SRI 2024 Congress

The NRF will host an interactive roundtable discussion on 14 June 2024 at the University of Helsinki, on the occasion of the SRI Congress taking place from 10-14 June 2024, in Finland. 

The session will deliberate on innovative skills and capacity building programmes that will meet the demands of future work within the green energy transition space.

The discussions will be dedicated to embracing new skills for green technologies driving industrial development, innovation, entrepreneurship, job creation and economic diversification, leading to a sustainable and economically resilient future, characterised by decent work, social inclusion, and lower levels of unemployment. 

This interactive roundtable aims to fulfil the following objectives:

• Consider scholarship programmes to support skills, startups and small and medium-sized enterprises engaged in green hydrogen research and development.
• Discuss the allocation of public and private funds for skills and capacity development in green hydrogen technologies to spur inclusive innovation and overcome technological barriers.
• Explore policies that encourage and stimulate financial incentives or subsidies for financing skills development programmes to accelerate South Africa’s just energy transition.
• Identify gaps and opportunities in capacity development for green and sustainable energy, especially for Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges, to integrate innovation-focused courses into their curricula.
• Foster bilateral, multilateral and cross-sectoral collaboration to forge joint skills development programmes to support a global ecosystem for green hydrogen innovation.

The session panelists are:

• Dr Nokuthula Mchunu, Deputy Director: AOSP-NRF
• Refilwe Mashigo, Professional Officer: Business Advancement, NRF 
• Mamphoku Khuluvhe, Director: Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Co-ordination, Department of Higher Education and Training
• Dr Sandile Ngcobo, Senior Lecturer, Tshwane University of Technology
• Koena Motloi, Director: Business Advancement, NRF
• Dr Theo Mudzunga, Vice President Science Research, Sasol

For more information on this engagement, please email Refilwe Mashigo at r.mashigo@nrf.ac.za

Read more on the SRI Congress here https://sricongress.org/the-2024-sustainability-research-and-innovation-congress-will-be-held-in-finland/