Dear friends of the College,
We are grateful for another year, and another opportunity to do the work we’re so passionate about thanks to the ongoing support from our partners and donors. Despite the ongoing challenges facing the College, and indeed the conservations sector as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, our staff and students are fully in the swing of things.
The year started on a positive note with the announcement of a new international collaboration with CAKE, the Swedish leader in premium electric off-road motorbikes. They have launched a special edition Kalk bike that is being tested by the College’s Research and Development department so that the bike can be redefined and optimized for rangers working to protect wildlife in the harsh conditions of the African bush.
In addition our Training needs analysis (TNA) web application is almost ready for testing, and various other exciting partnerships, such as with AIGLH, National Geographic, ESRI and Vulcan/Earth Ranger, continue to be implemented, to the benefit of people and nature. We remain steadfast in our vision to inspire every person we train and engage with, to conserve our natural world.
Internally, we have also been busy managing the ever-increasing complexity in supporting student returns and movement across South Africa and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to cope with health and safety regulations and travel requirements. This year we have also looked at reimagining core roles to better suit our needs, the needs of students and the needs of the industry. This has meant appointing Anelle Rautenbach to head up our Quality Management Systems across the institution and Ashwell Glasson as our Registrar. We have also restructured our Applied Learning Unit (now Research and Development) to better reflect our research projects and our approach to technology that enables better conservation practices. It is both gratifying and motivating to see our projects and the Conservation Innovation Hub continue to gain traction.
On reflection of where we were at this time last year, we have moved forward in leaps and bounds, embracing blended learning, e-learning, remote working, and the systems and processes that enable this.
We’ll continue to monitor the situation with the pandemic as it unfolds, as ensuring the safety and well-being of our staff and students remains our priority.
Thanks for reading and we look forward to staying in touch in 2021,
Jeanné Poultney
Executive Manager – Marketing, Fundraising and Media Relations