MPhil & PhD Research

Ashley Taylor, Sustainable Cities and Local Food Systems: A partnership between restaurants and farms in Portland, Oregan. Thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the Mphil in Sustainable Development Planning and Management, 2009.

Susana Muhamad, Understanding Corporate Social Responsibility from a Sustainability Point of View: System Change or only Mitigation of Effects? Susana Muhamad is from Colombia and is employed by Shell, based in The Netherlands. This is her assignment for the Corporate Citizenship module.

Mandla Tsikata (Bphil 2009) and his lecturer Ben Sebitosi published this article in the international peer reviewed journal Energy in 2009. Drawing on an essay written by Tsikata, the authors reflect on South Africa's challenge to wean itself dependence on coal.

Stephen Bullock - Proposal Proposal for Anglo Platinum to make a meaningful switch to G3 Sustainable Development Reporting: A logical framework analysis. Written in Project Proposal format, this thesis was submitted in partial fulfilment of the Mphil in Sustainable Development Planning and Management. The researcher was employed by Anglo Platinum as head of the vision responsible for sustainable development reporting. He used his thesis to develop a Project Proposal for rethinking the strategic orientation of Anglo Platinum's sustainable development reporting approach.  

Amelie Guyot, MPhil thesis, 2009. Full title: Spaces for enchantment and the unknown: fairy tales, complexity thinking and a search for new ways of dreaming - child-centre sustainable development. Based on in-depth research with young people from the Lynedoch Primary School, this thesis uses complexity theory to explore ways that that young people can understand the world we live in and the challenges they face.

Adi Ansems, Sustainable Cities - Case Study of South Korea. (Assignment: 2009)

Segametsi Oreeditse S. Moatlhaping - The Role of Indigenous Governace System(s) in Sustainable Development: Case of Moshupa Village, Botswana. Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the Mphil in Sustainable Development Planning and Management, March 2007. In this thesis, the researcher re-examines the indigenous governance systems that exist in Botswana, with special reference to her original home. She examines the principles of these systems and shows how they could contribute to the kinds of governance systems that are required for more sustainable forms of development.

Schirin Yachkaschi - Towards the Development of an Appropriate Organisational Development Approach for Optimising the Capacity Building of Community-Based Organisations (CBOs): A Case Study of 3 CBOs in the Western Cape. Phd thesis, December 2008. In this Phd Yachkaschi develops a unique conceptual framework for understanding the application of organisational development approaches to CBOs. CBOs are assumed to be the key to participatory development, but there is very little known about the organisational development of CBOs.

Schirin Yachkaschi is doing her Phd on organisation development in CBOs, supervised by Prof. Mark Swilling. This paper reflects her core thinking that will be elaborated theoretically and empirically in her Phd. Her research is based on work she did with CBOs while working for Community Connections, an NGO that supports CBOs with offices at the Philippi Business Place - an SI project.

Russel Dlamini, Mphil Thesis, Investigation of Sustainable Indigenous Agricultural Practices: A Systems Approach (2007). This thesis investigates the farming systems and techniques that have been used by African farmers in Swaziland during pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial times and concluses that these farmers knew how to farm sustainably and continue to do so into the present era. Much can be learned from them now that sustainable farming has become a necessity.