Doctoral Degrees (School of Public Leadership)
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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (School of Public Leadership) by browse.metadata.advisor "De Wit, Martin"
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- ItemMedia(ted) climate change in South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya : reimagining the public for engagement(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-12) Okoliko, Dominic Ayegba; De Wit, Martin; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. School of Public Leadership.ENGLISH SUMMARY : Climate change is the defining challenge of our time. The rise in global temperature observed in recent decades poses high risks to social and natural systems. It also has exacerbating effects on existing social problems such as poverty, hunger, infrastructural deficit, and human security challenges. The situation is worse for poorer communities, the majority of whom live in the Global South, including Africa, where resilience levels are low. As the global community grapples with addressing the challenge through mitigation and adaptation measures, it is suggested that climate change is an all-encompassing and cross-sectional policy issue. A whole systems approach needed requires input from all relevant stakeholders and at multiple levels. Attention has generally turned to communicative actions as conduits of generating public perception, attitudes, and support for climate policy. Consequently, (mass) media representation of climate change – media(ted) climate change communication (CCC) – has gained attention in the policy corridors and among researchers as an important space where citizens make sense of climate issues. Scholarship in the subject area provides several contributions to our understanding of the role that media play regarding sense-making about climate change and the public. This study focuses on addressing two gaps in the media(ted) CCC literature. First, although, “the public” is featured in media(ted) CCC research as a significant audience, little attention has been given to problematising it as a category of actor constellations engaged in sense-making around climate change governance. Considering that sustainability transitions require an engaged public who are negotiating, endorsing, and legitimising policy options, this study (re)directs attention to how the processes of sense-making in media(ted) CCC reveal positionalities and material realities that condition the climate change discourse. Second, our understanding of how societies in the Global South engage in sense-making around climate change through the media is limited due to a paucity of research interest in the region. In this study, a case is made for media(ted) CCC in Africa whose climate vulnerability is well established and yet has received little scholarly attention. The purpose of this qualitative case study is therefore twofold: (1) to develop an African context-relevant theoretical framework for CCC, and (2) to utilise the same in the analysis of how specific occasions of media(ted) CCC from three African countries, South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya, (dis)enable public engagement. In the study, media(ted) CCC refers to the representation of climate change issues in six newspapers across South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya, and public engagement as the process by which various social actors enact subjectivities and conduct sense-making around climate change in the mediascapes. Triangulated data (comprising of relevant literature, 315 newspaper articles and 11 semi-structured interviews) were analysed employing conceptual, framing, and thematic analyses. While the conceptual exercises (in chapters two and three) tease out what constitutes a mediascape that is supportive of inclusive climate change coverage, the empirical research (in chapters four and five) describe and explain how and whether the cases examined illustrate the representation of inclusive subjectivities (diversity of actors) and the pluralities of ideas (frames diversity). The study concludes with discussions important for driving climate change governance through communicative actions.
- ItemTransitioning to sustainable waste management models : the case of Langebaan and Swakopmund Municipalities(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-12) Kadhila, Timoteus; De Wit, Martin; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. School of Public Leadership.ENGLISH SUMMARY: Globally, the traditional linear economy model based on the “take-make-use-dispose” principle originated from the first, second and third industrial revolutions, in which waste disposal to landfills and dumpsites has been the dominant waste management method. However, in the 21st century, waste management, driven by a radical circular economy model, is seen as an alternative method that may contribute to sustainable development, unlike the predominant linear economy model of resource consumption which is no longer sustainable. The circular economy entails reducing the consumption of raw materials, designing products in such a manner that they can easily be taken apart after use and reused (eco-design), prolonging the lifespan of products through maintenance and repair, using recyclables in products and recovering raw materials from waste flow. The study employed a mixed method approach whereby qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection were combined to explore how the current waste management models, resulting from municipal policies, processes, procedures and practices of the Langebaan and Swakopmund municipalities, contribute to the realisation of sustainable waste management (environmental, economic and social sustainability) in the context of a circular economy. The methods used in data collection were structured in-depth interviews, documents analyses and non-participatory direct observation. Participants were senior level employees at Langebaan and Swakopmund municipalities, as well as private companies dealing with waste management. Participants were purposefully selected on the basis of their knowledge of waste management systems. Document analysis was used to conduct a reflective/comparative analysis of policies, procedures, processes, organisational strategies and reports as a way of providing additional data, triangulation and validity of data collected through structured in-depth interviews. The study found that currently – despite the circular economy gaining momentum in most cities internationally – the Langebaan and Swakopmund municipalities have not, as yet, implemented circular economy models in their waste management systems. For example, products such as mobile phones, batteries, tyres and organic products are produced and used, and when they break, become worn and obsolete, or by-products, they are dumped in landfills. The study established that part of the challenges includes, among others, inadequate regulatory frameworks, insufficient financial resources, inadequate information, lack of awareness, insufficient human resource capacity, lack of private sector engagement/involvement, lack of political will and lack of technical solutions. The study suggests that a circular economy would help to address these issues by maximising the efficiency with which resources are used at each stage of the product lifecycle. Moreover, a circular economy business model can increase productivity and economic growth; improve the quality and quantity of employment by creating jobs and save lives, by helping to reduce environmental impacts such as water pollution, air pollution and climate change. Based on the results a framework for best practices in circularity for small municipalities was developed for immediate consideration by Langebaan and Swakopmund municipalities and any other small municipality that wishes to become a circular or green city/town. Circular cities/towns keep resources in use for as long as possible, extract the maximum value from them whilst in use, then recover and regenerate products and materials at the end of their lifespan. Consequently, it is recommended that policymakers in government and small municipalities should revise existing regulatory instruments to promote transitioning to circular business models for waste management in line with the proposed framework.