APES+ Chairman’s Report
APES+ Chairperson's report for 2022-23 The good news is that we had a far more successful year for the year of March 2022 to March 2023, this time with Covid lockdown almost a forgotten memory. All in all we had six events, including an end of year party. The events we hosted were:
“The Heritage significance of Sea Point and Mouillie Point Promenades” by Bridget O’Donoghue
‘BIODIVERSITY’: SO WHAT? by Charl de Villiers
“CAPE TOWN ROCKS” by Tommy Brümmer “Vignettes focussed on the built environment in Lisbon, Coimbra & Porto, Portugal” by Ron Haiden
“THE FUTURE JUST AIN’T WHAT IT USED TO BE” by Robert Silke
APES+ Year End Party at the Societi Bistro in Orange Street
For the last two events we had Stef Naude to thank as vice chair for taking the helm of APES+ while I was away overseas (literally at the helm of a much less seaworthy vessel attempting to cross an ocean)
So not only do I want to thank Stef but also the rest of the APES+ committee. The experience has been a reminder of how pleasant and rewarding working in a small voluntary committee like this can be in the way it has been supportive and collaborative and willing to take up the slack when need be.
I would like to return to talking about what is surprisingly one of the hardest jobs of the APES+ committee. Contrary to what one may expect, the job of hosting the talks is not where we constantly get stuck. Instead, it is finding speakers willing and able to talk that seems to be the constant battle.
In my previous chairman’s report of last year you will note that we had gone to great lengths to try and structure a set of talks around, first the idea of “The Walkable City” but then when we couldn’t get sufficient numbers of people willing and able to talk to that topic, we broadened it to anything that could fit under the general theme of “The Livable City” but still we struggled to garner sufficient traction to run a series of talks on that theme. In the end we concluded that running whatever talks we can garner is better than running no talks at all. So, ending up with at least the five talks of wildly diverse topics and interest instead and an end of the year party is something we are proud to have achieved even if modest.
Of course, we are ever hopeful of beating that and as you will know we have run a call for presenters on the theme "That project that never saw the light of day”. Again, the number of people who have come forward has been few but the good news is that those that have come forward have said they actually have a number of projects they are willing to present.
Ron Haiden has again stepped forward with three projects he would be willing to talk on. The first being to honour the theme by pulling out his final year thesis project in 1972 at the UCT Civil Engineering Faculty
43rd AGM of the Society of APES+