Indigo development & change has been involved with a range of
activities across a spectrum of projects both locally and
internationally. The organisation’s strength lies in its ability to
facilitate local action amongst members of rural communities with the
ultimate focus on empowerment of marginalised groups and simultaneous
promotion of social and environmental justice. All senior staff members
of Indigo development & change hold post-graduate university
degrees in the social and natural sciences, and are thus suitably
skilled to make meaningful input on local basic training and skills
development.
Locally,
members of Indigo have offered various training and facilitation inputs
to local community based organisations and conservation oriented
businesses. These include basic training in bookkeeping, costing and
pricing, inputs on small-business development, and training in basic
computer literacy.
Apart from its local contributions in the
Suid Bokkeveld and Nieuwoudtville communities in the Northern Cape and
Western Cape, Indigo has operated more broadly in these provinces, as
well as abroad. Regional activities include rural development work with
small-scale farmers in Zambia and Lesotho. The organisation continues
to establish and maintain national and international networks with the
aim to inform and implement appropriate policies where they are useful
to fulfilling Indigo’s mandate.
With its Head Office based
in Nieuwoudtville, the organisation remains sensitive to the issues and
dynamics of the communities in which it operates. At the same time, no
projects are developed or implemented without the committed
participation of the project target group. With emphasis on
methodologies of participatory processes, Indigo’s operations are
informed by the requests and needs of local community members who earn
their livelihoods from the land they work and live on. Indigo seeks to
respond to these needs in appropriate ways that speak to the mission
and vision of the organisation.
Indigo development & change is a registered non profit organisation
(section 21 company as under South African legislation) and governed by
a board of four directors.
Board
members are: Bettina Koelle (Chair), Gabriela Demergasso (Vice Chair),
Eugene Marinus (Treasurer), Rhoda Malgas (Secretary).
In
keeping with its commitment to develop the capacity of local residents
from the communities in which it works, Indigo is committed to provide
capacity development opportunities to junior staff and an opportunity
for exposure to conservation oriented careers.
Indigo
also offers internship positions to interested individuals wanting to
make a contribution in the various fields we work in.
Bettina Koelle (Director)
Bettina holds a Master's Degree in Geography, Cartography and Anthropology of the Free University of Berlin. She has been working
in development for the past 15 years, focusing in trans disciplinary
research and participatory methods. She is involved in climate change
adaptation working with rural communities, training, social research,
Participatory GIS and organisational development. Bettina is currently
also undertaking her PhD studies in the field of climate change
adaptation - focussing on how to increase problem solving communities
in the adaptation process to increase resilience to climate change and
climate variability.
bettina@indigo-dc.org
Wendy Annecke (Climate Change Adaptation Programme Manager)
Wendy has a doctorate
in gender, energy and development studies. She has held senior positions at the
Energy and Development Research Centre (now ERC) at the University of Cape Town,
the Human Sciences Research Council and Global Village Energy Partnership
International. At ERC she specialized in participatory methodologies and
qualitative research design and was responsible for bringing a gender focus to
the Centre’s work. She first wrote the likely social impacts of climate change
on women in Africa in 2002.
i
wendy@indigo-dc.org
Estholene Moses (Financial administration and project officer)
Estholene is the financial administrator and project officer for our
business and biodiversity programme. She has been part of the
CREW group in Nieuwoudtville as a Biodiversity Facilitator and has
run various business training and computer training courses.
estholene@indigo-dc.org
Donna Kotze (BIOTA para ecologist and project officer)
Donna
is a biodiversity facilitator linking local Biodiversity Action with
stakeholders from science and land users. She is involved in monitoring
rare and endemic plants as part of the CREW work, facilitates the
winter and summer school for local children and adults and the
Nieuwoudtville Eco Talks. Donna is also part of the climate change
adaptation programme and organises the climate change preparedness
workshops and manages the weather stations. Her other project
activities include working with GPS/ GIS, botanical surveys and
exploring methods of controlling alien grasses in the Nieuwoudtville
Dolerite Renosterveld.
donna@indigo-dc.org
Shannon Parring (project officer)
Shannon
works as a project officer in the climate change adaptation project.
She is responsible for community liaison, documentation and knowledge
management. She has been working in the PGIS context with
GPS and is currently a GIS apprentice. Shannon is also
experienced in participatory video and has edited a number of
participatory community videos on climate change.
shannon@indigo-dc.org Marlene Witbooi (office assistant)
Marlene
works as the office assistant taking care of all the small and
important tasks to help us maintain order and a smooth work flow.
Rhoda Malgas
Rhoda holds a Master's Degree in Botany of the University of Cape Town.
Rhoda is working on projects pertaining to sustainable natural resource
use with specific focus on the conservation and ecology of biodiversity
in the rooibos production area. Her work related interests to date
include management and sustainable production of wild rooibos, the
ecology of wild rooibos ecotypes, climate change and its effects on
biodiversity in the Fynbos and Succulent Karoo biomes. Rhoda is
currently based at the University of Stellenbosch.
rhoda@indigo-dc.org
Adele Arendse
Adele has been involved in climate change adaptation for many years and
is currently based with the University of Wageningen working on her
Master's Degree focusing on Monitoring & Evaluation in Community
Based Climate Change Adaptation Projects.
adele@indigo-dc.org
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