The relationship between the university and community engagement takes on a new nuance with the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Knowledge Co-op.
Inspired by the science shops that started in Dutch universities in the 1970s before spreading worldwide, the co-op does research that starts within the community – thus democratising science through what has been referred to as a bottom-up approach.
Ms Roshan Sonday, UCT’s Knowledge Co-op’s programme manager, explained its operating principles at the 5th annual Executive Leadership Workshop (ELW) of the Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education (EDHE) programme that was held in Cape Town on 21 and 22 June.