In Issue Number#16 we report on colloquia on our research projects on Nation Formation and Social Cohesion and on the Use and displacement of strategic minerals. And we report on a conference on Sustainable Livelihoods convened by the South Africa Netherlands research Programme on Alternatives in Development (SANPAD) attended by MISTRA researcher, Catherine Kannemeyer, as well as on a skaftin session on 22 July 2013 at MISTRA on the philosophies of Dag Hammarskjold with Professor Henning Melber, the Senior Adviser and Director Emeritus of The Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation in Sweden.

Included in this issue is a range of media articles produced by MISTRA staff on topical issues. Including a tribute to Chief Justice Pius Langa by Dr Mcebisi Ndletyana, Head of the Faculty of Political Economy. As well as a series of articles by Dr Ndletyana published in The Sunday Independent, including: “Bury Madiba at Freedom Park ”, “What Price is Madiba’s Legacy?” and “Could it really be that the DA seeks to relive history?”

We also report on “Blue Light Bulbs” by Dr Velaphi Msimang on the Blue Economy, and “The Role of Science in South Africa in the 21st century” by Wilson Manganyi and Jeffrey Sehume and “Hydrogen fuel cells reveal rift in science policy” by Radhika Perrot.  As well as the publication of “The state of the State in South Africa” in The Socialist Correspondent, of the 10th Harold Wolpe Memorial Lecture presented by MISTRA’s Executive Director, Joel Netshitenzhe in November 2012.

We also report on a recent meeting of the MISTRA Board of Governors, and on Gail Smith’s response to a keynote address by Poet Laureate Professor Keorapetse Kgositsile at the Limpopo Literary festival, as well as the publication of a chapter by Dr Mcebisi Ndletyana, entitled “Policy incoherence: a function of ideological contestations?” in the sixth edition of the Human Social Research Council book entitled “State of the Nation”.