Ph.D. (Geography) / This research investigation straddles the disciplines of economic geography, innovation studies and tourism studies. In recent decades, services have outperformed manufacturing from an employment and output perspective in most advanced economies. This trend, associated with neoliberal restructuring, is also observable in emerging market economies like South Africa and regions like the Western Cape. Research on innovation in services has been limited in the international, as well as the local context. Innovation activity has significant implications for firm and destination competitiveness, as well as regional economic development. Policy makers, concerned with fostering innovation, are increasingly recognising the economic significance of tourism for economic development. In South Africa and the Western Cape, tourism is regarded as a key sector for job creation and growth. However, in South Africa innovation policy excludes tourism, whilst there is a limited understanding of tourism innovation evident in tourism policies. Therefore, tourism innovation, and related issues such as networking and regional competitiveness, needs to be understood better in the South African context to support evidence-based regional economic, tourism and innovation policies. The research confirms that the Schumpeterian notion of innovation is appropriate for measuring innovation in services and tourism. The European Community Innovation Survey questionnaire was adapted for a sector-specific survey of tourism firms in the Western Cape. In addition, qualitative interviews with firms on the establishment and corporate levels; as well as with tourism actors in the Western Cape tourism system, and with tourism experts, entrepreneurs and associations formed part of the empirical investigation. In total, 182 responses were obtained. It is determined that innovation by tourism firms is widespread in the Western Cape tourism economy. The incremental nature of innovation, however, is an outstanding feature in an emerging economy, global South, context. Evidence of product, marketing, environmental, organisational, process, structural and social innovations in tourism are identified. The identification of environmental, social and structural innovation in tourism contributes to the literature. This investigation contributes further by providing perspectives on innovation per tourism sub-sector.

The factors that influence the invasion of hillslopes by the shrub Pteronia incana in the communal rangelands of Ngqushwa (formerly Peddie) district were investigated. Mgwalana, one of the catchments in the district where encroachment by the species is widespread, was chosen. The study combined field observations with image analysis based on high resolution infrared imagery. The catchment was flown and high resolution infrared images (1mx1m) were taken using a Kodak DCS420 digital, colour-infrared camera. The images were analysed using Idrisi32 and Kilimanjaro GIS versions. The ability of different vegetation indices to separate P. incana from the other cover types was investigated. Field observations of the degree of P. incana invasion in relation to, inter alia, soil surface conditions, slope angle and visible forms of erosion were made. A Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of 20m spatial resolution was used to derive terrain parameters. The presence and absence of P. incana in relation to slope gradient and aspect were determined. The combined influence of the two terrain parameters and land use on the invasion was also investigated. The Topographic Wetness Index (WI), a component of the TOPMODEL was derived from the DEM and its relationship with the spatial distribution of P. incana was explored. Soil moisture dependencies for P. incana and grass species as well as surrogates for runoff under the shrub and adjacent bare areas were determined in the field. A high level of classification accuracy confirmed the reliability of digital camera imagery for spatial analyses. Distinct spectral separability for the surface vegetation cover types was achieved by means of the Perpendicular Vegetation Index (PVI) as opposed to the ratio based vegetation indices (NDVI, SAVI and MSAVI). The absence/presence of P. incana was noted to be strongly influenced by slope angle and aspect. The probability for P. incana occurrence increased with slope steepness and southerly slope orientation. Abandoned and grazing lands were identified as the main invasion hotspots. Blanket invasion of the former signified the high susceptibility of abandoned land to P. incana invasion. The combined influence of land use, slope gradient and aspect was also noted to have promoted the invasion. This is borne out by the concentration of the invasion on abandoned steep slopes with a southerly orientation. Local topographic variations were identified as having a strong bearing on P. incana spatial distribution. The topographically driven WI confirmed this relationship, such that P. incana was associated with the low WI values of convexities. Differences in the moisture dependencies between P. incana and grass species were demonstrated by the greater rooting depth of the former. During field surveys, soil surface crusting was noted as inherent to P. incana patchiness. The coupling between local topography and soil surface crusting underpins soil moisture variability at hillslope and patch scales respectively. This in turn determines the competition between P. incana and grass species and the eventual replacement of the latter by the former. A close spatial correlation between fully established P. incana and severe forms of soil erosion was observed. Loss of patchiness and expansion of inter-patch bare areas promote runoff connectivity erosion. As most of the runoff becomes run out, hillslopes tend towards dysfunctional systems. Greater soil moisture storage after rainstorms under P. incana tussocks than the adjacent bare areas signifies the shrub’s water harvesting capabilities. The tussocks could thus serve as a starting-pointbuilding- block for the rehabilitation of dysfunctional hillslope systems.

M.A. (Geography) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

This is an interpretative case study of four Grahamstown Education District Further Education and Training (FET) schools. The study sets out to investigate how Geography teachers integrate mapwork and environmental issues using local context, with the intention of providing insights for future professional development. Data for this study were generated using qualitative methods such as document analysis, semi-structured interviews and lesson observations. Interviews were conducted with geography teachers, the subject advisor and a workshop facilitator. The evidence generated in the study revealed that contrary to the integrative design of the curriculum, there is a superficial integration of mapwork and environmental issues as well as a cursory reference to and use of local context. This was noted in both professional development support workshops and classroom practice. The study finds that efforts to improve performance in geography need to pay closer attention to curriculum policy that calls for an integration and localization of knowledge and skills for coherence and relevance. It also notes that there is a need for a focus on real-world problem solving in social, economic, cultural and physical environments through the use of inquiry-based local fieldwork. Local investigations provide an integrative space for content and skills as well as being an important point of reference from which learners can compare and contrast issues in other places such as provincial, national, continental, and global locations. A professional development programme that emphasizes integration and contextualization alongside the current focus on basic skills training is proposed to improve what teachers are delivering in the classroom and to support enquiry-based fieldwork and research to strengthen a place-based relevance in local, national and international contexts. Finally an exemplar for professional development is briefly developed for the topic of soil erosion.

School geography has been identified as the one subject which has the most potential to develop pupils' ability to identify with their community and with their environment. Through the development of a sense of place pupils are encouraged to become effective perceivers, users, appreciators, evaluators and developers of their environment (Catling 1987. This approach to the teaching of geography implies that the content and the teaching strategies need to be perceived as relevant. Relevance in this study is taken to incorporate not only the needs of the pupils and the community but also of the subject. The location of this study in Venda, an area which is predominantly rural in nature sought to emphasise the important role which rural settlement geography can play in aiding the development of these pupils' sense of place and social identity. The research therefore concentrated on the approaches and teaching strategies used in the teaching of rural settlement in Venda secondary schools. This was achieved through a survey which involved geography teachers and pupils in the Thohoyandou inspection area. The place of rural settlement in the current geography curriculum was established through an analysis of the relevant syllabuses, textbooks and senior certificate examination papers. This analysis was primarily undertaken to illuminate the extent to which rural settlement geography in the South African curriculum complies with accepted criteria for relevance. The study revealed that the teaching of rural settlement in Venda is textbook-related and teacher- directed with no attempt to capitalise upon the pupils' experience of their rural environment. This was largely ascribed to the constraints of the syllabus and the demands of the examination system. When allied to the problems teachers have concerning syllabus development, the validity and relevance of this aspect of the syllabus is reduced. More importantly, because the local environment is not perceived as having value in the teaching of geography, the Venda pupils' perception of the value of their environment is diminished.

This thesis provides a description of the periglacial environment and features in the vicinity of Tiffindell Ski resort, on the slopes of Ben MacDhui (3001.2m.), the highest point of the East Cape Drakensberg, South Africa. Active and inactive periglacial features were located, mapped and described. Of particular interest were periglaciar slope deposits including gelifluction turf-banked lobes and stone lobes, and cryoturbation features including polygons and thufur. Local environmental factors, such as aspect, moisture, topography, soil texture and depth of freezing, appear to act as important controls on the spatial distribution of the periglacial features. Identification and quantification of periglacial processes in the regolith was investigated using temperature and soil moisture sensors coupled to dataloggers. Research was undertaken over a 16 month period from June 1995 to September 1996 so that comparisons between the winter conditions of 1995 and 1996 could be drawn. The Tiffindell area was observed to be characterised in the winter months by 'diurnal freezethaw days', as well as by 'ice days', 1996 experiencing colder temperatures than 1995. With more than 78% of the days from May to September 1996 being 'ice days', and simultaneously experiencing high soil moisture contents, freezing penetration to a depth of greater than 0.2m was observed to occur in the Tiffindell area, causing frost heave and gelifluction. The summer thaw of ice lenses that developed in the cold winter months caused surface movement downslope of gelifluction lobes of up to 39mm over an 18 month period, although movement declined rapidly with depth and was essentially restricted to the uppermost 130mm of the regolith. Other features such as sorted and non-sorted polygons and thufur were identified and found to be active under the present climatic conditions and depth of frost penetration at Tiffindell. Stone lobes were identified on the south and southeast-facing slopes at Tiffindell, but are apparently inactive under present climatic conditions. Their existence suggests the presence of severe seasonal frost in the past. The implications of the air and ground surface temperatures, and of seasonal frost penetration for the development of Tiffindell Ski resort were considered, and suggestions regarding their economic significance are presented.

Thesis (M.Ed. (Curriculum Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / The aim of this research is to explore initiatives taken by teachers to improve the learning of Physical Geography in Grade12 among the schools in Mamabolo Circuit, Limpopo Province, South Africa. This research was mainly qualitative in approach. A sample of 9 of Geography educators was purposively sampled in this study. The study discovered that educators need support from the Department of Education (DoE) critically when it comes to the improvement of teaching of Geography for quality results. The researcher established that the schools are not taking Geography as a subject seriously therefore, the educators teaching Geography are not considered as specialised. Therefore, this study recommends to the DoE, schools and educators to consider Geography as a subject of significance.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The social and spatial dimensions of any settlement are widely recognised in the international literature as having been shaped notably by art in some of the so-called cities of art or culture, such as Florence, Venice and other, smaller cultural nodes around the world. Arts resources have an impact on the socio-spatial dimension of a locale in a multitude of ways, and an understanding thereof can be hugely beneficial to a town‟s development and success. When developed, utilised and protected correctly, the full positive effects of such resources can be achieved to stimulate an inclusive and diverse art town setting. The Western Cape town of Stellenbosch is reputed for its rich arts and cultural heritage, yet there has not been extensive academic research concerning the incidence and effects thereof. Hence, Stellenbosch provides a platform from which to study the socio-spatial influence that visual art brings about in the interplay between art, people and space. Enhanced planning and decision making can then be undertaken for the current and future protection and management of art resources, equipping Stellenbosch to be part of a world that is both a competitive global market and diverse sphere of social constructs and discourses. The exploration of notions such as commoditisation, the places and spaces of art, formal and informal public art, artwork defacement, and the sense of place brought about by the art in Stellenbosch to obtain an overarching impression of the nature and extent of the influences of art on the socio-spatial dimension was the primary aim of this study. A descriptive overview of the socio-spatialities brought about by art in the so-called art town of Stellenbosch is provided by utilising in-depth interviews in combination with a minor GIS component. This enables an overall view of the public perception of art in Stellenbosch, as well as a visual overview of the distribution of the available art resources, hence providing new attribute and spatial data that can inform future initiatives in the town. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In die internasionale literatuur word die sosiale en ruimtelike dimensies van ‟n nedersetting wyd erken as deur kuns gevorm te wees in sommige sogenaamde stede van kuns of kultuur, soos Florence of Venesië, en ander, kleiner kulturele nodes regoor die wêreld. Kunsbronne het op ‟n magdom van maniere ‟n impak op die sosio-ruimtelike dimensie van ‟n land, en ‟n begrip daarvan is uiters voordelig vir ‟n dorp se ontwikkeling en sukses. Wanneer dié bronne toepaslik ontwikkel, benut en beskerm word, kan die volle positiewe uitwerking daarvan bereik word om ‟n inklusiewe en diverse kunsdorpomgewing te stimuleer. Die Wes-Kaapse dorp Stellenbosch is bekend vir sy ryk kuns- en kulturele erfenis, maar uitgebreide akademiese navorsing oor die voorkoms en gevolge daarvan is nog nie onderneem nie. Stellenbosch bied dus ‟n platform waarop die sosio-ruimtelike invloed van visuele kuns in die wisselwerking tussen kuns, mense en die ruimte bestudeer kan word. Verbeterde beplanning en besluitneming kan dan gedoen word vir die huidige en toekomstige beskerming en bestuur van kunsbronne, wat Stellenbosch sal toerus vir ‟n wêreld wat beide ‟n kompeterende globale mark en diverse terrein van sosiale konstrukte en diskoerse is. Die ondersoek van begrippe soos kommodifikasie, die plekke en ruimtes van kuns, formele en informele openbare kuns, kunswerkskending, en sin van plek wat deur die kuns in Stellenbosch teweeg gebring word, verskaf ‟n oorkoepelende indruk van die aard en omvang van die invloede van kuns op die sosio-ruimtelike dimensie, wat die primêre doel van hierdie studie was. ‟n Beskrywende oorsig van die sosio-ruimtelikheid wat deur kuns in die sogenaamde kunsdorp Stellenbosch teweeg gebring word, is verskaf deur gebruik te maak van in-diepte onderhoude in kombinasie met ‟n kleiner GIS-komponent. Dit lewer ‟n geheelbeeld van die openbare persepsie van kuns op Stellenbosch, sowel as ‟n visuele oorsig van die verspreiding van die kunsbronne wat beskikbaar is, wat dus nuwe attribuut- en ruimtelike data verskaf wat toekomstige inisiatiewe op die dorp kan inlig.

Small town economic decline has been experienced in many countries across the globe and can be explained through Geographical Economics, particularly the New Economic Geography, which suggests that agglomeration occurs as a natural outcome of high transportation and transactional costs. Yet despite the economic rationale behind their decline it is not an economic inevitability and there is evidence of towns in the United States, New Zealand and Canada that have reversed their economic fortunes. [n South Africa approximately 5 million people live in the 500 small towns and many more live in their rural hinterlands where povelty levels are extremely high within a national context. Within this context the thesis examines the current economic status and potential growth prospects of small towns in the Eastern Cape Midlands in South Africa in order to identify critical growth dri vers within small town economies. Five small towns were selected for the study via means of a purposive sample and were subjected to two regional modelling techniques, namely Shift-Share Analysis and Economic Base Theory to determine their current economic trends and past growth patterns, while a Social Accounting Matrix was utilised to identify important sectoral linkages, potential avenues for growth and evident leakages within small town economies. The sampled towns experienced negative economic growth trends between 1996 and 200 I, the primary loss in employment being accounted for by regional economic changes as opposed to national or industrial trends. The decline was more severely felt in primary/industrial sectors of the economy; evidence was found that manufacturing activities declined in all of the centres, despite the industry growing nationally. The Social Accounting Matrix highlighted strong links between the agricultural and services sectors within the national economy. Thus, considering that agriculture was identified as the primary economic driver within the region and the services sector the largest employer in all of the towns it is evident that the economic potential of the towns is to a certain extent linked to the success of agriculture in their hinterlands. Seven growth drivers, namely size, local economic development, existing markets, existing industries, infrastructure, municipal leadership and local entrepreneurs and were linked via means of a scoring framework to the sampled towns' economic potential. Whilst the results of actually determining a towns economic potential are not definitive the study does provide useful insights about the impact and potential role played by these drivers. Linked to this scoring framework and to Cook's (1971) hierarchy of places in the Eastern Cape Midlands four categories of towns were identified in the commercial falming areas and recommendations were made about appropriate developmental interventions at a municipal level, such as the need to retain local entrepreneurs and to invest in social amenities. Considering the evident need for development in rural areas the study provides critical insights into how to prioritise development strategies within small rural towns in commercial farming areas. In addition it would enable municipalities to critically reflect on their municipal Local Economic Development strategies and the relevance within the context of small towns. / KMBT_363 / Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in

MA (History) / Department of Development Studies / The research investigated the nexus between land reform and human security in Ratombo community. The central argument was that land reform should address human security and development of the community. The security-development nexus was applied to explicate the link between human security and human development. The human security concerns discussed in the research included food security, economic security, individual security, community security, and environmental security. These security matters were discussed within the backdrop of a myriad of challenges facing Ratombo Communal Property Association (CPA) regarding improving production at the farm. The problem under investigation was informed by the failure of the CPA to ensure food security and to create employment for the community members. Within that background, the study sought to explore the feelings of the farm workers, management and members of the CPA. Qualitative methods of data collection and analysis were used to establish the attitudes and feelings of stakeholders on Ratombo CPA’s performance, regarding meeting human security concerns of the community. The outcome of the research was that, as land reforms have dominated the discourse of rural development, there is needed to closely link rural development to human security issues because development and well-being are inseparable to the human security of a community. / NRF