Joffe brings UNESCO Chair in Cultural Entrepreneurship and Policy to WSG

The Wits School of Governance (WSG) has strengthened its global footprint with the establishment of the UNESCO Chair in Cultural Entrepreneurship and Policy (2024–2028).

Led by WSG Visiting Researcher Avril Joffe as Co-Chair alongside Professor Annick Schramme of the University of Antwerp, this partnership marks a significant evolution in the 30-year cultural cooperation between South Africa and Flanders. 

By housing the Chair at WSG, Joffe, brings a fresh, interdisciplinary lens to the School, using culture and the creative economy to explore critical governance themes including informality, urban policy, infrastructure, and monitoring and evaluation. The Chair is designed to do more than just research and is an active engine for decolonising curricula, enabling staff and student exchanges, and securing international funding. 

“Hosting the UNESCO Chair is an incredible opportunity and milestone for the School,” says the WSG Research Director, Caryn Abrahams. “Avril Joffe’s wealth of experience and work in the global and South African cultural policy space with and beyond the UNESCO Chair complement the interdisciplinary focus of the WSG. Her practical and research work related to the UNESCO Chair makes a compelling case for how meaningful governance of the arts and culture space is central to developing thriving countries, vibrant communities of artistic presence and truly inclusive, creative economic expression. Hosting the Chair allows the WSG to expand our research agenda into critical new areas, that harness the benefits of governing and innovating in tangible and intangible culture, the creative economy and artificial intelligence. It positions WSG as a leader in Global South cultural policy innovation,” added Abrahams. 

Examples of major long-term projects:

 The "CulturAI" Horizon Europe Project: In a massive win for the School, the Chair has joined a consortium for a €4.99 million project granted in February 2026. As the only Global South member in a consortium that includes the Dutch Royal Library and UNESCO, Wits will lead the perspective on AI governance and policy-making in the audio-visual sectors of South Africa and Brazil and technical support to the Competency Centre. 

 "Designing Futures" Cultural Leadership: Funded by VLIR-UOS, this three-year initiative brings together cultural leaders from Flanders and South Africa. Through online labs and physical residencies at WSG, the programme creates a platform for peer-to-peer coaching, positioning these leaders as agents of transformation in their respective regions. 

Beyond these headline projects, the Chair is deeply embedded in international policy networks with Joffe continuing to serve on the Global Creative Economy Council and as a UNESCO Expert to the Government of Seychelles. The partnership will also deliver tangible benefits to the Wits community, including: the conceptualisation of an Executive Management programme on ‘Urban Cultural Governance’ and public seminars. This Chair creates a vital bridge between Europe and Africa, ensuring that WSG remains at the cutting edge of policy research that responds to the changing dynamics of the global economy.

Photo credit: Mandisa Buthelezi