Unisa online - Bright Site Project receives top honour

Congratulations are in order to those involved in the Bright Site Project of the Sunnyside Service Learning Centre as the project was placed second in the third annual MacJannet Prize for Global Citizenship.

Alida van Dyk, Chair of the Department of Social Work, thanked the university for supporting the project and praised the Bright Site Project team who did excellent work. “Thank you to Prof Makhanya and Prof Ryan who assisted us in December 2010 with our submissions for this prize, and thank you to Vicka Petrishko and everybody else who assisted us in developing the website during December and January.”

She added: “May this inspire us to keep on flying, fly higher and to never stop doing things that make a difference.”

The Bright Site Project encourages students to learn while they serve communities. The project also creates opportunities for departments across all colleges to become involved in community engagement initiatives, community based research and applied research responsive to societal needs. Communities are directly involved, take ownership of the various projects and initiatives, and benefit directly from the project. The project is also aligned with the mission to utilise resources and capacities of the university in community development initiatives and collaborative partnerships with stakeholders in the communities that are served. It contributes to develop a culture of social responsibility and volunteerism among staff and students.

As a second place prize winner, the Bright Site Project receives $2 500 (approximately R17 000) to help support the programmes activities. In addition, two representatives of the Bright Site Project will attend the Talloires Network Global Leaders Conference at the Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain, in June this year. Winners will be formally presented with the prize at an award ceremony on the first day of the conference. Participants will also engage in workshops and discussions with their fellow prize winners and participate in plenary sessions of the conference.

The Bright Site Project will also be acknowledged on the Talloires Network website and in communications that reach thousands of higher education contacts worldwide.

The MacJannet Prize recognises exceptional student civic engagement initiatives based at Talloires Network member universities around the world and contributes financially to their ongoing public service efforts.