The beautiful city of Den Haag (The Hague) and the renowned Technical University (TU) of Delft played host to the Dutch leg of the #Cocreatemycity initiative.

Introduced to UKZN’s School of Engineering by the Kingdom of The Netherlands Embassy in South Africa in 2016, the #Cocreatemycity initiative has developed into a well-established multi-disciplinary and transcontinental experiential learning process involving four universities namely UKZN, Durban University of Technology, TU Delf and Erasmus.

Under the guidance of skilled professionals, students develop a deeper understanding of their disciplines whilst they apply their minds to developing sustainable solutions to real world problems. In the words of former Dutch Ambassador Marisa Gerards, ‘If you combine business with government and knowledge institutions, you can solve almost any problem.’

In July 2018, five South African students; Ms Tauheeda Ahmed and Phakamile Ndlovu, both from UKZN’s Chemical Engineering discipline and three students from DUT with mentors, Drs Rudi Kimmie (UKZN’s AfriHub) and Sogen Moodley (DUT), winged their way to The Netherlands to participate with their Dutch counterparts in the Dutch leg of #Cocreatemycity. Wayfinding was the theme of the challenge presented by the Delft Municipality and the South African students with their Dutch colleagues had to develop a smart solution to optimise the cycling travel routes to TU Delft University.

The project cemented bilateral camaraderie and imparted valuable technical and innovative skills.

#Cocreatemycity will return to South Africa (Cape Town) in 2019.

Words and photographs: Rudi Kimmie