Future Africa Research Institute – 1HOPE: Webinar Series

Invitation to participate in a short-term research project:
Future Africa Research Institute – 1HOPE: Webinar Series

The main aim of the Future Africa – 1Hope series was to abet in building transdisciplinary research (TR) capacity of early career and Doctoral students in Africa. The series took place in November/December 2020 and in January 2021.

The series was organised around six key themes:

  • global and Africa region socio-economic challenges;
  • the role of the university in the 21st century;
  • the international One Health for One Planet Education initiative (1 HOPE);
  • global and local transdisciplinary research and development initiatives;
  • methods and epistemology in addressing ‘complex and contested’ TR problems;
  • career development opportunities in a Covid-19 world.

We believe that the knowledge and experience shared by the speakers and panel members throughout the series are worthy of attention by the wider global community. One way of doing so is through a recognised journal. An opportunity for the submission of an article has arisen with a forthcoming HEALTHCARE Special Edition on ‘Healthcare System Recovery Post COVID-19’.

Healthcare is a quarterly journal ‘in support of equality, inclusion & diversity.’ The proposed article is provisionally entitled “Optimising Planetary Health Recovery through Transdisciplinary Research and One Health Education: An African Case Study”: http://ow.ly/Jz6x50FouaC

To draft the article we are seeking students from University of Pretoria Cluster Areas who participated in the series to engage in a short-term research project involving the review of recordings of sessions offered during Parts 1, 2 or 3. Students who were not able to attend are also welcome to participate as the sessions were intended to be freestanding within a wider TR framework. We are therefore seeking about 40 volunteers drawn from the five areas.

Expectations for student participation:

Student researchers will participate in the analysis of the recorded sessions in cross-disciplinary groups of 3/4. The overall objectives are to (1) identify key messages from each of the sessions (webinar schedule attached); and (2) synthesise the information with specific recommendations (regional and global) for an article appearing in the aforementioned journal. The research project will take place over an estimated 6-week timeframe – and will include the following research activities:

  1. An introduction meeting to the project – early July 2021.
  2. Training on aspects relating to Content Analysis research methodology – early July 2021.
  3. Session review and data analysis process – mid July 2021.
    1. Each of the participants will be asked to view one session (c. 1 hour).
    2. The group will select a volunteer to transcribe the group content analysis.
    3. The group will summarise key themes or messages based on the session.
    4. The key themes/messages will be sent to the original presenter/panellists’/chairs to validate the merging key themes/messages.
    5. The group will select someone to take the lead in drafting their contribution to the journal article.
    6. Participants will be asked to participate in a group feedback session to reflect on the overall research process and article developments.

Participation criteria:

  1. Doctoral or masters level students.
  2. Early career scholars.
  3. Students who participated in the webinar series or who would be willing to engage in this short-term research project.

Benefits of participation:

  • Full authorship in the final manuscript.
  • Exposure to interdisciplinary research.
  • Enhancing qualitative research skills.
  • Connecting and networking with transdisciplinary researchers in other disciplines nationally and internationally.

Next steps:

If you are interested in becoming involved with this project, please submit your name (e-mail address) and cluster area/discipline by 16 July to Dr Mokgaetji Somo: Research Lead (charity.somo@up.ac.za), Centre for the Study of Resilience; and to Dr George Lueddeke: Series Co-Chair, Research Advisor and Programme Lead (glueddeke@aol.com), International One Health for One Planet Education-TR Initiative.