10 March 2017Official weekly newsletter of NUST

Namibia University of Science and TechnologyNUST_Namibia

@NUST_Namibia

NUST BRIEFwebsite: www.nust.na

NUST Career Fair, 15 and 16 March 2017. To book a stand contact Michael Kisting, 061 207 2271 or mkisting@nust.na, or Susan Dietlik, 061 207 2070 or sdietlik@nust.na

Eight parallel sessions addressed thematic areas such as Urban Land Reform, Tenure Options and Land Administration, as well as Design, Construction and Sustainable Social Processes.

Delivering the keynote address, the Minister of Urban and Rural Development, Hon. Sophia Shaningwa, noted that land provision and adequate housing in particular, are multifaceted issues that cannot be resolved easily in a short period of time. “Although government will not be able to build a house for every Namibian household, it can enable the conditions for Namibians to access adequate housing through various win-win initiatives such as Private and Public Partnerships that the government fully supports,” she added.

NUST works closely with the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development by taking part in initiatives

such as the Massive Urban Land Servicing Programme Committee meetings. Furthermore, the University recently signed an agreement with the Ministry to develop a Strategy for the Implementation of the Mass Housing Programme.

Making reference to this, Dr Tjama Tjivikua, the NUST Vice-Chancellor said: “NUST is happy to involve many of its academics, students and alumni in this important project for the development of Namibia, and is particularly proud to have established a competent team, including experts from the University of Namibia and the private sector.” The Forum was convened by NUST, the Ministry, the Namibia Urban Design Institute, the Namibia Institute of Architects and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).

Re-thinking housing and urbanisationThe second Public Forum on Namibia’s Urban Future was held recently with the aim to provide a cross-institutional platform to explore, analyse and debate urbanization in Namibia. The event, attended by housing and urbanisation experts, as well as the general public, was initiated in 2015 with NUST as the host institution.

The aim of the placement is to enable students to apply the theoretical knowledge gained from their studies in a practical setting. Furthermore, this will provide students with the knowledge to make informed decisions regarding their career development. Terence Makari, O&L Leisure’s Manging Director said that the Agreement also forms part of the company’s corporate social responsibility. “As a business, we are committed to giving back to our society. We are always passionate about creating conditions for people to grow,” he said.

Dr Andrew Niikondo, the NUST Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic Affairs, spoke highly of organisations that open their doors to students. “It is not often that students get

an opportunity such as this one. Not many organisations are willing or able to invest in students as it takes time and in many instances money. We really appreciate this,” Niikondo remarked.

The Agreement also enables students to have access to O&L’s company data which may be used for action-learning projects and/or mini-theses for research. In turn, NUST will offer consulting services in fields where the University has the required skills and expertise.

The University offers Bachelor degrees in Hospitality Management, and Tourism Management, through the Faculty of Management Sciences.

O&L Leisure shows hospitality to NUST studentsA Memorandum of Agreement signed between NUST and Olthaver & List (0&L) Leisure will see students receiving industry training in the hospitality field. The hospitality company will offer internships to students as part of the University’s Work Integrated Learning programme.

A group of Natural Resources Management, Nature Conservation Honours students recently visited various schools in Windhoek specifically to address the water crisis in the city. During the visits, the students interacted with hundreds of learners from the Holy Cross Convent School, Dagbreek Special School and Dawid Bezuidenhout High School.

Students take action to save every drop

From left: Terence Makari, Olthaver and List Leisure: Managing Director and Dr Andrew Niikondo, NUST Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic Affairs, sealing the deal.

Shirley Bethune, Lecturer: Department of Natural Resources Management (third from right) pictured with students during one of the visits.

From left: Big-Don Kondunda, Director of Housing, Planning and Technical Services Coordination: Ministry of Urban and Rural Development; Hon. Sophia Shaningwa, Minister: Urban and Rural Development; Dr Tjama Tjivikua, Vice-Chancellor: NUST and Daniel Nghidinua, Permanent Secretary: Ministry of Urban and Rural Development.

Over the years, the City of Windhoek has been calling on residents to reduce their water usage to ease pressure on the city’s low surface water reserves, and although the recent rainfall patterns have been favourable, the water shortage crisis is not yet over.

Speaking to Grade 12 learners from Dawid Bezuidenhout High School, Mwendalubi Kalinda, one of the NUST team members said: “We must continue to use our limited water wisely and always be on the lookout for leaks and fix them promptly. One must always remember that our environment needs water too.”

The learners were curious to know whether there were any other water sources for the city besides the Von Bach, Swakopport and Omatako Dams. The learners also asked if desalinating seawater can be another option of meeting the

growing demand for water.

Shirley Bethune, the lecturer who led the team, responded by saying: “Alternative resources have been drawn to help cope with the crisis. For example, 20% of the water supply comes from reclaimed water and the city has increased the water supplied through boreholes to the southern areas from 5% to 20% as an emergency measure. Alternatives such as desalination would be too expensive”.

The learners expressed their appreciation for the visit saying that they had learnt a lot about the importance of saving this natural resource as well as general knowledge concerning water.

For instance, the fact that Windhoek was the first city in the world to reclaim its semi-purified water back to drinking water standard, was news to the young minds.