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New Environmental Resource Centre launched at CPUT |
By Marion Davids, CPUT
 Welcoming guests to the launch event, Vice Chancellor of CPUT Professor Vuyisa Mazwi-Tanga said the Environmental Resource Centre's goals are to raise environmental awareness and to contribute to a community of practice of understanding, creating and sharing knowledge on global and local environmental issues, but most of all to send out to the world environmental professionals that will have the requisite skills to address the 21st century development challenges.
The launch of the ERC learning centre on 2 August 2007 coincided with the Global Environment Facility's Fourth Biennial International Waters Conference hosted by South Africa. The approach of the ERC is to recognize and respond to the interdisciplinary nature of environmental problems, and the link between local and global environmental issues.
“There is hope if we empower people” – these are the memorable words of the Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Ms Rejoice Mabudafhasi at the Launch of the ERC. Ms Mabudafhasi emphasized that only when knowledge was much more freely available and generally embraced, could “our collective efforts drive us closer to achieving lasting solutions. It is open secret that our planet Earth faces unprecedented environmental challenges from unsustainable use of resources by mankind”. The Deputy Minister urged the newly launched ERC to establish closer working cooperation with key stakeholders such as Cape Nature and Marine Conservation Management to enrich the ERC with practical up to date information.
The Distance Learning and Information Sharing Tool (DLIST), a web platform which was launched by Ms Mabudafhasi in 2003, forms an integral part of the ERC. DLIST facilitates distance learning and provides a space for open debate and discussions on environmental and development matters. Ms Mabudafhasi acknowledged that DLIST has been instrumental in the drive to bridge the gap between civil society and government through the provision of open forums of discussion and making information available in multiple directions.
For enquiries contact Marion Davids, Cape Peninsula University of Technology on Tel.: 021 959 6926 or DavidsML@cput.ac.za.
Visit the ERC at http://erc.cput.ac.za.
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