Växjö and JB Marks Local Municipality, South Africa

This project aims to create a center for civil society in partnership between the JB Marks Local Municipality and North-West University’s School of Social Sciences. This center will address severe social issues within the municipality, such as youth unemployment, gender-based violence, and the negative impacts of alcohol abuse, which are particularly prevalent in areas like Ikageng township. The collaboration with more than 20 local NPOs has identified systemic challenges, including limited capacity, inadequate funding, and insufficient resource access, which hinder these organisations from creating sustainable, impactful changes. The organisational readiness goals focus on enhancing cross-sector collaboration, sharing relevant information, involving the community more actively, and improving the processes for information gathering and analysis. The project will prioritize strengthening partnerships, promoting transparency and accessibility of information. Their action plan involves establishing a structured hub to facilitate collaboration, developing a comprehensive information-sharing portal, and setting up systems for continuous community engagement and data-driven assessment. The three partners, Växjö, Älmhult and JB Marks Local Municipality have been collaborating since 2013 on various topics. Currently the partnership has four other ongoing projects, one about political coalition building, one about gender based violence, one about Local economic development, innovation, and livelihoods and one about Efficient and responsive traffic planning.