Cultivating the place of research communications in Africa, one idea at a time
We help you integrate communications into research, transforming how knowledge moves across disciplines, institutions of higher learning, and the community.
CONTEXT | IMPACT | CHANGE
WHAT WE DO
Our workshop is exactly what it sounds like: we bring together cultural workers, researchers, interdisciplinary scholars, and communities to test out ideas, experimenting to reorient how ideas are imagined, communicated, and implemented. Leading with a spirit of collaboration, rooted in the understanding that we are, collectively, embedded in the web of life. Our offering and approach advance the idea that research does not solely belong to the institution from which it was produced. We cultivate a sensibility of working across disciplines, drawing in multiple methods, borrowing from other traditions of thought, and inviting communities
WHY RESEARCH COMMUNICATION MATTER?
Compelling communication builds credibility, sustains interest from multiple stakeholders, and enables critical engagement that can change policy, societal perceptions, and advance change as part of recognising the complex nature of the world. Yet, effective and well-considered communications, because of the intensity of research and other life’s demands, can often make emerging scholars, senior academics, and research teams feel ill-equipped to approach communications as an integral part of research projects.
Our approach
We provide expert-led technical support and multidisciplinary creative thinking, considering the roots of the critical questions your work responds to, collaboratively planning and preparing for change as a constant feature of our lives.
Theory + Praxis
We offer context-sensitive and historically grounded communications strategy insights that respond to research that advaces the African continent and is rooted in everyday life.
Collaboration
We advance collaboration as a creative method of thinking about how to enable the emergence of other experiences and perspectives to expand the work.
Innovation
We combine expertise across humanities, arts, and science to apply theories of change leadership, complexity, and adaptive change to develop communications strategy insights that are globally connected but rooted in the African experience of the world.
OUR SERVICES
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Brand strategy, positioning, and narrative development
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Research narrative and translation
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Community engagement and social media
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Strategic communications
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Content development and writing
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Media assets and design
Meet our founder
mpho ndaba is a communications specialist with experience across higher education, civil society, and the arts. He is the former director of communications at the University of Cape Town’s Environmental Humanities South and the Critical Zones Africa consortium, a multi-country climate repair project funded by the Science for Africa Foundation. He also worked as a senior communications specialist and brand strategy coach at the African Research Funding Accelerator and Wonder & Co, where he served clients in higher education.
Qualifications
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BA Media Studies & International Relations
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MPhil Environmental Humanities
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MPhil Business Management, specialising in Change Leadership
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MA Sociology
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Doctoral scholar, UCT Graduate School of Business
