Zimbabwe FlagCommunity =  Co-Creating Ecosystems | Trans4m Senior Fellows

Elizabeth Mamukwa:
A Passion for Integral Knowledge Creation

“Integral Knowledge Creation is driven by the need to regenerate, improve and innovate new knowledge from existing knowledge grounds, springboarding on both indigenous and exogenous inspirations”

Elizabeth Mamukwa PortraitThe first born child to a schoolteacher mother and a policeman father, who were extremely strict and rigid in the way they raised their children, I learnt responsibility at an early age. My childhood was a combination of high Christian values both at home during school holidays and in a mission school during term time (I went to boarding school at age 11). I also benefited from indigenous grounding in the village during school holidays. I therefore had the privilege of being instructed in both African and Christian values. What I acquired was through both formal and informal instruction, and through exposure to both indigenous and exogenous knowledge systems. Consequently, I became comfortable in this hi-breed culture which has carried me through the rest of my life.

I developed a love for reading and seeking knowledge at an early age, which culminated in me acquiring tertiary education at all levels.

My doctoral work, based the passion to improve knowledge systems at work places, resulted in a model for knowledge transfer and creation. This model’s applicability is not only limited to workplaces, but to families, communities and other arms of society.

Working with three groups of co-researchers (Cooperative Inquiry Groups) within and outside my company we developed the Calabash of Knowledge Creation (Denhe re Ruzivo). This model was tested and utilized in three corporate, public listed companies in Zimbabwe.

One of these Cooperative Inquiry groups metamorphosed into Pundutso Centre for Integral Development, which has begun to engage with the Zimbabwean Society following the CARE rhythm of Community Activation, Catalysation, Research- to-Innovation and Education (Knowledge Embodiment).

In 2014 I co-edited a book Integral Green Zimbabwe: An African Phoenix Rising which brings together case stories of the work that different individuals and groups are doing to improve the situation in Zimbabwe.

In the same year I had the pleasure of presenting a paper on Integral Green Zimbabwe at the Integral Slovenia conference.

Presenting Integral Green Zimbabwe at the Integral Green Slovenia conference in Ljubliana, in 2014
Presenting Integral Green Zimbabwe at the Integral Green Slovenia conference in Ljubliana, in 2014

In 2015 I had the honour of receiving the prestigious Ndlovu Award from the Da Vinci Institute.

At the Da Vinci Institute, South Africa, receiving the Ndlovu Award
At the Da Vinci Institute, South Africa, receiving the Ndlovu Award