Date:  13 & 14 March 2017

We are proud to invite you to join us at the HSRC-AISA 11th annual Africa Young Graduates and Scholars (AYGS) conference on ‘Re-imagining Leadership and Gender for Sustainable Development’ in partnership with the University of Fort Hare that will take place from 13 to 14 March 2017 in Gauteng, South Africa. Please send your abstract to Dr Vuyo Mjimba on vmjimba@hsrc.ac.za and Dr Palesa Sekhejane on psekhejane@hsrc.ac.za indicating the pillar of your submission, not later than Monday 31st October 2016.

AYGS 2017 smaphosa@hsrc.ac.za

Please find below programme book and welcome message available for download

Theme

Re-imagining leadership and gender for sustainable development

Conceptual Rationale

The challenges of building a sustainable future are immense, and will require collaborative, innovative thinking from all sectors of society. According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs report, World Population Prospects: The 2015 Revision, Key Findings and Advance Tables, the prognoses for Africa beyond 2030 [and toward Agenda 2063] is a continent whose human population will reach more than 1.7 billion people. If not well managed difficulties such as inequality, poverty, social injustice, sustainability, political instability, and health and wellness and their gendered dynamics will endure to entrench protracted low intensity to high intensity and large-scale inter- and intra-personal violence.

The complex challenges around these issues demand both immediate responses and longer-term systemic change. More important is that the appropriate leaders to deal with these challenges must have the nurtured capacity to operate in a variety of separate but related spaces simultaneously.

This highly exciting and challenging symposium on imagining leadership for sustainable development is intended to be a discussion forum and a networking place for advanced students, academics and research, policy, practice and business communities to contribute towards solving Africa’s most pressing development challenges at the local and national levels. Specifically, the conference targets advanced students to meet their colleagues from around the country and continent, make new friends, and improve their knowledge and communication skills. It also provides the students an opportunity to learn new approaches in interrogating pertinent challenges in a manner that results in positive changes. We encourage discussions focusing on structural elements shaping community relations (and their gendered dimensions) including local dynamics of re-appropriation and agency appropriate for the realization of the vision of Agenda 2063.

The conference will focus on:
•    Pillar 1: Youth, higher education and social change.
•    Pillar 2: Socially inclusive economic growth.
•    Pillar 3: Disaster, resiliency and adaptation.

For further enquiries (not abstract submission) contact organising committee intern Ms Tsholofelo Madise on tmadise@hsrc.ac.za and communications officer lmashologu@hsrc.ac.za 

Submission Guidelines for AYGS 2017

The following guidelines are intended to assist authors in preparing their contributions.

•    Call out: 7 October 2016
•    Call close: 31 October 2016
•    Notice of accepted abstracts: 9 November 2016
•    Submission of full papers: 20 December 2016
•    Notice of accepted papers: 10 January 2017
•    Conference dates: 13 to 14 March 2017 (*Arrive Sunday 12 March and depart Wednesday 14 March 2017)

FULL PAPER SUBMISSIONS

Articles of (6 000 words max) should be based on new research and contain analysis and argument. Excellent articles will be published by the HSRC Press as an edited peer reviewed output.

All submissions should have the following:
Abstract:     200 – 300 words
Keywords:    5 keywords
Bio:         100 – word author biography, including email address
Bio picture:    Head-and-shoulders photo in 300 dpi jpeg format

Authors need to:
•    Write in an accessible and understandable style;
•    Inform, educate or raise debate;
•    Try to pin down reasons for contradictions and point out differences of opinion;
•    Provide an analysis and an argument;
•    Be logical;
•    Be sensitive to but not uncritical of how gender, class and race affect the reporting of an event;
•    Ensure the introduction encapsulates the contents of the paper and that it attracts the reader’s attention by either making a controversial statement, providing a thought-provoking or new insight into the subject;
  
Contributions should be submitted in the following format:
File type:    Microsoft Word
Font:         Times New Roman
Size:         12 pt.
Line spacing:    single
Justification:     left
Referencing:     HSRC-AISA style (see style guide attached)
 
**NB: During conference authors making presentations are encouraged to provide photos and/or graphics to illustrate their submissions.

Selection and Editing Process

All submissions are peer reviewed through a double blind peer review process coordinated by the Scientific Committee.

Reviewers comment on the suitability of a text for AYGS conference as well as provide comments to help develop the piece further for publication if required. Contributors will be asked to rework the paper accordingly.

On resubmission, the piece will be assessed by the Scientific Committee head and a final decision made regarding its publication in the HSRC AYGS series.

Please note: The AYGS Scientific Committee reserves the right to edit contributions with regard to length and accessibility or reject contributions that are not suitable or of poor standard.

Please note: AYGS 2017 will consider new writers to the conference and those who have attended within the last two years WILL NOT BE ALLOWED until all new contributions are processed.