A study involving the University of Pretoria (UP), along with academics from Great Zimbabwe University, University of Cambridge in the UK and Aarhus University in Denmark, has revealed how Great Zimbabwe – the largest city in Southern Africa during the Middle Ages – stored water in dhaka pits to overcome severe water scarcity and drought.
Water security is currently among the most significant global challenges for human subsistence and environmental health. UP archeologists have discovered that during the middle ages, the people of Great Zimbabwe developed means to conserve water which could make for effective strategies in terms of water management and conservation today.
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This issue features research from all of the University of Pretoria's nine faculties and our business school, the Gordan Institute of Business Science (GIBS) and shows how our research is opening a new world and a better future.
Researchers at the University of Pretoria’s (UP) Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (CAAC) in the Faculty of Humanities conducted a study that involved designing a framework to develop health education material for people with complex communication disabilities.
Constance Ntuli's research matters because she wants to change mindsets and help others who, like her, have little or no functional speech. “With assistive technology, and specifically AAC, I can demonstrate how one can live a life of meaning and purpose, and a life of abundance.”
How do people who cannot speak consult with their doctor and tell them what is wrong?
To answer this, researchers at the University of Pretoria’s (UP) Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (CAAC) in the Faculty of Humanities conducted a study that involved designing a framework to develop health education material for people with complex communication disabilities.
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The beak of the female African white-backed vulture was crushed when she was hit by a car in March 2023. Have a look at how University of Pretoria researchers found a way to help her eat again.
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What do you do when a vulture with a crushed beak needs a new beak and two attempts to fit an acrylic beak fail? You improvise and use the beak of a deceased vulture, successfully enabling the injured bird to feed again.
This issue of RE.SEARCH looks at the impact of the University of Pretoria's research from early childhood interventions and the use of traditional medicines for holistic nursing to the role of women in peacekeeping efforts. The issue also provides insight into the critical question of coal power supply and how it will affect the economic opportunities of communities in the future.
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