Some examples of community service include projects that fall within the scope of the research carried out by the Centre for Indigenous Knowledge (CINDEK) and the departments of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development, Economics and Consumer Science.

The Centre for Indigenous Knowledge (CINDEK) was established as a SERA initiative, with the task of linking postgraduate research programmes and praxis-orientated community development by way of multi-disciplinary research programmes. In 2001, CINDEK established several comprehensive research and development programmes. Projects focused mainly on indigenous knowledge and African heritage, rural development, indigenous property rights, appropriate technology and sustainable environmental development. With regard to the latter, two focus areas received special attention: the Thembe Tribal Area in Maputaland, KwaZulu-Natal and the Mabunda Tribal Area in the Giyani district of the Limpopo Province.

The Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development collaborated with the Northwest Province Department of Agriculture to build capacity in extension methodology and management among seconded extension officers. Four of the University's field extension officers were seconded to the province as part of a launch project.

The Department of Economics provides an extended economic consultation service to the Limpopo Province. As part of a research project a comprehensive database was compiled on key macro-biological economic variables per region and per economic sector, which for the first time made use of a regional and sectional analysis in the province.

The Department of Consumer Science undertook a multi-disciplinary research programme on the development, marketing and consumption of specific foods, clothing and interior goods and services to promote small business undertakings, retailers, community development and tourism.

The University has taken the lead in becoming the first South African institution to provide accredited training in music therapy, and the first university in southern Africa to provide full-time postgraduate training in this form of therapy. As part of their training students do practical work in the community, for example at the Kalafong and Weskoppies hospitals, the UNICA School and the Baby Therapy Centre.

The University's new Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) Discovery Centre was officially launched on 28 May 2001 in response to the Government's call to demystify SET, particularly with regard to disadvantaged communities. The Discovery Centre is fundamental to the University's new and existing outreach and community service programmes in this field, which include Tsebo Koloing (the mobile SET unit, translated as "technology in motion"), the Gold Fields Computer Centre and the Centre for Science Education. The Discovery Centre is an umbrella complex where young children, students and adults can explore the world of science, engineering and technology in a "play-as-you-learn" way. The Centre's outreach is aimed particularly at disadvantaged schools and supports the school curriculum.

Activities at the Centre include, inter alia, a digital planetarium, an exploratorium that focuses on various aspects of physics and technology, a unique "Camera Obscura", a biological science exhibit, a botanical garden route on the campus and environmental exhibits which also include the built environment. There is also an indigenous technology exhibit and various other exhibits that illustrate aspects of engineering and technology, such as mechanics, alternative sources of energy, chemistry, space, the cyber world, telecommunications, electronics, transport, mines and minerals, innovation and creativity.

Research and community service at the Centre for Recreational Studies of the Department of Biokinetics, Sport and Recreational Studies, focuses on the human science and management dimensions of the sport and recreation industry. In 2001 a research report was produced on the impact of recreational programmes on Atteridgeville's social indicators. Contract research for Government looked at the impact of a physical activities programme on the functional status of older people. In 2001, various community programmes in the form of participating and training projects were also undertaken. In addition, three sporting publications were published as supporting study material.

As far as interaction with schools is concerned, the University's Department of Psychology reached out to schools by means of a project known as "Peer Counselling for Peer Support". This programme, which was undertaken at three schools in Atteridgeville and involved 51 learners, was aimed at providing selected learners with the necessary knowledge and skills to counsel peers who experienced emotional problems. Problems such as drug and alcohol abuse, HIV/AIDS, violence, poverty and crime are rife in these communities, while there is a desperate shortage of trained cousellors. The ultimate aim of the programme is to provide trained counsellors to establish support and counselling services at the schools that have the greatest need. The programme was undertaken in collaboration with the Gauteng Department of Education and was sponsored by Grintek Telecom.

The cultural treasures of the SASOL Mapungubwe African Heritage Collection were made accessible to as many people as possible in 2001 by providing free entrance to the museum. School groups from as far afield as Reitz and Bethlehem, as well as from Shoshanguve and the Mamelodi Technikon, have viewed the collection. The large number of tourists who have visited the museum is an indication of the important academic value of the collection.

Research undertaken by the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology is aimed at supporting the development of the tourism potential inherent in the cultural heritage of the Limpopo Province. To ensure the sustainability of tourism development, the Limpopo Province Directorate of Tourism has developed the Golden Horseshoe concept. The Golden Horseshoe is an area in the province bordering Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Ecotourism within this region is implemented through the African Ivory Route project. The strategy used is to involve communities as tour operators and managers of products within the tourism industry in the region. Generic "cultural villages" were designed, in collaboration with the provincial Directorate of Tourism, for the Venda, Pedi and Tsonga. This has highlighted some of the fascinating issues involved in tourism development. The villages were intended purely as tourist accommodation, but their development has generated a number of problems that need to be further researched. These problems include conflict over the distribution of the income they generate, the use of land and places of religious significance.

During the year under review, a new facility, the Leadership Centre, was officially opened to provide a home for two of the University's dynamic partnership programmes: the Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) and Leadership Regional Network for Southern Africa (LeaRN). The IRDP is one of the main intitiatives of the Africa portfolio of the WK Kellogg Foundation. The aim is to break established patterns of poverty that are immobilising large parts of southern Africa by providing rural communities with the means to facilitate their own development in an integrated and sustainable way. The IRDP endeavours, inter alia, to increase the capacity of individuals and communities to follow healthy lifestyles, to equip people with skills and family and community values, and to develop sensitive, responsive leadership.

The Water Research Commission, among others, supported underground water research aimed mainly at providing drinking water to rural communities. The research demonstrated that unsaturated zones (rock and soil above the underground water level) are important as barriers against the pollution of underground water. Geophysical methods were successfully used to identify areas with a high potential for bringing underground water under cultivation.