The National Cleantech Innovation Challenge NORTH-WEST
Rehabilitating Mined Lands for Food–Water–Energy Nexus Innovation Challenge
INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT
The North West Province stands at the crossroads of opportunity — where abandoned mine lands meet the promise of new innovation. Once central to South Africa’s industrial growth, these landscapes now hold untapped potential to drive a new wave of sustainable development and local enterprise.
Through the National Cleantech Innovation Challenge (NCIC), implemented by the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) in partnership with UNIDO and the Network for Global Innovation (NGIN), the Mafikeng Digital Innovation Hub (MDiHub) is re-imagining the province’s mining legacy as a launchpad for the Food–Water–Energy (FWE) nexus.
The North West Challenge seeks bold innovators, entrepreneurs, researchers, and community enterprises to design clean-technology solutions that turn degraded mine lands into regenerative economic zones. These solutions may include renewable-energy microgrids, smart-irrigation systems, water reclamation and reuse technologies, climate-smart agriculture, and circular-economy enterprises that convert waste into new resources.
By transforming environmental liabilities into productive community assets, the NCIC aims to showcase how technology, collaboration, and innovation can accelerate South Africa’s Just Transition, restoring the land while empowering people to build resilient, low-carbon local economies.
WHO CAN APPLY
The North West Challenge seeks bold innovators, entrepreneurs, researchers, and community enterprises to design clean-technology solutions that turn degraded mine lands into regenerative economic zones. These solutions may include renewable-energy microgrids, smart-irrigation systems, water reclamation and reuse technologies, climate-smart agriculture, and circular-economy enterprises that convert waste into new resources. See FAQs.
International applicants may participate in partnership with local registered entities, provided that localization, skills transfer, and job creation are central to the project proposal.
CHALLENGE PROBLEM STATEMENT
For over a century, mining has been the backbone of the North West Province’s economy — fuelling industrial growth but leaving behind a deep environmental footprint. Across the province, vast tracts of unrehabilitated mine lands and abandoned shafts now define many rural and peri-urban landscapes. The result is severe soil degradation, water contamination, and ecosystem disruption, coupled with social and economic decline in communities once dependent on mining activities.
These post-mining areas stand today as both an ecological challenge and a transformative opportunity. If effectively rehabilitated and repurposed, they can become models of inclusive green industrial rejuvenation — integrating renewable energy, water reuse, and climate-smart agriculture into new circular-economy value chains.
Rehabilitation of mine lands is no longer just about environmental compliance; it is about creating new livelihoods, restoring biodiversity, and rebuilding local economies. Through innovation, technology, and community collaboration, these same degraded landscapes can host solar-powered irrigation systems, biochar production units, aquaponic greenhouses, and small-scale biogas plants — each contributing to energy security, food production, and waste-to-value entrepreneurship.
By leveraging South Africa’s Just Transition framework, the challenge seeks to demonstrate how clean-technology innovation can close the gap between mining’s historical legacy and the province’s sustainable future. The vision is to transform mine-affected zones into productive Food–Water–Energy ecosystems that empower communities, support small enterprises, and build resilience against climate change.
Ultimately, the rehabilitation and repurposing of mine lands across the North West Province present a unique opportunity for systemic change — to heal the environment, unlock green jobs, and position the province as a national leader in Just Transition innovation.
What We Are Looking For
We are seeking cleantech-driven innovations, products, and business models that demonstrate:
- Rehabilitation & Regeneration – Nature-based or circular-economy methods that restore degraded mine land or improve soil and water quality.
- Renewable Energy Systems – Solar, biogas, or hybrid microgrids to power agricultural and community operations on repurposed mine sites.
- Water Efficiency & Reuse – Mine-water treatment, greywater recycling, or irrigation innovations that enable safe, productive reuse.
- Climate-Smart Agriculture – Controlled-environment farming (hydroponics, aquaponics, agrivoltaics) using reclaimed land and renewable energy.
- Waste-to-Value Solutions – Turning mining, agricultural, or municipal waste into new materials, fertilisers, or energy sources.
- Community Enterprise Models – Inclusive SMME or cooperative structures that empower women, youth, and ex-mineworkers.
What We Are Not Looking For
- Pure academic research without demonstration potential.
- Proposals that focus on fossil fuel–based technologies.
- Single-beneficiary projects without community or market impact.
- Non-cleantech interventions (e.g., conventional construction or non-renewable solutions).
- Projects outside the North West Province or without alignment to the Food–Water–Energy nexus.
