The HSRC Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators and the DSI/NRF Trilateral Research Chair in Transformative Innovation, 4IR and Sustainable Development at the University of Johannesburg invite you to join the book launch of Linking Education and the Local Economy (2025) by author Andre Kraak.

The launch will take place in a hybrid format on 1 October 2025 from 12h00 to 13h30.

Dr Andre Kraak is a distinguished South African educator, a skills development researcher and a Visiting Scholar at the University of Johannesburg’s DSI/NRF Trilateral Research Chair in Transformative Innovation, 4IR and Sustainable Development. He is currently serving as the Research Chair in the Political Economy of Skills at the Centre for Researching Education and Labour (REAL), University of the Witwatersrand.

Linking Education and the Local Economy: Intermediaries in a Furniture Ecosystem, published in 2025, examines the collapse of linkages between South Africa’s post-school education and training system and the declining furniture industry. Using a case study approach, it explores reasons behind the erosion of the sector’s competitiveness. The book shows how intermediaries organisations or individuals bridging gaps between firms, education providers and government could revitalise the industry by fostering collaboration, knowledge exchange and innovation.

Date: 1 October 2025

Time: 12:00-13:30

Registration link: Click here to join online, or to join in-person from the HSRC offices in Cape Town, please RSVP to Dr Amy Kahn (akahn@hsrc.ac.za) by 30 September 2025.

*This event is funded, in part, by the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI) through its support of the HSRC Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators. The views and opinions expressed therein as well as findings and statements of the seminar series do not necessarily represent the views of the DSTI or the HSRC.