UCT Sustainability and the SDGs 2022 - Magazine - Page 3
Africa’s leadership in shaping
a sustainable tomorrow
Professor Mosa Moshabela
Vice-Chancellor
At the University of Cape Town (UCT), sustainability is not an
only in greening our campuses and operations or aligning
auxiliary pursuit. It de昀椀nes how we teach, research, innovate
with global goals. But in ensuring that the continent’s knowl-
and engage with our communities. Our commitment to sus-
edge, experience and innovation shape the solutions the
tainability has become a moral, intellectual and institutional
world requires.
imperative: one that binds our purpose to the future we must
collectively secure.
Our students are the heartbeat of this vision and we must
invest in their leadership which the world desperately needs.
Universities are uniquely placed to model and accelerate
They are the conscience of our campus and the architects
the transitions our world urgently needs – social, economic,
of the future we aspire to build. Through their activism, re-
environmental and technological. Our position of in昀氀uence
search and empathy they continuously challenge us to live
enables us to be knowledge-producers, employers, innova-
up to our values and to act with courage and kindness. They
tors and neighbours embedded in communities that mirror
remind us that sustainability is not only about preserving the
our context.
planet but also about protecting dignity, advancing equity
Yet, as a university in Africa, UCT’s mandate carries a
unique responsibility. The global sustainability agenda can-
and ensuring that no one is left behind. It is about doing more
stage. These partnerships embody ubuntu: shared humanity
inform the evolution of AI, data governance and the innova-
and doing better – building the world we want to live in.
and shared responsibility. The more we partner, the more
tion systems that shape our collective future.
not succeed without Africa’s participation and leadership.
Partnership and collaboration remain the foundation of how
we unlock the potential for African science, innovation and
This sustainability report re昀氀ects the collective effort of our
This is why aligning with Africa’s development priorities and
UCT pursues sustainability – within our institution, across
policy to contribute innovative and ethical solutions of global
staff, students and partners. At UCT we are committed to the
the African Union’s Agenda 2063 is crucial.
sectors and beyond borders. Whether through local alliances
relevance. Nowhere is this more urgent than in the age of
aspiration that sustainability be both a vision and a practice:
From climate change and biodiversity loss to inequality,
with our peer universities or global collaborations across dis-
arti昀椀cial intelligence. As AI reshapes the way knowledge is
an ongoing commitment to balance excellence with empa-
unemployment and public health crises, our continent sits
ciplines and sectors, we know that no institution can achieve
produced, shared and governed, the continent must not be
thy, growth with responsibility, and innovation with justice. In
at the intersection of the world’s signi昀椀cant threats – and its
sustainability in isolation. Our networks across South Africa
a consumer of technology developed elsewhere – we must
this, every member of our community has a role to play – as
greatest possibilities. As we seek to model a university of the
and the continent re昀氀ect a shared purpose: to amplify Africa’s
be co-creators of its ethical and social architecture. UCT is
scholar, citizen, and custodian of tomorrow.
future, we rely on our sustainability strategy foundational not
intellectual footprint and strengthen its voice on the global
committed to ensuring that African perspectives and values
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