People & Partners

Chulumanco Mdingi

Chulumanco Mdingi is a PhD candidate at the Centre for Sustainability Transitions and whose research investigates how relations are (re)negotiated and power dynamics shift, how the arenas opened by new governance arrangements are taken up by diverse actors, and what new forms of community involvement and local interactions emerge. The study focuses on Renewable Energy Development Zones (REDZ) in Emalahleni, Mpumalanga, and Springbok in the Northern Cape. His PhD forms part of the ACCELERATE project funded by the DANIDA Fellowship Centre.

Chulumanco has worked in the renewable energy industry as a socio-economic development projects officer for community trusts. In 2022, he completed an MBA at Rhodes Business School, at Rhodes University. His thesis looked at the application of responsible leadership principles by a renewable energy organisation in the Eastern Cape. His other qualifications include an MA in Development Studies from Nelson Mandela University, a BSocSci joint Honours in Sociology and African Languages from Rhodes University, and a BSocSci in Sociology and IsiXhosa, also from Rhodes University.

• Energy transitions
• Leadership
• Local economic development
• Sustainable development
• Energy governance
• Transdisciplinary research and knowledge co-production