Virtual Connections: Recap of the WESAF Online Networking Event
-
On 9 January 2024, the Wits-Edinburgh Sustainable African Futures (WESAF) Doctoral Programme hosted an online networking event for WESAF Fellows and lecturers from the University of Witwatersrand and the University of Edinburgh. We were encouraged by an excellent turnout of 106 attendees, representing a diversity of disciplines, institutions, and countries of origin.
The aims of the event were to promote interdisciplinary discussion between the WESAF Fellows and Wits/Edinburgh staff; facilitate enhanced understanding of research networks among Wits and Edinburgh staff; assist Fellows in identifying prospective MScR and PhD supervisors; and identify potential networks for industry placements into the PhD?component of the WESAF programme.
Thematic Clusters
After a brief plenary session led by Dr. Megan Douglas (Edinburgh WESAF Coordinator), Prof Sumaya Laher (Wits WESAF Coordinator), and Dr. Ian Russell (MScR SAF Programme Director), attendees were able to join break-away sessions focusing on one of five thematic clusters that reflected the research interests of the WESAF Fellows:
- Economies, policies, and inequalities
- Education, culture, and youth
- Energy, technology, and green infrastructure
- Health
- Land, food, and natural resources?
The cluster groups provided an opportunity for Fellows and faculty to introduce themselves and their research interests and brainstorm ideas for future collaboration and networking opportunities. Core recommendations across clusters centred around:
- Creating a common space (e.g. a WhatsApp channel) as a place for discussion and sharing resources
- Enlarging the clusters by inviting more lecturers from Wits and Edinburgh
- Co-authoring academic papers and/or blog posts
- Organising technical skill-building workshops and panel discussions
- Using the clusters as spaces for Fellows to discuss their research and obtain guidance for resources, networks, funding opportunities, etc.
There were also some concerns raised by faculty members and Fellows, including the risk of expecting too much from academics who are already involved in multiple networks. To mitigate this challenge, attendees suggested that future meetings should be kept “short and sweet”, light-touch, and focused on one or two targeted themes to anchor discussion. Several clusters also brought up the importance of having one point person among the Fellows who would take the lead in organising activities.
Virtual Networking: Opportunities and Challenges
The WESAF cohort are doing their MScR online, and so with the exception of two in-person sustainability schools? during the year, all meetings must be held virtually. Regardless, the event organisers wanted to mirror the structure and feeling of an in-person networking session as much as possible.
Building rapport can be difficult in online settings, particularly when bandwidth issues prevent attendees from turning on their cameras or speaking. Some of the ways in which the organisers helped make a more easy-going environment included setting the tone with friendly and energetic introductions at the beginning. Many attendees, as well, helped make the space feel welcoming by utilising the chat panel to say hello and respond to others’ comments with emojis. As one lecturer mentioned in a break-out room, it’s important to remember to have fun when networking!
Internet-based platforms like Microsoft Teams, which was used for this event, are helpful for enabling the WESAF cohort to network with each other and faculty members in real-time. Online events are rarely without technical issues, however, and the event organizers held a series of pre-event conversations with the Edinburgh Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) team to ensure organizers were as prepared and supported as possible. A small percentage of attendees struggled with their audio or were unable to view resources and links posted on-screen. Poor Internet bandwidth meant that some attendees were unable to put on their video during the call, but organizers requested that everyone had their photo and name on screen to facilitate connection-building. Most issues were able to be resolved by having multiple members of the WESAF Team assisting with technical queries.
Feedback
Overall, attendees expressed positive feedback for the event. One of the WESAF Fellows said:
“The feedback cluster was great for me, especially the breakaway session. I listened to a number of academicians with enormous experience in various fields including my field of interest of refugees. It was great to know we have supervisors in our field and get tips on how to manage our research projects like through making notes and reading extensively.”
Doreen Ainembabazi, MScR SAF
A lecturer from Wits offered:
“This looks to be a really constructive and beneficial opportunity for students and staff to gain from mutual collaboration between two prestigious universities on different continents. The combining of expertise will be to the advantage of the group of highly selected and very engaged postgraduate students. Academics also stand to benefit from this opportunity by sharing their varied methodological, theoretical and practical approaches to the research topics.”
Prof Kate Cockcroft
Department of Psychology, School of Human and Community Development
Similarly, two Edinburgh lecturers said:
“It was great attending the WESAF Networking online meeting. I got more information about the programme. I really enjoyed meeting the Fellows and colleagues. It was lovely listening to what they do, their research interests and plans. They cut across various disciplines which made it very exciting. Some mentioned food security, which is core to making the world a better place for all mankind. That was great, I am glad I attended.”
Dr. Judith Okoth
Lecturer, Global Academy for Agriculture and Food Systems
"I left the networking event feeling really excited about the prospect of working with, and clearly also learning a huge amount from, the Fellows and other colleagues at Wits. And it provided a welcome challenge for us all to reflect more on how our research topics and practices can better address challenges around sustainability."
Dr. Georgia Cole
Chancellor’s Fellow, Social Policy
Next Steps
Following the event, a contact list of lecturers who attended each break-out session was shared with the WESAF Fellows. The clusters are Fellow led and fellows are in the process of deciding how they would like to use the clusters to help grow their professional networks and research capacity throughout the MScR and beyond. We’re encouraged by the interest shown by lecturers at Wits and Edinburgh in supporting the WESAF Fellows, and excited to see what transformative connections come from this and future networking events!