Impact Realised
Our Impact
Safety and Peace Through Urban Upgrading (SPUU)
2014 - 2022
CS Social Innovations team provided socio-economic planning and consulting services to the Mandela Bay Development Agency’s (MBDA), Safety and Peace through Urban Upgrading (SPUU) initiative in Helenvale, Port Elizabeth FROM 2014-2022.
SPUU is part of a EUR 5 million (R102 million in 2025 currency) urban safety upgrade development co-financed by the Federal Republic of Germany’s Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (“KfW”), in partnership with the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality.
The CS Social Innovation’s team developed to develop, plan, monitor and support the implementation of impactful socio-economic projects. The project was initially a four-year international consulting assignment under SUM Matrix Consultants comprising five component areas including Technical measures: (1) Housing, (2) Infrastructure and Public Space upgrades; with CS Innovations team tasked with the design and implementation support to Social Economic Projects (3) Youth Perspectives for Employment and Skills, (4) Safer Schools and (5) Domestic Violence and Victim Support.
Community Social Dialogues
N/A
The Cookhouse Windfarm is one Africa’s largest commercial windfarm projects. The community trust forms part of the Independent Power Producer programme in the Department of Energy’s renewables energy sector. CS Innovation develops and supports a community-level social engagement process involving four (4) beneficiary communities of 49 000 residents spread over 50km radius covering Adelaide, Bedford, Cookhouse and Somerset-East in the Eastern Cape. The project makes use of an Asset-based Community Development approach that involves the recruitment, capacitation and mobilisation of community action teams. Activities are implemented based on their needs, ideas and initiatives that are identified through a co-operative planning process that culminates in social community dialogues.
designed to move
N/A
Funded by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH (“GIZ”), CS Social Innovations was appointed by Ukuvula Foundation to manage the design, implementation and monitoring of the pilot project, “Designed to Move” in four schools in violence prone areas in the Nelson Mandela Bay’s northern area.
Designed to Move is part of the global alliance initiative between global apparel group Nike and the GIZ aimed at getting the communities of Port Elizabeth’s Northern areas to move through physical exercise and living a healthier lifestyle. The ultimate goal of the initiative is “to get physical activity back into the school curriculum”.
Inspiring catalytic partnerships that transform people & communities through better business
As a forward-thinking business committed to socio-economic transformation, your investment in local development matters. But research shows that up to 80% of initiatives fail—often because of limited community engagement and weak design strategies that lead to increased social and business risks.
At CS Innovations, we help you place communities at the centre of their own development, ensuring that your investments generate measurable, long-term social and economic returns. Let’s work together to turn your development efforts into meaningful, sustainable impact that transforms both communities and your business legacy.
CS Innovations
and Community
North Star Scenarios
The North Star Scenarios project was part of a community activation initiative by the Northern Areas People Development Initiative (NAPDI) using scenario methodology to look at the future of the northern areas of Port Elizabeth, within the context of the NMB Metro. This project entailed (a) Volunteer mobilisation and community action research; (b) Recruiting and coordinating a multi-stakeholder leader profile to form a think-tank on future scenarios; (b) A publicity campaign (roadshows) to communities to promote scenarios and uses thereof and (d) implement action initiatives and deepening scenarios as tool for community development within 5-10 year framework.
The project was privately funded by donations and volunteer time and reached significant milestones circulating a summary document articulating the scenarios, generating national profile and endorsement from leading civil society and business leaders and is generally accepted wherever it has been presented in communities as a positive contribution to how communities can think about their response to challenges. The project attracted funding of R1 million from Office of the Premier (OTP) as an action implementation project from the North Star Scenarios process.
Heri Project
The Helenvale Recycling Initiative (HERI) addresses the challenge of illegal dumping. It is an awareness creation and community mobilisation project to encourage a cleaner Helenvale through recycling. The project follows the commission of a Nelson Mandela Bay waste study report on Helenvale indicating sufficient volumes for recycling of garden refuse and mixed general waste to justify a plan to employ up to 20-30 individuals.
The HERI project entailed a grassroots campaign in a highly challenged and dynamic socio-economic community of Helenvale. The project leveraged Public Awareness campaigns within Helenvale; A community waste and recycling training programme that turned 50 volunteers into effective champions for social change through reducing over 4000 tons of illegal dumping and converting public dumping sites into play-spaces and establishing and funding five primary community cooperatives within Helenvale to do recycling from waste.
In addition the project achieved notable success in multi-departmental/ institutional support including the funding for 5 years of 100 x stipend-based jobs through Department of Roads – Expanded Public Works, recruiting over 60 volunteers within the community to promote project and commitments from Waste Department to establish recycling operational base within Helenvale and generally creating positive local and national media coverage (including 7 minute on FOKUS Current Affairs) profile of Helenvale through the various activities run through the project from August-October 2012.
The HERI project is featured as an approach to Asset-Based Community Development in a book called “The Disruptors” authored by Kerryn Krige & Gus Silber under University of Pretoria’s Gordon’s Institute of Business Science (GIBS) focussing on impact society through business and business through society.