van Breda, John

John van Breda

Bio

John van Breda is currently reading towards a PhD in Sustainable Development with a focus on the development and building of sustainable communities/neighborhoods in an African Urban context.  He has already earned three post-graduate degrees in Sociology (cum laude), Theology and Philosophy (cum laude).  In 2005, he was responsible for organizing the first workshop on Transdisciplinarity in South Africa, bringing together 30 leading international thinkers—Basarab Nicolescu (quantum physicist from France) and Manfred Max-Neef (ecological economist from Chile).  One of the outcomes of this workshop has been the implementation of a Transdisciplinary DPhil degree in Sustainability Science at the University of Stellenbosch (South Africa)—to be offered in 2007.  Van Breda is also on the team of experts putting together this post-graduate degree and is in constant contact with others such as Basarab Nicolescu and Manfred Max-Neef who are also involved in implementing similar programs at the Universities of Cluj (Romania) and Valdivia (Chile).  He attended the Second World Congress on Transdisciplinarity in Brazil in September 2005 and delivered a paper on the process of implementing the DPhil in Transdisciplinary Studies at the University of Stellebosch.