Interviews
The South African environment is blessed with inter alia a relatively sophisticated economy, a strong and thriving financial sector, good universities and a large number of local and multinational corporations. This however co-exists in an environment with a majority that is largely excluded from economic activity, living in poverty with often little opportunity to find a way out of such a situation through education opportunities.
Although at first this may seem like a somewhat “abstract” concept – this opinion piece will propose a concept that may have far reaching consequences for how we approach development in our town and by extension our country and even continent. What the concept entails is that we need to embark on a “Grand Societal Experiment” which means a “new regime of innovation” that is driven by setting challenges towards achieving certain societal goals. What this practically means is that we need to think about innovation not as a process where we “push” technology or other solutions into communities BUT we need to arrange our efforts around a “pull factor” which should be societies’ greatest challenges.
Although this may seem obvious at first – it certainly is easier said than done. Immediately many questions arise: How do we agree on these issues or our greatest societal challenges (on a local level)? Who will decide on these? Who will coordinate such an effort? How will we and who will fund innovation projects? How will the university, industry, the municipality and communities engage with each other in a sustainable way? How do we treat issues around ethics? For that matter - Where do we even start?
The truth is that none of these question have readily available answers, the whole idea with the concept of a “Grand Societal Experiment” is that we need to learn how to do these things. In fact, there are already many initiatives that do exist where instances of this take place. The question is – how can we stimulate this on a larger scale and create initiatives that are sustainable?
Recently through our research work we have engaged in two projects that may provide some answers to how to approach this “experiment” and guide us through a learning process. Let’s now explore what this may mean practically for the University of Stellenbosch to help facilitate such “Grand Societal Experiment”.
Project 1: University-Driven Inclusive Technological Innovations (UDITI)
As part of an ongoing project between Leiden University and Stellenbosch we have embarked on research to consider and explore the role of African universities as a contributing factor to development processes. More specifically, we examined the general nature of university-driven or university-supported activities with regard to University-Driven Inclusive Technological Innovations (UDITI). A first phase of this project has yielded some important insights regarding how university staff and students engage with communities towards innovation for inclusive development. The project involved 15 case studies from four Universities in the Western Cape Province namely UCT, Stellenbosch, CPUT and UWC.
I present a few top-level findings in the form of principles towards how universities may approach playing a facilitating role towards the “Grand Societal Experiment”. These principles are not mutually exclusive or stand on their own – they are some suggestions on an overall approach to be followed.
Principle 1: There needs to be mutual benefit for engagements to last: The process of embedding engagement in the teaching, research and service missions of the university is important. It is a well-established concept that engagement projects only continue in existence if there is mutual benefit for all stages of the programme and activity cycles.
Principle 2: Processes are important to guide the evolution from a superficial form to deeper and possibly more institutionalised approaches to drive UDITI – here the insight regarding sustainable forms of these types of projects is really important. The concept of establishing innovation platforms and engagement platforms over time with more permanent linkages between partners is an important goal. The challenge remains to create such programmes where engagement increases in depth and meaning over time – something that proves to be difficult to sustain.
Principle 3: Partnership is key. It is important to acknowledge that the engagement process is a dynamic process, highly dependent on partnership and it takes place at various levels of the university. All UDITI projects in our study involved formal or informal institutional partnerships between the university and partner organisations: with other universities (local or international), communities, government institutions, NGOs, or for-profit business companies. It was interesting also that partnerships are also a way to access expertise – where interactive learning opportunities play an important role in the process taking place in formal and informal settings.
Principle 4: Initiatives require deep contextual knowledge. It was also evident that for these engagements to be sustainable it needs deep knowledge of contexts where local partnerships play a very important role.
Principle 5: Networkers and boundary spanners have an important role. The role of university faculty was often a brokerage role within their UDITI project(s). There are several examples in our UDITI projects of different students or student groups working on parts of the project over time, with a university faculty member ensuring continuity by transferring knowledge between consecutive project members. The projects’ long-term success often depended on a project champion and if and when such a person stepped away the project or programme’s continuation would be very unlikely.
Principle 6: Infrastructure helps to create institutionalised and more permanent structures of engagement: A final observation with regards to networks of learning involves the role of incubators and other innovation platforms at universities, such as incubators, or ICT platforms and electronic databases with projects. The existence of such shared physical and/or virtual infrastructures creates ties between projects, facilitating the diffusion of knowledge. Infrastructures also help to create initiatives to be more institutionalised which means that it becomes a way of doing things and not an ad hoc activity only pursued by some.
This issue around the development of innovation infrastructures to sustain project and programmes brings us to some learnings from a second research project…
Project 2: The role of the university and the facilitation of inclusive innovation
Returning to Rip’s idea of the “Grand Societal Experiment” an important part of bringing this to action is to develop a new “constellation of actors” where traditional actors such as universities, NGOs and companies engage also with some non-traditional actors such as local communities. The engagement process must develop “collaborative learning” through which innovation can be developed and introduced.
So what this practically means is that we need to engage with new groups of individuals that have not been traditionally included in the process. An example is that if one would aim to develop lest say a mobile App for an mHealth solution an engagement process needs to include the users of the technology at various points in the development process. The focus is not to develop a solution and then present it to intended beneficiaries but to include the beneficiaries throughout – it is a very important part of ensuring the any intervention is successful and appropriate for addressing actual needs. In order to do that – it requires ways and means for various actors to interact and this is then where innovation platforms come into play.
Through the Innovation Platforms Programme we are exploring the setup and functioning of these structures. These platforms usually involve a group of individuals from different backgrounds and interest which may include producers, input suppliers, processors, environmentalists, researchers and public sector players. The goal is to bring these diverse stakeholders together so that they can address challenges and opportunities at various levels. The inclusion of these actors are usually with reference to the specific value chains that they operate in.
There exists a wide range of types of innovation platforms, these may include living labs, business incubators, open innovation platforms, rapid prototyping platforms, agricultural or health innovation platforms and university-driven research or innovation platforms.
Some ready examples exist here in Stellenbosch, for instance, the Rapid Product Development Laboratory (RPDLab) that resides in the Department of Industrial Engineering. It is a permanent initiative where skills- and local supplier development for the tooling industry is supported. The benefit here is that there can be coordinated engagement with the tooling sector to anchor and build relationships, it creates an obvious contact point for industry to reach into the university and it allows for development of skills at various levels.
Another example is the much publicised iShack project which has resulted from a trans-disciplinary research programme around how to address the Ekanini informal settlements’ greatest needs around basic service delivery. A partnership has developed from this project between the municipality, University and community and has led to an impressive range of proof of concept projects. Through this engagement which started with research projects there was enormous mutual learning and discovery of how social enterprise could be developed – a great example of collaborative learning and knowledge development. And also a fantastic case study of how such platforms can be developed by starting small and creating a collaborative problem solving environment for stimulating innovation for inclusive development.
What is clear is that only based on these two examples above it can be deduced that innovation platforms present themselves in different shapes and forms with often very specific goals towards ensuring continued involvement. The development pathways of these platforms also follow unique trajectories. A major pathway for university-driven innovation platforms seems to be based on engaged scholarship where academics are actively engaged with research projects and teaching projects that are relevant to local development priorities. However a main issue is the sustainability of these platforms which depends on various factors such as continued funding, appropriate programme goals and remains to be one of the major areas of learning and focus.
In conclusion
If Stellenbosch is serious about carving out its place as the Innovation Capital of Africa - we need to realise that this can only be done through partnership and working together. In the spirit of the “Grand Societal Experiment” it is then necessary to create spaces and places where people from different spheres engage and learn how to develop solutions to our greatest challenges together. Through developing such solutions locally this may open up opportunities to export ideas and programmes through extended engagement activities.
Although the development of solutions is certainly a task of the many, the environment must be created to facilitate a large scale process of bottom-up activity so that these activities can develop organically – and crucially - to scale and be sustainable. Therefore, some level of coordination and infrastructure development needs to be created where such interactions and such discussion and engagements can take place in a friendly learning environment – accepting that some mistakes may be made as this is a learning journey we need to undertake.
A range of inne identified and some more thinking and exploring needs to be done on how to expand existing infrastructure and where new platforms are required. Alternatively, how it is a matter of bringing different parts of infrastructure together so that we can engage in a meaningful way how best to approach inclusive development and wealth creation for all.
Sara Grobbelaar is employed as a Senior Lecturer in Industrial Engineering at Stellenbosch University and through her work in the area of Innovation for Inclusive Development, she is hoping to contribute to inclusive development for the African continent. Her research interests and passions are inclusive innovation systems, ICTs for development with the intended outcome to improving access to healthcare, education, financial services and to support food security.
Sara is a seasoned consultant and has completed in excess of 35 consulting engagement with clients including the IAEA, UN-Habitat, the World Bank, the NACI and various Universities and Multi-national corporations with projects completed in various sectors including ICT, Energy and Power supply, Chemicals, Materials and Food, Pharmaceutical, Industrial, Mining, Tourism, Private Equity, Aviation and Automotive. Furthermore Sara’s academic background uniquely positions her to contribute to debates on how innovation for inclusive development may be realised in the African context.
She holds an MPhil in Technology Policy (with distinction) from the University of Cambridge, B.Eng (electronic) (with distinction) (University of Pretoria), M.Eng (computer)(with distinction) (University of Pretoria), PhD in (Engineering) (University of Pretoria) and a Post Graduate Diploma in M&E methods (with distinction) (Stellenbosch University).
What is innovation? Is innovation the use of SnapChat as your latest marketing channel for your business or is innovation what you actually sell, your product offering?
According to www.businessdictionary.com Innovation is the process of translating an idea or invention into a goods or service that creates value or for which a customer will pay.When discussing innovation too often a marketing channel becomes the idea. How often has someone told you that you must have a QR code or you must have a Facebook page? These are all important marketing channels for your business or town, but they are hardly what your customer is willing to pay for. All your competitors are also using these channels. It is what you sell (your product offering) that will differentiate you and where you as a business or town can innovate.
Technology companies are often seen as the darlings of innovation, but according to Forbes.com it is the car manufacturer Tesla that it saw as the most innovative company in the world in 2015. It’s South-African born CEO Elon Musk focuses on one thing only – building the world’s best car. The fact that it is beautifully designed, you can order it online and have it delivered to your door, get software updates wirelessly is all part of the innovative product offering – ensuring that he will build the best car in the world. A car people will willingly pay for.
How does one then innovate in tourism? Does one try and understand the megatrends in travel, what you as a town has to offer, identify the gaps and fill those with new innovations? Or do you need to re-think tourism as a whole, try turn it on its head? Or do look at companies outside the tourism sector, such as Tesla to learn? Or do you take a hard stocktake of what we are selling?
According to FastCompany, one of America’s leading digital and print publications that focus on innovation and thought leaders who actively invent the future of business, the top 10 innovative travel companies globally are:
1. Uber – for driving into the heart of corporate America
2. Airbnb – for curating trips to let travellers live like locals
3. Generator – for hipping up hostelling
4. BeMyGuest – for bringing experiential travel to Asia
5. Vail Resorts – for creating the ultimate travel loyalty program
6. OTG Management – for making even Newark Airport a pre-flight oasis
7. AJ Capital Partners – for building the Graduate, a hotel brand that captures the cool college-town vibe
8. Marriott – for marketing its lodging empire with short films and Snapchat
9. The Priceline Group – for digitizing the hotel stay via bookings.com
10. Travel Noire – for tapping into a network of African-American globe-trotters
There are five characteristics that each of these companies have in common:
- They have the desire to be the best in what they do
- Their product offers their clients the opportunity to choose bespoke experiences suited to their needs
- They understand the importance of sociability around travel
- They use technology to support their business
- They keep the heart of the traveller at their core
How can “good manners” be seen as innovation in tourism? Because tourism is about people. These are our clients, these are the people that will willingly spend money with you if you offer them a service they want, these are the people who can become your best sales people if you give them something memorable to talk about.
As a town, a living entity made up of many businesses that traditionally don’t see themselves as tourism businesses – how does one then innovate in tourism when the citizen has such an effect on the brand of your town?
How about taking a learning from Elon Musk? Strive to be the best town in the world for citizens and visitors. A town that people flock to live in, not just because of good schools but because it is holistically the best place to live. The streets are clean, the water and electricity runs, a trip to the municipality is seen as a good day out and all citizens are treated equally.
Business will thrive, jobs will be created, municipal taxes will flow. This feeling of goodwill will naturally translate into how the citizens treat visitors and how all businesses in your town from the service station, guesthouse to coffee shop will engage with the visitors.
It is these one-on-one experiences that travellers thrive on. As much as travel is about a new destination, it is the people in the destination that make the experience memorable. Travellers are looking for places where they get to live with the locals, eat with the locals, go to local hang-outs, they want to feel like a local. If your town opens their hearts and arms to every single visitor, making them feel like they are part of the family… the word-of-mouth is priceless.
You also become known as the best town to visit, which will probably get shared on Snapchat!
Could innovation for Stellenbosch in tourism be an idea as simple as BEING THE BEST TOWN TO LIVE IN?
Growing up in Stellenbosch, or rather on the outskirts of Stellenbosch, the divide between the ‘proper’ town and the suburbs were obvious, and it remains very similar today, 22 years after democracy. So how do we innovate to the benefit of all inhabitants of Stellenbosch?
Admission of the problem is half the answer, but attitude and behaviour changes are required! So the question is what to do to change the status quo? So is it a STELLENBOSCH municipality maintaining the OLD or is a STELLENBOSCH municipality embracing the NEW?
Envisioning a new vibrant municipality that stands for
S = Sustainable for ALLT = Technological advancement
E = Economic Opportunities for ALL
L = Living the vision
L = Leveraging of each other
E = Environmental awareness
N = Novel approaches
B = Big ideas and delivery
O = Options and opportunities
S = Strategic engagements or Supporting each other
C = Caring and consideration
H = Home
I believe that all inhabitants of the municipality will opt for the above, a NEW Stellenbosch. So how we do this, the process is not easy nor obvious. There are a couple of building blocks that should embraced and adhere to. Below are the 5 fundamental blocks (and yes, it has been said many times but how to make it real?):
1. Partnerships
2. Sustainable development
3. Youth mobilisation
4. Coordination
5. Change management.
Let’s take each one and create a pathway for each that are workable and practical, after all municipalities have the mandate to deliver basic services.
Partnerships
Easy on the ear, difficult to build but even more difficult to maintain. So what partnerships are happening? How do we make it work better and smarter? How do we leverage these partnerships?Here is the flow:
1. Establish a database of partnerships, no matter how small
2. Communicate the database to everyone, irrespective of affiliation
3. But to do the above (I almost said number 2) the municipality must know and have accurate knowledge of the citizens/inhabitants – so do this first
4. Use the social and printed media to highlight the successful partnership arrangements,
5. But invite the citizen in to participate…
6. And keep on doing it…
7. And the municipality should lead by example.
Sustainable development
The latest buzz word, perhaps, yes, but so difficult to do and even more difficult to implement. Tax payers’ monies at work, and tax payers therefore can have an opinion and can complain. A compliment is rare!At the heart of the challenge of sustainable development is the understanding or lack thereof by communities and inhabitants. So coin 4 of 5 key measurements for the citizens to hold the municipality accountable. But be different, explain sustainable development to all the citizens because the problems to be addressed is long-term. Be different, and teach councillors what it is, and then start with the communities…
- Understand and explain, what a municipality can do, and not do. Be clear. Be concise and be straight.
- Do less, but ensure it is done properly.
- Ensure that councillors and municipal staff (even service providers) understand service delivery.
- Ensure that community engagements are properly managed.
- Make sure the citizens are informed about the budget and target community leaders to inform them.
- And stick to the plan, no matter how difficult.
- Remember failures are remembered, successes are taken for granted…
Youth mobilisation
The biggest challenge in communities in South Africa remain jobs and the inability of young people to obtain employment. The challenge in Stellenbosch is the dispersed nature of the demands. Youth on farms are isolated by the nature of their locality, the youth in the suburbs are isolated by race and by socio-economic circumstances. And yes, the basic services remain the mandate of the municipality, but the tax base needs to grow.So does one tackle youth unemployment and concomitantly the education (not only tertiary education)? Perhaps the basic endeavours should be a coordinated approach to the delivery of information of opportunities – and yes, it might have be done, but taking it to the next level requires inspiration by young role models and supporting adults…
- A school indaba could work…
- A municipal career programme involving all in the municipal boundaries…
- A clear focus on the youth with the youth leading…
- Commitment and support
- But above all, businesses (small and big) setting a target for youth employment?
Coordination
It is recognised that the municipality cannot do this through the ‘normal’ channels and so the boldest step or approach is to rethink the current structures and to realign it to signal a change in the way business will be done. What about a Youth Council? What about a platform for partnerships? And what about the redesign of access to opportunities?Some examples:
1. Street committees for greening
2. Churches for organising food for the poor
3. (Town) schools for sports development for the youth
4. Academic institutions should reserve bursaries and ‘place’ for municipal based students.
5. Support skills development initiatives – be upfront what is available…
Cultural diversity/Change management
Stellenbosch remains divided, with clear racial associations, and the ultimate challenge is to change the race-based settlements. But what to do, as the design of the past also creates social cohesion and support in time of need. So understanding the system of support and also the system of operations within the suburbs is imperative but how?
Attitudes and behaviours remain in place, and the perceptions are difficult to change, so perhaps the biggest dilemma is, is a process of engagements with different leaders from different race to engage on “who I’m”…
Cultural diversity creates the biggest opportunity to change the way we do business and yet, mistrust and perceptions are most difficult to overcome.
Ultimately, an innovative municipality is about confronting the status quo, and building an encompassing vision and maintaining the basic services. But a municipality consists of people, at different levels, different cultural traditions and different expectations, co-existing in the municipal boundaries. So the underlying processes and approaches must find resonance, and perhaps the question for the management of the municipality is ‘Do you understand who you work for?’
Joyene Isaacs completed her schooling at Lückhoff Senior Secondary School in Stellenbosch in 1982 and then registered at the University of the Western Cape for a B Sc. degree with Plant Protection and Plant Pathology as majors. She continued with Plant Pathology as a major and completed the B Sc. Hon in 1986.
She worked for two different NGOS, in agricultural development, in three provinces from 1991 to 1996. She joined the Agricultural Research Council in 1996 at INFRUITEC as a centre co-ordinator for the resource-limited farmers’ programme. The job entailed the management of a team from the Institute working with resource-limited farmers and the development of effective linkages with all role players to ensure an appropriate research agenda for fruit production and processing systems for the emerging sector in South Africa. In 1998, she was appointed as the assistant-director: Resource-limited Producers’ Programme, managing a bigger team and taking on the responsibility of both Infruitec and Nietvoorbij campuses.
She was appointed at the Department of Agriculture: Western Cape in 2002 as a Director of Farmer Settlement, and in 2004 as Chief Director: Farmer Support and Development. The key functions entailed the development of the emerging sector through land reform, infrastructure development, farm worker development, food security initiatives, capacity building of grass roots farming organisations, ensuring equity (internally and externally) and building innovative and strong partnerships. The programme grew substantially under her leadership i.e. the budget increased from R 7 million to R 70 million over four years and the staff from 7 staff members to about 180 staff members (technical and administrative).
In December 2005 she was appointed Acting Head of Department for the Department of Agriculture, managing more than 800 staff members through 7 programmes and giving effect to agricultural development in the Western Cape to the benefit of all. In March 2006, she was permanently appointed as the Head of the Department on a four-year contract, which ended in March 2010, and was extended to March 2015 and again renewed to 2020.
She has published and presented a range of publications, from scientific to development papers and attended various conferences, seminars and workshops where she facilitated and chaired different sessions. She served as chairs for many organisations i.e. President of the Southern and Eastern African Association for Farming Systems Research and Extension (14 African countries); NGOS and currently is the chair for the Wine Industry Transformation Committee.
Ever since the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup, the sight of Table Mountain, flanked by Devil’s Peak and Lion’s Head with Signal Hill and the eye-catching Cape Town Stadium resting at their feet, metres from the ocean, has become a quintessential image of the Mother City. Used around the world to illustrate or identify stories of Cape Town, this image has become iconic within a relatively short time. And while it does make a pretty picture, this beauty is only half of the tale.
Indeed, it is a view from which many Capetonians remain excluded – due to entrenched inequality and access. Perceptions of race and exclusion with regards to Cape Town are still grave. I have personally grown tired of breathlessly defending the city to disillusioned ex-Capetonians or professionals of colour who have relocated to the city and have had a hard time acclimatising. Even after twelve years of living here, people constantly assume that I must be from Johannesburg, as how else can a black woman be shopping where I shop, eating where I eat and frequenting the places I do?
Painting pictures
Recently, I was taken to task by a young woman, another ex-Capetonian, who challenged the images I presented of people from various backgrounds socialising together in the public and private spaces of the Cape Town CBD. “Are they posed?” this woman asked, and although this was question was couched as a joke, I don’t think that she was joking.
Since our conversation in March, my interlocutor’s wry comments have come to me from time to time. It is one thing for me to talk about “an inclusive city” but at the same time, I’m aware that this is a goal in many instances rather a reality, and that the posts are constantly shifting. Never before in recent years has the divisions in our country been brought home to me than in 2016. And these divisions are growing as more and more names are added to the rogue’s gallery of racists and their ilk.
Drawing maps
With these realities in mind, I recently came across a series of maps created by Statistics South Africa. Based on occupancy details from the 2011 census, the maps detail racial segregation, and in some cases integration, in the country’s largest municipalities. The maps show that although the six major municipalities have become more integrated, the trenches between them are incredibly hard to cross. According to Statistics South Africa, the maps show that “the legacy of apartheid still has a hold on the social structure of South African urban space.”
From these maps, what stands out for me is how integrated Cape Town’s city centre is, which is testament to the work that the Cape Town Partnership has been doing over the last 16 years. This is also a motivation for the organisation to expand our reach to other parts of the metropole, beyond the CBD. The biggest challenges remain affordability of housing and transport, and also access, in the form of safe and reliable public transport.
Lessons learned
We’ve learned several lessons during the course of our 16-year history. As the CBD recovered, property prices increased, the area received billions of rands of investment but it was becoming very apparent that an island of prosperity was surfacing in a sea of need. While many parts of Cape Town have transformed over the last few years, others are still living in apartheid era realities; divided and disconnected from this evolution.
Thinking of a city as an economic engine or an interconnected system helped us to get the city functioning and to spur investment in the area. Under this paradigm, people were regarded more as users or consumers, than the creators of the city. Today, we regard cities as places of “concentrated humanity”. A city is more than just its streets and buildings: it is defined by the interactions that occur in the spaces and places between them. People bring vibrancy, life and personality to a city. As such, our current work revolves around putting people first, allowing opportunities for dialogue as we work towards making the city an inclusive space for all, through participation and people-based placemaking.
Tabulating benefits
We are constantly tailoring placemaking programmes to make Cape Town a people-friendly city. Over the years, we’ve introduced several interventions: established in 2006 to unlock the potential of the creative and knowledge economies, Creative Cape Town is our longest-standing programme. Initially focused on networking and knowledge-sharing events, Creative Cape Town has now grown into a 90,000-strong virtual community. City Walk is a newer programme, but one that takes it role as a storytelling route very seriously. The March 2016 installation of Cape Town’s first solar-powered Isabelo Smart bench that allows passersby to share Internet access, USB charging points and offers a space to sit and more. Since its 15 March installation, to date, the Isabelo bench has connected more than 4,400 users, with an average of just under 800 unique users per month.
However, as much abenefits of placemaking and the greater good for society as a whole, there are concrete economic benefits too. Placemaking drives an area’s development, it builds equity in property values, increases the tax base, helps with talent attraction and retention, promotes entrepreneurship and small business development, supports local communities and enables transit and transit-oriented development.
It’s important to note that the lessons we’ve learned as an organisation are replicable. Stellenbosch has long been a town that fascinates me. The municipality is comprised of different towns and villages and the university is an interesting anchor too. The history and memory of Stellenbosch is interesting, but during the past year or so, I’ve been reminded that this history is fraught and in some ways remains so. However, I believe the municipality is ripe for change, there is so much potential for placemaking activities in the CBD in particular, and meeting each other in public spaces is always a good formula for bringing people together.
Bulelwa Makalima-Ngewana
CEO of the Cape Town Partnership, an organisation tasked with managing, developing and promoting Cape Town’s broader city centre, Bulelwa Makalima-Ngewana is a qualified town planner with extensive experience in managing and coordinating public-private partnerships. Prior to her appointment to the CEO position in 2012, Bulelwa worked in a number of senior roles since joining the Partnership in 2004.
Bulelwa regards herself as a collaborative urbanist who strongly believes that cities are for people. She campaigns for city development strategies that put people first. A sought-after public speaker, Bulelwa serves on the board of several local and international boards.
- Details
- by Su Birch
As Stellenbosch looks to the future, it needs to build a long term wine tourism plan.
The plan should study what has happened in Napa where extensive investments have seriously threatened the environment, and the price of real estate has risen way beyond the means of ordinary residents. We need to plan to ensure the natural beauty of our winelands is not threatened by mass tourism, nor by expensive lifestyle estate developments, that the roads are not choked with traffic, and that the citizens and students of Stellenbosch remain a priority.
Stellenbos from the rest of South Africa as tourism growth can’t rely on a weak rand forever. A well thought out strategy to do this could generate jobs and benefit the local residents who are currently outside the wine economy.
How to do this? Here’s an idea to throw into the mix.
We need our own Guggenheim Bilbao. Not another art museum, but a superb and breathtaking piece of architecture, designed by African architects, situated somewhere dramatic- maybe near Oude Libertas at the gateway to the winelands.. The building needs to have the design impact of a Gehry structure, but be distinctly African, and definitely not Cape vernacular. It should be such that it will ignite imagination and attract acclaim globally. It should house a conference venue, a large concert hall, and a permanent wine expo, along with restaurants, coffee shops, wine bars, workshops and funky and imaginative co-making spaces for artists. There should also be inexpensive office and retail space for start-ups. Most important of all, it should house the Winelands School of Jazz, linking the Stellenbosch Faculty of Music with an international school like the Berklee College of Music.
The wine expo could have displays of all the Stellenbosch wineries, and provide a unique tasting experience. Again the design needs to be cutting edge but relaxed and welcoming. Not a place to be “educated” but a place for those unfamiliar with wine or with South African wine to “explore”. Visitors would buy a preloaded card and the use of Enomatic type wine dispensing machines could minimise wastage. This isn’t a new idea, but in the right space, it could work as well as it does in places like Lisbon.
Why jazz? Because of its wide appeal. It also sits comfortably with wine…even Bordeaux has its own Jazz Festival. Winelands Jazz could become an offshoot of the Cape Town Jazz Festival. Local talent can be developed, and the venue will provide for regular concerts from locals and from the students of the Winelands School of Jazz. Mini jazz festivals and events at wine estates could contribute to solving the seasonality problem.
According to McKtor is an essential part of what makes a city great, along with green spaces and immigrants who bring renewal and vigour to city life. The opening of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao in northern Spain in 1997, 20 years after the Pompidou Centre, shows how an imaginatively designed museum commissioned by an energetic mayor can help turn a city around. (The Economist, Dec 2013)
And talking about green spaces, Stellenbosch should ban cars on the university campus and only allow bicycles. It should pedestrianize Dorp and Andringa streets- how about grass rather than tar? Imagine Dorp street as one glorious park- it would be one of the most beautiful in the world.
Su Birch was CEO of Wines of South Africa from 2000 to 2013. She now coaches kids at a local school, runs her own small consultancy called Thinking Seahorses, and is building a new wine tourism website. She is working on presenting the The Business of Wine and Food Tourism conference, to be held at Spier on 1 and 2 November, 2016.
