Fergus Turner

I am an intrepid entrepreneur and development professional, focused on developing community-based celebration-based competencies towards resilience and sustainability. I am a Bertha Scholar at the Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and an MPhil candidate at University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business, specialising in Inclusive Innovation Studies. My research involves participatory action research with festival organisations in Cape Town, South Africa and further abroad; exploring how festival organisations and the creative economy can play a role in institutional innovation and transformation.

My research, and prototype design experience, focuses on building a scalable model for community-owned place-making festivals that are activators of sustainable local economic development and social cohesion. I envisage the possibility of inclusive festival models being innovative solutions to broader social issues.

I am a practicing and consummate martial artist. In my free time, I can be found exploring the mountain ranges and coastlines of South Africa, surfing, writing, honouring and celebrating our unique cultural diversity.