The conference is hosted by the South African Science Journalists’ Association (SASJA) and the Science Diplomacy Capital for Africa (SDCfA), an initiative and entity of the National Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI), in collaboration with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Please email all enquiries to partners@wcsj.org.
SASJA has been advocating for science journalism and representing science journalists at home and on the world stage for close on two decades. A long-time member of the World Federation of Science Journalists, this small organisation gained leverage and clout by partnering with the Southern African Freelancers Association (safrea) and is now a safrea Special Interest Group. SASJA’s president has served as vice president of the World Federation of Science Journalists.
The SDCfA, an initiative of South Africa’s Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI) and the CSIR, promotes scientific collaboration across Africa and beyond by linking technological innovation with societal needs. Tshwane was selected as its base due to its strategic location — it hosts most of South Africa’s 196 foreign embassies and missions, including 46 from African countries, and has the highest concentration of universities and research institutes.
The WFSJ is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation based in Montreal, Quebec. It represents a global network of 70 science journalism associations, comprising around 10,000 individual science and technology journalists worldwide. These member associations—national, regional, and international—include journalists, broadcasters, writers, editors, and communicators working across all media platforms.
The CSIR ICC is situated in Pretoria, the capital city of South Africa, in the greater metropolitan area of Tshwane. Tshwane is renowned for its nature attractions, Big Five Game Reserve and concentration of research and academic institutions. The CSIR ICC is part of the fast-emerging, most innovative “Square Mile in Africa” that is comparable internationally with other innovative spaces.
The SANCB was established to grow South Africa’s business events industry and to support meeting planners and incentive organisers considering the country as their destination. It offers assistance at every stage to ensure that conferences, exhibitions, and incentives in South Africa are both memorable for delegates and hassle-free for meeting planners and incentive organisers.
The GCEB is dedicated to supporting the business events sector and implementing strategic initiatives to ensure that it continues to market and position the region as one of the world’s top meeting, incentive, conference and exhibition (MICE) destinations. The GCEB works in close partnership with key industry role-players, marketing Gauteng as a business hub, as well as an attractive and versatile MICE destination.
The City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, commonly referred to as the City of Tshwane, serves as the local government authority for the northern region of Gauteng, South Africa. Its jurisdiction centres around Pretoria and extends to include surrounding towns and communities within the metropolitan area. Five major highways lead into the City of Tshwane providing vital access from all over the region.