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Research and innovation ecosystem practitioner to speak at the Innovation Festival

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Shanna Nienaber, Programme Manager at the Water Research Commission, will speak on "Innovating and commercialising within the parameters of legislation", at the City of Tshwane Workshop, which is part of the 2025 Unisa Innovation Festival.

The festival will take place from 18 to 20 November 2025 at the Science (Florida), Muckleneuk and Sunnyside Campuses.

Attendees can expect a diverse array of activities, including engaging poster presentations, immersive exhibitions and exclusive behind-the-scenes tours of Unisa’s state-of-the-art laboratories. The Crucible and Forge innovation pitching sessions will spotlight bold ideas and entrepreneurial energy, while the Postgraduate Student Showcase will highlight emerging research and fresh academic perspectives from the next generation of scholars.

  • Date: Wednesday 19 November 2025
  • Time: 09:00 - 13:00
  • Venue: Bamboo Auditorium, 3rd floor, Kgorong Building, Unisa Muckleneuk Campus


Meet the speaker

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Shanna Nienaber

Shanna Nienaber is a research and innovation ecosystem practitioner with 15 years’ experience working in the national system of innovation related to water, climate, ecosystems, green economy and related fields. She has worked within science councils, national government, funding and ecosystem coordination agencies and volunteered in the non-profit sector. This professional journey has afforded her the opportunity to work as a researcher, policy maker, specialist programme manager, project implementer, and a stakeholder and partnership facilitator.

From early in Nienaber’s career, her core preoccupation has been the question of how the knowledge, solutions and technologies generated within the science system can have a transformative impact in society. This has led her on a journey to explore dynamics that drive the science-policy-society nexus, communities of practice that build social capital for science impact and relevance, and business development and technology uptake needs within the water, climate and ecosystems sector.

She is facilitating the implementation of a range of water system of innovation projects.

Click here to see the programme and to register for the 2025 Unisa Innovation Festival.

* Compiled by the Directorate of Research Support

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Publish date: 2025-11-10 00:00:00.0

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