UFS

From the rehearsal room to the opera stage! The University of the Free State's International Institute of the Arts has welcomed acclaimed opera director and educator Christine Crouse as Artist-in-Residence. Through lectures, workshops and the staged production of Orlofsky's Party, UFS students are gaining valuable practical experience and learning from one of South Africa's leading opera practitioners.

Read more: ufsweb.co/4irQvIw
#UniversityOfTheFreeState #ResponsibleSocietalFutures #ProudlyKovsies

More than 100 children in Bloemfontein had the opportunity to discover and play the bassoon through the Bassoon Kick-Off Bloemfontein 2026, hosted by the University of the Free State’s Odeion School of Music in collaboration with Musicon.

Led by internationally recognised bassoonist and musicologist Dr Antonia Teibler from Vienna, Austria, the initiative brought together young learners, music educators and professional musicians to renew interest in bassoon education and inspire the next generation of musicians.

Through school outreach, interactive workshops and concerts, the project highlighted the value of music education, international collaboration and creating opportunities for emerging musical talent in South Africa.

Read more: ufsweb.co/4BMDvES
#UniversityOfTheFreeState #KnowledgeForChange #BeyondTheClassroom

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆?

At the UFS Department of Soil, Crop and Climate Sciences' Postgraduate Symposium, emerging researchers, academics, industry leaders and government representatives explored how collaboration and agricultural innovation can help address South Africa's agricultural challenges and build a more sustainable, food-secure future.

Read more: ufsweb.co/3WlRSjm
#UniversityOfTheFreeState #KnowledgeForChange #ResponsibleSocietalFutures

On 1 October, at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City, a group of Latin American jurists presented a Model Ecocide Law. It is the work of 74 experts from 14 countries, for any legislature to adapt and enact. One of its authors, Rodrigo Lledó of Stop Ecocide International, told Agence France-Presse: “We are champions at passing beautiful laws that are then not enforced.”

A South African reader should feel the sting of that sentence. We, too, are champions of the beautiful law. Section 24 of our Constitution promises everyone an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being: a promise not of survival only, but of flourishing. In Deadly Air the High Court declared that the poisoned air of the Mpumalanga Highveld breaches that right, and in 2025 the Supreme Court of Appeal dismissed the minister’s appeal. This August the Constitutional Court set aside Shell’s right to explore off the Wild Coast.

Ecocide names the gravest destruction of the natural world. The prevailing definition, drafted in 2021 by an independent panel of jurists, covers unlawful or wanton acts committed in the knowledge that they are substantially likely to cause severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment. Africa has joined the fray. What I cannot find is a South African voice, writes UFS’ Prof Narnia Bohler-Muller

Read more: ufsweb.co/4ejwKQU
#Opinion #StopEcocide #KnowledgeForChange

The recent South African trend #Abondli on TikTok, through which users publicly calling attention to fathers who allegedly fail to provide financial support for their children, has erupted on the popular social media platform.

This trend has not only drawn public attention to allegations of fathers failing to provide financial support for their children but has also highlighted how fatherhood is often associated primarily with financial provision. This raises an important question: what about caregiving? Why is fatherhood so often measured by a man’s ability to provide financially, while everyday responsibilities such as feeding, bathing, nurturing and being emotionally present for children receive less attention, asks UFS’ Zinhle Vanda?

Read more//ufsweb.co/4A8uG6z#Opinion

#AbondliTrend #GenderedToys