In view of the ‘2020 Celebrating Excellence’ held in December at Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, the awards were presented virtually by Vice-Chancellor Prof Sibongile Muthwa. Prof Muthwa said: ‘In the midst of so much turbulence and uncertainty, it is nevertheless important for us to celebrate – both the significant achievements, such as our student Academic Awards and the Vice-Chancellor’s Excellence Awards for staff. This is not the year to get everything you want. This is the year to appreciate and celebrate everything you have, despite the global pandemic.’
The sub-project ‘KaziHealth’ of the international research project ‘KaziBantu’ – a collaboration between the Department of Sport, Exercise and Health (University of Basel), the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) and the Nelson Mandela University (NMU), was awarded the ‘Innovation Excellence Award’. The Swiss-South African project is led by Prof. Uwe Pühse, Prof. Cheryl Walter and Prof. Darelle van Greunen (Director Centre for Community Technologies NMU) and is financially supported by the Novartis Foundation. KaziHealth – a Workplace Health Promotion Program for Teachers in neglected settings – explores and improves the health status of teachers from marginalised South African neighborhoods, supported by innovative digital technologies.
The project is part of the UNESCO Chair on ‘Physical Activity and Health in Educational Settings’. For more information either visit www.unesco-chair.dsbg.unibas.ch/en/home/, www.kazibantu.org or contact Prof Uwe Pühse, uwe.puehse@unibas.ch or Dr Ivan Müller, Swiss project coordinator ivan.mueller@unibas.ch.
