About
An introduction
The Sundays River Valley Collaborative (SRVC) is a non-profit organization serving as a platform for dialogue and collaboration among all relevant stakeholders in the Sundays River Valley community. Sundays River Valley is both local municipality and a vibrant agricultural and economic region comprising numerous small farming towns in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The Collaborative’s goals are to pursue inclusive well-being / improved quality of life for all in the Valley
What is the Sundays River Valley Collaborative?
The Sundays River Valley Collaborative (SRVC) is a response to problems and challenges that have been experienced in the Sunday’s River Valley (SRV) over the last number of years. Among these are:
- Excessive socio-economic and economic inequalities
- Limited capacity of local government
- Limited productive inclusion and participation of locals in the local economy
- Under-utilization of local human resources
- The effects of the seasonal nature of the Citrus Industry
- The dependency of the SRV on one industry, being the Citrus Industry
- Under-utilization of local assets and opportunities for local economic development and
- Rapid expansion of the sector economy that brought wanted and unwanted consequences
In response to these challenges the SRVC provides a multi-sector platform for collaboration among all relevant stakeholders to pursue an improved quality of life for all in the SRV on an inclusive basis.
- Bring people together to dialogue, learn to solve problems jointly and to collaborate
- To facilitate collaboration that includes communities, civil society, government, and the business sector
- To encourage and facilitate a multi-sector co-responsible and collaborative approach to local development
- Solve the problem of exclusion and development failure in a constructive non-confrontational way
- To be a flexible, changeable, response to a changing context
The SRVC logo
The logo of the Sundays River Valley Collaborative takes inspiration from the spekboom, a hardy plant native to this part of South Africa known for its amazing abilities to purify the air. Just like the spekboom, the SRVC wants act as a force for good removing the impediments to growth and development and creating a healthier and more positive environment for the people of the Sundays River Valley.
shapes and colours illustrating the diverse nature of the people and communities of the valley. A hand forms the trunk of the spekboom with each finger symbolising a different facet of the SRVC approach.
- Thumb: Focus on effectiveness. A hand without a thumb is powerless and useless.
- Index Finger: Points direction, towards constructive and collaborative development.
- Middle Finger: Respect to all covers our essential human values and feelings.
- Ring Finger: Symbolises purpose, dedication, and self improvement.
- Little Finger: All Contributions Count, this is the essence of the Collaborative.