total of 760 registered participants from all over the globe and established international collaboration with 17 universities worldwide. Held as part of UNIZULU’s 60th anniversary celebrations, the two-day conference aimed to discover advances, experiences and innovative ideas on issues related to Earth sciences. It also presented the opportunity to share experiences and research findings, discuss challenges encountered and solutions adopted as well as develop opportunities to establish new productive academic and industry research collaborations.
• The Fourth Industrial Revolution – UNIZULU – ‘Implications for Educational Practice’ – Professor Sipho Seepe (9 March 2020)
• Beyers Naude Memorial Lecture Webinar – UNIZULU – ‘COVID-19 – An Existential Crisis: Challenges for Knowledge, Political, Economy, Ethics and Religion’ – Professor Nkondo (19 June 2020)
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