Entrepreneurship is key to growing and uplifting emerging economies like South Africa. There exists an extremely high failure rate amongst entrepreneurs in this country, this coupled with a lack of support for entrepreneurs, creates the conditions where an entrepreneurial culture cannot thrive. Entrepreneurship and education can be South Africa's most significant tools of liberation and unlock exponential growth which can, in turn, address the socio-economic problems that exist. This research aims to understand what the critical educational and support elements are that drive entrepreneurial learning and development. This research aims to discover what is required to create meaningful learning experiences for entrepreneurs and how this learning can be turned to practice and drive entrepreneurial growth. This growth may play a key role in addressing some of the gaps that exist between South Africa's entrepreneurial potential and its current state. Online and virtual education technologies, pedagogies and methodologies are explored as the core proponents of these learning experiences. Different models are explored and analysed in their distinct contexts to discover what it takes to create these learning experiences. New models of entrepreneur education and the supporting technology are examined to help understand how entrepreneur education programmes can create meaningful learning and development that produces and support high potential entrepreneurs. The research primarily explores an innovative model of an online entrepreneurship education offering that attempts to exponentially improve the impact of traditional models. An adapted design thinking methodology is applied; this allowed the study to examine various models and phenomena through a hyper-practical lens. This methodology supported the research process in uncovering what challenges exist for an education model of this nature to develop meaningful learning and development opportunities for entrepreneurs. 5 The impact of this research could be widespread in assisting with the understanding of how entrepreneurs learn and apply knowledge. The literature reviewed aimed to provide a view of what trends exist in social entrepreneurship globally and South Africa, and how these trends link to meaningful entrepreneurial learning and practice. This research is unique in that it takes a nascent concept such as virtual ecosystems in the social entrepreneurial context and explores how a model in which deep learning experiences are present for entrepreneurs, affects meaningful development and entrepreneurial outcomes. This research focuses on building theory through qualitative data sources collected through the research instruments of interviews, questionnaires, observations, discussions and practical prototyping.

The aim of this research was to develop a business model that will enhance the access to financial services by marginalised youth. In order to develop such a relevant business model it was necessary to understand the needs and challenges being faced by targeted clients in using and accessing formal financial services. Accessing such services will help them build assets in the long term, smooth cashflow and make savings as they transition from childhood to adulthood. Currently there are a number of barriers compounding financial exclusion and thus increasing the inequality gap. The study applied design thinking and systems thinking tools to undertake business model innovation and come out with a plausible alternative financial services model for youth and immigrants in Zimbabwe and South Africa respectively. Qualitative and quantitative research methods were applied to unpack the financial services needs of youth and how they are currently accessing service. An ethnographic approach as well as snowballing were applied in order to get to the respondents. Covert observations were done at a construction site in a bid to collect the immigrants' silent narrative of how they got to South Africa and are surviving from day to day. The research discovered that Zimbabwean youth residing in Zimbabwe and those who have migrated to South Africa are financially excluded yet they need financial services. It also discovered that there are business models being applied globally and in South Africa that are aimed at closing the financial exclusion gap. The study concluded that it is possible to have a business model that aims at serving youth, more so immigrants in South Africa, and provide them with low cost products that have a social impact on their livelihoods

Includes bibliographical references / This research project's main aim was a pragmatic investigation into the process of social techno logy design. Specifically, it was focused on the design of social utilities, which are technologies that enable new spheres of virtual social interaction. This aim was achieve d through the investigation and transcription of the experiences of engaging in the design of a new social technology. The proposed technological system was aimed at addressing computer literacy within the Western Cape, through the design of a virtual learning utility. This project was embedded within an already established learning programme (Western Cape Government's Cape Access Project), which had several limitations regarding g scalability, usability and accessibility. The main research aim therefore was the exploration of these areas of concern through the lens of ontological design. These research goals were achieved through a qualitative approach. The main approach undertaken was a phenomenological one, which was used to grasp the essential experiences present in the situation of context and to understand the experiences of the design process within that context. This phenomenological approach was taken from a researchers point of view while and ethnographical analysis was used in conjunction with phenomenology, to elicit the shared phenomena of the intervention. Design science and design thinking was used to integrate and combine both the phenomenological and ethnographic analysis into a coherent transcription of this design process.

By way of their geographic range and financial spend, South Africa's national parks have the potential for significant economic impact in the country's rural and urban areas. The research used three small-cap case studies to examine government's Public Private Partnership (PPP) Toolkit for Tourism for its ability to deliver economic benefit to communities around South African National Parks. The study identified areas of disjuncture between policy intention and policy implementation and suggests that the measures used to assess the contribution of small-cap PPPs be revised if the Toolkit is to become a meaningful instrument for small business growth and economic transformation. Findings reveal that simplifying the Toolkit bidding process is not likely to broaden entry for small businesses as the due diligence elements embedded in it are necessary to restrict corruption and abuse. Instead, it concluded that the ecosystem in which small businesses are required to operate is more important for creating economically sustainable small businesses. The most significant feature of this ecosystem would be the empowerment culture of the recipient institutions and the contractual binding of big business to enterprise development targets. The barriers to entry do not necessarily arise from the design of the Toolkit itself, but from the support institutions that have not transformed sufficiently to become the fertile grounds for the mentoring of small businesses expected of these institutions.

Leprosy, as one of the neglected tropical diseases, is an ancient disease that requires a slow and patient approach for its diagnosis and treatment involving various actors along the way. This care system has traditionally been supported by a paper based health information system still in use today in many endemic countries. In Mozambique, various attempts at modernizing the system have failed. The continued transmission of the disease is again highlighting the need for sharper strategic approaches supported by detailed information and better coordination between the various care actors in the system. This study coincided with the design and implementation of a new health information system for the case managed neglected tropical diseases (NTD) care sector in Mozambique. A Soft Systems Methodology (Action Research) approach was followed during this implementation process in an attempt to incorporate the perspectives of various actors and many institutional relationships that have an impact on the outcomes of this complex disease. The aim of the study was not only to identify factors that would contribute to the successful introduction of the health information system, but also to contribute to better knowledge management within this specific NTD care context. The study utilized group work, rich picture creation and individual interviews to build conceptual models for knowledge management in this context. It also tried to ground this by analyzing lessons from previous unsuccessful NTD information systems as well as the experiences from other countries in Africa where a similar infrastructure was implemented successfully.

This study analyses the level of student engagement at youth skills development organisations which are situated in low-income, high-stress communities. It asks the following questions: What motivates youth to be engaged in their learning environments? What are youths reporting on experiencing while in the learning environment? How might we use this data to help us develop the skills of the youth better? Through capturing a day in the life of youth from a cognitive, emotional and contextual point of view, we are better able to understand what drives youth to learn and achieve. Eight themes were identified which influenced the students to be highly engaged according to Flow Theory. An important context to be taken into account in the design of learning environments for youth is the psychological impact of living in a high-stress community. An emergent case for self-managed Flow is presented, where students drive and hold themselves accountable for high levels of engagement around the eight themes.

This study explores the experiences and perceptions of older beneficiaries of private medical aid schemes and retirement annuities. Its main research question is: What motivates, challenges and concerns older research participants when it comes to maintaining their good health and financial well-being? Its research objective is to place these lived experiences within the context of the private health and finance sectors of South Africa in order to develop healthy ageing models. It arises out of the increase in longevity and the potential increase of healthcare expenses in old age. The key concepts in this study are ageing frameworks and whealthcare: the relationship between the financial services industry and healthcare sector. A qualitative approach is used with semi-structured interviews with professionals in the healthcare and finance sectors and individuals in the retirement phase of their lives. The study is significant as it gives a deeper understanding of the realities of older people who access private sector services and it provides a framework for greater synergy between the finance and health sectors to promote healthy ageing and prepare individuals for the financial implications of healthcare costs in later age.

In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic led to the global shutdown of Higher Education Institutions (HEI) forcing the move from residential campuses to online learning. In South Africa, the shutdown further exacerbated the lack of access to Higher Education (HE) amongst youth, which adds to higher unemployment rates and perpetuates the cycle of poverty with detrimental consequences for society. However, in 2020 the forced move to online learning, and the use of freely available Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) provided an opportunity to rethink accessto HE for youth from marginalised areas. In some cases, a blended learning approach has been adopted by universities to provide more flexible pathways to HE. The wrapping of MOOCs follows a similar process but can be specifically used to be inclusive of students traditionally excluded from HE. The aim of the research explores the extent to which wrapped MOOCs made in South Africa could serve as effective ‘boundary objects' for students to experience HE. This research aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) specifically in relation to the fourth goal that targets inclusive and quality education and promotes lifelong learning for all. It explores how MOOCs, if wrapped or blended in a face-to-face programmes could prepare young people from marginalised communities for the workplace in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). The research aims to explore the characteristics of two wrapped MOOCs made in South Africa to make them more accessible to youth from marginalised communities. The researcher utilised a case study methodology and employed ethnographic methods to explore how MOOCs were wrapped to make them more accessible to youth in marginalised communities in South Africa. The cases were two learning contexts where MOOCs were wrapped for the youth from those communities. The data was analysed using concepts from Wenger-Trayner et al.'s (2015) Landscapes of Practice. One of the key concepts is the boundary object, which can ideally play a mediating role between knowledge practices across contexts. It can thus grant different forms of access to those who would otherwise have been excluded from specific ways of knowing, identity work and experience of digital technologies. The data found that some students were unaware that MOOCs existed. Students desired and accepted that MOOCs could be part of an offering of HE programmes or courses but mostly agreed that they would not take it on their own as they required the digital literacy, computer facilities and Internet to complete it. They preferred that it was wrapped within a face-to-face programme. Still, once they experienced taking it, they saw themselves as knowledgeable in taking MOOCs and the confidence to take online courses in the future. They attributed the social and epistemological access they received more to the programme than to the MOOCs. Most participants did not want MOOCs to replace HE institutions as they valued face-to-face engagement, that the wrapped MOOC format made possible. But the opportunity to learn on a digital platform and work online made them feel more equipped to choose their own pathways in the HE landscape. The study culminated in a set of characteristics that could make wrapped MOOCs effective ‘boundary objects'. The research recommends that future MOOCs be wrapped to be inclusive of these characteristics to enhance social and epistemological access to HE for students from marginalised areas. The contribution of this research would be to create a list of principles that allows for relevant MOOCs out of approximately 13500 MOOCs, that currently exist, to be used, adapted and wrapped by the HE sector or various stakeholders that provide training, education and skills to youth in marginalised or refugee communities. The Covid-19 pandemic shutdown impacted on the popularity of MOOCs where platforms like Coursera, edX, and FutureLearn attracted as many users in one month as they did in an entire year of 2019. The significance of the study was evident during the HE shutdown when access to educational resources became crucial in the remote and online teaching format. The research contributed theoretically in terms of applying a landscapes of practice framework to understand and extend online and blended learning provision to marginalised communities. Future studies can take the recommendations of this research and apply the list of principles to wrap MOOCs and other online courses within particular landscapes of practice to explore their effectiveness in promoting access to HE.

This research looks to understand the role digital media plays to inspire and sustain sports participation and how digital media could be used as a socially inclusive tool. The study explores if strategically packaged digital media could be used in a socially inclusive way to increase or sustain sports participation. This would address one of the problems facing sports organisations, as sports participation is decreasing or at least stagnating both in South Africa and on a global scale. This study followed an exploratory, inductive approach, using Self-determination Theory (SDT) developed by Deci and Ryan (1985) as a theoretical framework. The paper looks to understand what research has been done to understand how people are motivated to participate in sport and the proven theories that have been tested (Pelletier et al., 1995) to understand the role of intrinsic motivation has as a powerful indicator of intention. This study made use of a qualitative, cross-sectional design and data was collected through semi-structured interviews with active participants based in Langa, Cape Town. The findings of this study showed the participants regularly accessed digital media in a manner which strongly aligned with the literature and has been shown to increase intrinsic motivation, which leads to action. The findings further show that sports media can be used as a tool for social inclusion, despite the participants socio-economic status they regularly accessed online sports content for motivational and learning purposes. Based on the findings of this research, sports organisations need to consider digital media as a viable and socially inclusive way to sustain or even increase sports participation.

This thesis is based on an action research project with festival organisations and festival organising and is interested in key insights and practice models for changing meaning-making, routines, roles and resource flows and effectively doing what scholars of institutional theory call institutional work. The project is located in a central case study, the Muizenberg Festival, where I haved played a role as a coordinator, and have co-designed the festival process and platform between 2014 and 2019. It is further bolstered by research with several social-purpose festivals, from local and international case studies. The present socio-economic development discourse and practice prevalent in South Africa, and the developing South more generally, has been bounded and constrained by strategies that fail to address a milieu of institutionalised issues. If people cannot exercise agency on underlying institutionalised issues, alternative vehicles for organising in order to do such work are necessary. Festivals exhibit large-scale participation around specific themes in a concentrated time frame. Festivals are known to produce an array of social and economic goods including, amongst others, sense of community and social capital. This study will explore new theoretical perspectives on organisations and institutional work through action research with community-based social-purpose festivals. The study aims to provide cogent theoretical and practical frameworks for the study and practice of festivals as organisations and social phenomena that are pertinent to the study of institutional work, offering a model of development with important learnings for addressing intractable socio-economic issues in innovative ways. The research is embedded with the backdrop of literature that specifically looks at, however not exclusively, institutional theory and festival studies. Three years of action research data, in the form of observation, dialogue interviews, working journals, meeting notes and reports will be used spanning from 2015 until 2017. From this learning, the case will be made for festival organising models as offering new insights for transformative development and provide strategies for deploying tactics of community-based festivals as compelling new approaches to institutional work, from the ground up.