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Resilience and passion result in quality research

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Prof Janet McIntyre

Honorary Professor Janet McIntyre says resilience and the ability to keep going contribute to producing quality research. Rated C1 by the National Research Foundation (NRF), she was awarded a DLitt et Phil by Unisa’s Department of Adult Basic Education in the College of Education.  

Commenting on her research that addresses every day engagement processes that are important for public education on the adaptation to mitigation of climate change, McIntyre says: "The greater the level of participation, the better the match between service users and providers." She states that being an NRF-rated researcher provides encouragement, assists when applying for grants and contributes to raising the profile of the university.

McIntyre’s current research addresses the rethinking of human security and resilience as vulnerable multi-species relationships. She says: "The aim is to explore taxonomies of rights, relationships and responsibilities across cultures. This is to understand human, plant and animal relationships with a focus on understanding the implications for commodification and consumption."

McIntyre is currently working on two books: From Polarisation to Multispecies Relationships and Transformative Education for Regenerative Development: Pathways to Sustainable Environments. "I am also working on Zoom social engagement projects to support green enterprise in rural areas. The projects support the policy agenda underlined by the 2004 Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) Policy, the South African Government Voluntary Review (2019) and Professor Catherine Odora Hoppers’ (2013) plea for engagement to promote IKS across the sectors."

One of McIntyre’s Unisa highlights was when she was awarded a DLitt et Phil by the institution in 1987. She states: "The thesis was titled A sociological study of water and sanitation-related diseases: a socio-political phenomenon in South Africa. The study revealed the socio-political patterns of injustice and demonstrated the importance of new architectures for wellbeing, governance and democracy. It was based on participatory action research as a vehicle for job creation by setting up a committee to manage a rotational fund and small business operation comprising a team who learned to build tanks and latrines. This was to address the immediate impact of unemployment in the epicentre of a cholera epidemic in Kangwane on the border of Swaziland and Mozambique."

McIntyre says that another highlight worth embracing was when she started Pretoria Streetwise in 1988, which involved homeless children as part of an action research project on social justice. With a smile, she adds: "A video entitled Pretoria’s Street Children Speak was made in collaboration with Unisa and students from the institution’s Department of Social Work. This was shown at an Information Day to which social practitioners, lawyers, academics and the media were invited."

McIntyre recalls that Pretoria Streetwise later became a branch organisation. "It was a challenging but rewarding time campaigning for the rights of children and receiving support from Lawyers for Human Rights as well as the wives of diplomats," she concludes. "Networking for material and non-material aid and lobbying through the media to establish the rights of vulnerable homeless and working children was very fulfilling."

McIntyre urges researchers to keep doing what they are passionate about.

* By Nancy Legodi, Acting Journalist, Department of Institutional Advancement

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Publish date: 2021-05-24 00:00:00.0

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